day retreat on mayne island

Zen monasteries and practice centres customarily set aside a week each month for silent meditating, eating, chanting, and working. In Japan such intensive practice periods are called sesshin 攝心 which means “to gather the heart and mind.”

The Mayne Island Meditation Group will be holding a mini-sesshin on Tuesday, May 13, from 8:45 am to 4:00 pm. Maintaining silence for the day, we’ll meditate in 25-minute intervals of sitting, standing, and walking. Weather permitting, we’ll take the practice outdoors for walking meditation and work practice. (I’ll again be guide, time-keeper, and frequent bell-ringer.)

Cost: a $10 registration fee covers space rental and ferry fare. As meditation teachers traditionally don’t ask for a fee, retreatants are free to make a cash donation (dana) which in Peter’s case will benefit the food bank.

What to bring: clothes suitable for (a) indoor sitting and (b) outdoor walking and working; also a bag lunch so we can eat communally. Water and tea will be provided. Bring a sitting cushion or bench if you have it; chairs and cushions are available.

What not to bring: cell phones, pagers, journals, note pads, reading matter—in short anything that could distract you or others from giving mindful attention to each moment.

Contact Nancy Schneider at nandidasi11-at-gmail-dot-com or leave a message at 250-539-3413. There are only a few spaces still available.

a heart’s desire

Make me sweet again,

fragrant and fresh and wild,

and thankful for any small event.

–Rumi

 

stephen & ondrea could use our help

You may have heard that Stephen and Ondrea Levine are facing significant financial difficulty. Ondrea has Leukemia and the costs of her insurance and treatment have depleted their savings. Stephen’s health is not the best and he is too frail to travel or teach. Good friends have set up a fund to assist them, and a number of us are reaching out to our communities to ask for support.

Stephen & Ondrea’s generosity seems boundless. For three years, they ran a 24-hour-a-day, seven-day-a-week free phone line for those dying or in need of support. They sat bedside with hundreds of people with AIDS, cancer and other illnesses. Over the past 30 years their teaching and books have brought solace and support to thousands. They inspired many of us in the hospice movement to care for the spirit as well as the body. They showed us a way to embrace another person’s suffering as our own. Now is our opportunity to offer our prayers and financial assistance.

Some Levine book titles you may recognize: (1982) Who dies? An investigation of conscious living and conscious dying; (1987) Healing into life and death; (1991) Guided meditations, explorations, and healings;  (1997) A year to live: how to live this year as if it were your last.

Ways to help: Please forward a link to this page to those in your hospice, healthcare institution, community or spiritual organizations. You are welcome to include this information in blogs and newsletters that might reach those who wish to be of support.

To donate on-line: click Levine Fund at Bread for the Journey. Bread for the Journey has generously offered to manage the fund with 100% of your donation going to the Levine Fund.  Or phone: (415) 383-4600 with a credit card number.