Upcoming Outdoor Meditation
Because we had such a great turnout for our last outdoor sit we scheduled another one for September 27th, next Sunday, at 5:00 at Roberta Smith's house, 712 W Sackett Ave., by the river.  Bring a chair if you have one but there are some available onsite.  Also, since we can't predict the weather, we encourage you to dress for whatever it might be.  There will be no Zoom sit that evening.
Salida Sangha Charitable Giving
During the months that we have been unable to meet at our Sangha house our rent money has been donated to charities.  Here is what your generosity has made possible:
Donations of $650 each month; total amount $4550
March - The Grainery
April - Chaffee County Community Foundation
May - Mindfulness in the Jail
June - GARNA
July - NAMI
Aug - Full Circle Restorative Justice
Sep - San Luis Valley Immigrant resource Center
These contributions have been greatly appreciated by these groups that are making a difference in our community during this time of great need!  THANK YOU!
Brian Lesage Residency In February
Save the dates!  Brian has once again offered us a residency from February 12 - 23, 2021.  It will be a weekend retreat, some evening sessions and a daylong retreat to close.  Most likely it will be online.
We are so grateful to Brian and the 45 participants who attended our September 12-13 retreat.  It was a beautiful and rewarding experience in being moved toward love and compassion in this challenging time.
 
Recommended Resources For September
Denise sent this link to a clip from a talk by Van Jones on racial justice:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-oHHRv--8fc

Dharma seed podcasts:
https://dharmaseed.org/talks/
 
 
Jack Kornfield continues to offer great information and  teachings
https://jackkornfield.com/

Book:  Mindful of Race by Ruth King
Updates To Our Website
Thanks to the amazing Kevin Wathen the Salida Sangha website has been beautifully updated with lots of new information and resources.  You can check it out here:
http://www.salidasangha.org/
Mary Oliver: "Messenger" 
My work is loving the world.
Here the sunflowers, there the hummingbird--
     equal seekers of sweetness.
Here the quickening yeast; there the blue plums.
Here the clam deep in the speckled sand.

Are my boots old? Is my coat torn?
Am I no longer young, and still half-perfect? Let me
     keep my mind on what matters,
which is my work,

which is mostly standing still and learning to be
     astonished.
The phoebe, the delphinium.
The sheep in the pasture, and the pasture.
Which is mostly rejoicing, since all the ingredients are here,

which is gratitude, to be given a mind and a heart
     and these body-clothes,
a mouth with which to give shouts of joy
     to the moth and the wren, to the sleepy dug-up clam,
telling them all, over and over, how it is
     that we live forever.

In love and light and gratitude,
Your Salida Sangha board

Dear Retreat Participants,
Thank you once again for joining us for our recent online retreat with Brian Lesage.  It looks like we may be "Zooming" for a while yet so we would really love to get your feedback from the weekend we spent together moving toward empathy and compassion.

If you could spend a few minutes sending a reply to this email it would be very helpful for our planning of future events.  Here are some things you might consider:
What worked well for you?
What didn’t work so well for you?
Is there anything you would like to see done differently next time?
What were you able to take away from the retreat?
Plus any other feedback you would like share.

THANKS!
Holding you all in love and compassion,
Roberta

PRIVATE PRACTICE DISCUSSIONS WITH BRIAN
Brian Lesage will be offering private practice sessions via Zoom on Monday September 14th at 11:45am. 12:15pm; 12:45pm; 1:15pm; 1:45pm: 2:15pm.  To reserve a time please email sangha@salidasangha.org
 
September 12-13, 2020 Virtual Retreat With Brian Lesage
"MOVING INTO BEING MOVED"
Live via Zoom
We are born with the capacity for an embodied compassion. This capacity can be nurtured so that it blossoms both in our formal meditation and in our day-to-day lives and we can cultivate a capacity for compassion that is neither disconnected nor overwhelming.  
In this weekend retreat, we will be exploring the conditions that support the unfolding of compassion in a step-by-step manner.  This will be a mostly silent retreat with guided meditations and time for questions and response each day.  

There are still a few spaces available for the retreat.
​If ​​you ​​have ​​questions, ​​please call ​​Roberta ​​Smith ​​at ​​719-221-1853.
For more information and to register please visit:
https://salidasangha.eventsmart.com/?p=28
Note:  There will not be a Zoom sit on Sunday, September 13th because of the retreat.

Outdoor Meditation August 30th
We had a good turnout for meditation by the river last Sunday.  It was great to see our friends, even if they were all masked and distanced!  Thank you Cindy Sasso for leading us so nicely.
 

 
Poem
Now you know the worst-Wendell Berry
To my granddaughters who visited the Holocaust Museum on the day of the burial of Yitzhak Rabin

Now you know the worst
we humans have to know
about ourselves, and I am sorry,

for I know that you will be afraid.
To those of our bodies given
without pity to be burned, I know

there is no answer
but loving one another,
even our enemies, and this is hard.

But remember:
when a man of war becomes a man of peace,
he gives a light, divine

though it is also human.
When a man of peace is killed
by a man of war, he gives a light.

You do not have to walk in darkness.
If you will have the courage for love,
you may walk in light. It will be

the light of those who have suffered
for peace. It will be
your light.

May we all have the courage for love and may we walk in the light,
Your Salida Sangha board