Ahimsa Institute

02/19/2026

Losar Tashi Delek !

01/28/2022

Practice Announcement

On 30 January 2022 (5th Sunday of the month), as well as on 6 February 2022 (1st Sunday of the month), our centre will conduct White Tara practice via zoom, dedicating our practices to the long life and health of our beloved gurus, to His Holiness Gongma Trichen Rinpoche and specially to Her Eminence Jetsun Kushok Chimey Luding Rinpoche as this coming Losar is the year of Tiger, her birth animal year as she turns 85. May our dear gurus live long and healthy and continue to turn the wheel of Dharma for the benefit of all sentient beings. May we all be blessed with good health and long life and attain the ultimate liberation.

For those who have received the White Tara empowerment recently and wish to join our monthly White Tara practice, typically held the first Sunday of the month, please send us an email at [email protected] to enroll. A zoom link will be emailed to you.

The next scheduled White Tara practice after the above two will be held on 3 April 2022.

Thank you
STTL team

01/16/2022

Dear friends of STTL,

His Holiness Sakya Gongma Trichen Rinpoche is giving the initiation of White Tara, the Wish Fulfilling Wheel, on 21 January, 2022 at 2:00PM PST.

For those who are interested to attend our monthly White Tara practice program, this is a rare opportunity for you to receive the necessary initiation to do the practice. If you wish to join initiation, you may register using the following link:

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0kfu2sqjIqEtE1MnRCXy_5r5GVXai-XtZc

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting. Attendance limited to 100 people. Those who cannot get into zoom could view it live on our page. Thank you.

STTL Organizers

11/27/2021

Do no harm.

So, I was checking my voicemail this morning and there was one from a caller who said that she had her trees sprayed for caterpillars – trees occupied by three bird feeders - and now, she is upset that there are no birds at all for her to watch. She wonders if the spray could possibly have something to do with it. (Yes, spraying pesticides on your trees will have an effect on the songbirds.)

It is not uncommon for us to get inquiries such as these, and it is with great frustration and sadness that we often are faced with educating people after the damage has been done. So, please let me take a moment to reach out to our Facebook friends and family and be proactive about this topic.

All pesticides are designed to kill. Some are very targeted, such as B.T. (Bacillus thuringiensis) which primarily affects Lepidopterans (moths and butterflies), but most pesticides are broad and indiscriminate. When you make the choice to treat your house or landscape with rodenticides or grub treatment or mosquito foggers or any other pesticide treatment, you have an intent of ridding yourself of a specific creature that you find distasteful.

However, nothing in nature exists in a vacuum. Everything is connected. When you affect one population, it has a ripple effect across the populations that depend upon and coexist with it.

When you spray insecticide, for instance, it does not just kill the ‘bugs’ you don’t like, but kills all insects, including honeybees, butterflies, and ladybugs. Likewise, when you spray, the insects do not simply disappear off the face of the earth. Many live a short time before they perish. In this time, they may be consumed by natural predators, like songbirds, small mammals, and other insects.

Pesticides may have direct toxicity to these animals or may build up in their fat or blood and cause illness or death over time. Even so-called “green” chemicals are still intended to kill, and though they may be derived from natural sources or biodegrade quickly, they are still highly toxic to you and other organisms.

Friends, it is so very important in this day and age, with the steady decline of bird populations and the utter devastation of pollinator populations that we humans take a serious, proactive look at the choices we make and the practices we support – either directly or indirectly. It is vital that we do not go blindly into the world, but make ourselves informed and educated about products and practices and about science, industry, and nature.

Here at the Audubon Society of Rhode Island, we very much want to help people become educated and able to make informed choices. We are here to answer your questions and point you in the direction of reliable and scientifically accurate information. But we also encourage you to think and question BEFORE you act. Your actions have consequences. Thanks for reading!
(Photo Credit http://www.yorku.ca/bstutch/research.htm)

11/03/2021

On Thursday evening Buddhist teacher Lodro Rinzler will be speaking at the Pittsfield UU Meditation Sangha at the Pittsfield Unitarian Universalist Church. The program starts at 5:30 pm and goes until 7:00 pm. Covid precautions such as mask wearaing and social distancing apply. Donation requested but optional. For more information contact Bruce at [email protected].

10/11/2021

In joining together to honor Indigenous People Day let's remember that there are indigenous people on every continent who are struggling for their right to live as sovereign people on their traditional homelands. The genocides of indigenous people didn't just happen a long time ago, as most history books in Western societies would like us to believe, they are ongoing. Here in the USA Columbus Day may have honored a brave European explorer but it also sanctioned the genocide of native people throughout the americas and the stealing of their land. It supported the notion that "might makes right" and that Judeo/Christian white people were entitled to take what they wanted. It supported a colonialistic mindset which maintains a stance of disconnection from those humans who are seen as "other", and from the living earth, the community of living beings that we exist interdependently with on this small blue planet. In making the shift to marking October 11th as Indigenous People's Day let's commit ourselves to listening to indigenous people's voices, honor their sovereignty and treaty rights, and to continue to educate ourselves regarding the struggles that they face. Rather than having another token holiday, which could devolve into further cultural appropriation and superficial political correctness, let us genuinely engage in truely inclusive collaboration that honors all voices and honors the Earth.