March 2017 Newsletter

Upcoming Sangha Events

April 5th  Book Group at 6 p.m. discussing the second part of The Book of Joy by the Dalai Lama and Desmond Tutu.

April 8th  Saturday sit from 9-12.  Drop in quietly at any time.

April 11th   Board meeting at the sangha house at 9 a.m.  Anyone interested is welcome to join us.

April 20th  SenGen Group 2-3:30 p.m.
The Salida Sangha is offering a space for the Senior Generation (SenGen) discussion group. This is an opportunity for those 60 and older who wish to discuss finding joy in the challenges of aging, illness and death in a mindful, safe and supportive environment.  Join us as we explore the dimensions of aging. We meet on the third Thursday of each month from 2:00-3:30 at the Sangha House. The current topic is “As I age, what inspires me, what challenges me, what touches me, what surprises me. If you have questions, please email salidasengen@gmail.com. 

May 6th   Important All Sangha Meeting 11:00 a.m. at the sangha house
                       Spring yard clean up beginning at 9:30 a.m. 
                       Potluck lunch following the meeting
Please join us for all or part of this.  Particularly please attend the meeting at 11:00.

August 28th  Tsoknyi Rinpoche will be at the Presbyterian church!  Details to follow.

Ongoing:  
We need sit leaders!  Please sign up on our website "community" page: 
http://www.salidasangha.org/community.html
We also need house cleaners!  Please sign up in the kitchen at the sangha house.
These service opportunities are a great way to express your appreciation for our community, remembering the Buddha's teachings that generosity and service are the way to happiness and freedom.

And now, because we appreciate you reading all this way, a poem for you to enjoy.
With blessings from your sangha board

School Prayer by Diane Ackerman  
 
In the name of the daybreak
and the eyelids of morning
and the wayfaring moon
and the night when it departs,

I swear I will not dishonor
my soul with hatred,
but offer myself humbly
as a guardian of nature,
as a healer of misery,
as a messenger of wonder,
as an architect of peace.

In the name of the sun and its mirrors
and the day that embraces it
and the cloud veils drawn over it
and the uttermost night
and the male and the female
and the plants bursting with seed
and the crowning seasons
of the firefly and the apple,

I will honor all life
—wherever and in whatever form
it may dwell—on Earth my home,
and in the mansions of the stars.

From I Praise My Destroyer (Vintage Books, 2000