Weekly Email 6-21-22

Dear Common Ground Friends,

I am currently away co-leading a week long retreat for young adults. It is really inspiring to be here supporting 30 young people as they do the noble work of caring for the heart moment by moment, breath by breath. At the end of each night, all 33 of us have been taking a few moments to remember the heart’s natural capacity to care. Then, with gratitude, we send the heart’s goodness to ourselves, each other, and the world. Isn’t it heartening to remember that right now, people all over the world are expressing the heart’s goodness in big and small ways? It can be worth our while to remember and to trust the heart’s capacity for goodness, care, generosity, patience and so much more. Even when the heart is entangled, a simple connection with the tangle is a move towards goodness. Let’s remember that we can directly impact our well being by looking for goodness and trusting the heart’s natural goodness. We can trust this force of goodness all over the world. Right now there are beings expressing patience, gratitude, love, creativity, attunement and more. Perhaps when we go to bed tonight, we can remember the care 30 young people sent our way. Let’s receive it with gratitude and send it back out in every possible way.

Warm Wishes,

Shelly


Weekly Programs

To view our entire list of programs and to access Zoom links to participate in online programs, please visit the online calendar

Weekly Practice Groups

  • Sunday mornings, 10:30-11:45am on Zoom with Mark Nunberg (with an option to watch the livestream together in person in the meditation hall)
    • Sunday, June 26th with Wynn Fricke
  • Sunday evenings, 7:00-8:30pm in-person with Mark Nunberg
    • Sunday, June 26th with Shelly Graf
  • Wednesday evenings, 7:30-9:00pm on Zoom with Shelly Graf
    • Wednesday, June 22nd with Merra Young
Monthly Practice Groups
  • Fourth Fridays, 7:00-8:30pm on Zoom, Lovingkindness with Stacy McClendon
  • First Fridays, 7-8:30pm on Zoom, Lovingkindness with Mark Nunberg

Community Practice Check-Ins

  • Sundays, 4:30-5:30pm with Mark Nunberg and Wynn Fricke, on Zoom
  • Tuesdays, 12:00-1:00pm with Stacy McClendon (Mark Nunberg joining on the 2nd and 4th Tuesday of the month), on Zoom
  • Fridays, 9:00-10:00am with Shelly Graf, on Zoom
    • Friday, June 24th with Patrice Koelsch
  • Every other Saturday, 10:30am-12:00pm with Ramesh Sairam, on Zoom
  • Every first Tuesday of the month, 8:00-9:00am, with Mark Nunberg, in person
Open Meditation
Join fellow community members for meditation practice in person or online, 7 days a week. Visit the calendar for times and details.Yoga & Qigong
We offer Yoga and Qigong several times a week, both in person and online. Click here for times and details.
Mindfulness, Recovery, and the Twelve Steps
Meets every Friday, 7:00-8:30pm.
In-person and on Zoom
Visit the calendar for Zoom link

Upcoming Programs: Online Only

To see full list of programs and access Zoom links for online programs visit our calendar.

MBSR-Based Mindfulness Practice with Nancy Boros
Mondays, 12:00 -1:00pm

Book Study: The Citadel of Awareness with Merra Young
Wednesday, June 22nd, 12:15–1:30pm

Mindful Self-Compassion Practice Group with Jean Haley and Jane Rauenhorst
This month this practice group will meet on the fourth Friday:
Friday, June 24th | 7:00 -8:30pm

InterPlay with Spruce Krause
Thursday, July 14th | 7:00 -8:30pm

Meditation and Attachment Disturbances with Amma Thanasanti
Sunday, July 17th | 2:00-3:30pm
For more info about Amma’s work click here

Upcoming Programs: In Person/Hybrid at Common Ground

To see full list of programs visit our calendarBuddhist Studies Summer Course

Sila: Moral Integrity, Non-Harming, and the Bliss of Blamelessness

8 Mondays, June 27th – August 15th | 7:30pm – 9:00pm
In-person and on Zoom
Info and registration here.Half-day Retreat with Mark Nunberg
Saturday, July 2nd | 1:00pm – 5:00pm
In-person and on Zoom.
Info and registration here.

Relating Wisely to Vulnerability and Uncertainty with Ramesh Sairam
July 9th, 2022 | 9:00am – 12:00pm
In-person only
Info and registration here.

Masculinity Circle
July 9th, 2022 | 1:30pm – 4:00pm
In-person only
Info and registration here.

Introduction to Mindfulness Meditation with Jen Racho & Mark Nunberg
Five Tuesdays: July 12th- August 9th | 7:30pm – 9:00pm
In-person and on Zoom
Info and registration here.

Daylong Retreat with Meski Mebatsion & Mark Nunberg
Saturday, July 23rd | 9:30am – 4:00pm
In-person and on Zoom.
Info and registration here.

Upcoming In-Person/Hybrid Programs at our retreat center

Common Ground Retreat Center is located in Wisconsin, about an hour-and-fifteen-minute drive from Minneapolis. Registration for the following programs can be found here

Retreats:
Divine Abodes Retreat: Four Dimensions of Love with Patrice Koelsch
5:30 p.m. Thursday, August 11th – 12:30 p.m. Sunday, August 14th

Labor Day Retreat with Mark Nunberg & Shelly Graf
6:15pm Sunday, August 28th – 10:30am Monday, September 5th

Practice Periods:
Practice Period with Wynn Fricke & Gabe Keller-Flores

5:30pm Wednesday June 22nd – 2:00pm Sunday, June 26th.Practice Period for Organizers & Activists 
5:30pm Friday, July 8th – 2:00pm Sunday, July 10th.Contemplative Creativity: Practice Period with Robin Major & Richard Bonk
5:00pm Thursday, July 14th – 2:00pm Sunday, July 17th.In addition to these weekend retreats, we also offer public drop-in groups on select Wednesdays at the retreat center, 6:30-7:45pm.

  • First Wednesday of the month: Community Group led by Matthew King and other practice leaders
  • Third Wednesday of the month: Monthly Practice Group with Mark Nunberg and guest teachers
More info about these Wednesday night programs here.

 


The Practice of Generosity

Continuing in the tradition of Buddhist monasteries in Southeast Asia, all programs at Common Ground are offered free of charge in the spirit of generosity. This offering is possible because of the generosity of people like you—from the Buddha on down to all the people in our community—who contribute their practice, time, and financial resources to support the continuation of the center.

To learn how to support the center and our teachers, visit this page. Let us know if you have any questions.

Current Volunteer Needs 

  • Website Design: We are hoping re-design the Common Ground website in the coming months. If you have tech or website design skills and are interested in helping to make this happen, please email    robin@commongroundmeditation.org
  • Weekly Sunday Evening Cleaning: Every Sunday evening there is a drop-in Community Cleaning time from 6-7pm, led by community leaders Brad Dupre and Dave Redelman. No RSVP needed.

 


Community News

 Articles from Buddhist Justice Reporter

Please take a moment to read these articles written by Common Ground leaders on the themes of racial and social justice from an anti-racist Buddhist lens. Buddhist Justice Reporter is a Kataly Foundation-funded project that Common Ground is a fiscal sponsor for.Zenzele Isoke: As It Is Now: Too Many Guns and Too Much Bypass
Patrice Koelsch: Adapting the Precepts for Reconciliation.Upcoming Community Group Meetings:

  • Be Queer Now, weekly on Wednesday, 7:30-9:00pm
  • Millenials Sangha, Friday, June 24th 7:00-8:30pm
  • Mindfulness & Depression, Sunday, July 3rd, 4:00-5:30pmChristianity-Buddhism Book Group, July 9th, 9:00 – 10:15am
  • Community Group for Organizers & Social Justice Activists, Thursday July 14th, 6:00-7:30pm
  • Refirement Community Group for Retirees, Thursday July 21st, 12:00-2:00pm
  • Black, Indigenous, People of Color Community Group, Thursday July 21st, 6:30-8:00pm

View public calendar for Zoom links and more information.
To see the complete list of community groups, click here.

Teen Practice Group
For more info, click here.

Weekly Tejaniya

No experience out there is better
than the present experience. An ex-
perience is an experience. An object
is an object. Here is the more impor-
tant question: is the mind observing
with wholesome or unwhole-
some mental qualities?

 Thanks to The Daily Tejaniya for this quote


Flowers blooming in the Common Ground rain garden

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