Weekly Email 8-31-22

Dear Common Ground Friends,
If you have ever been on a retreat of any length, you know this particular form can help us connect with our inner experiences. What if we expanded the definition of retreat to include every moment of sincerity or wholeheartedness? Perhaps our whole lives become a retreat. Perhaps our lives become sacred opportunities to listen and attune to what’s real for each of us. The movement of our hearts with the vibrations of life might not always be pleasant but the movement of our hearts can always be our teacher. In a wonderful article titled Renunciation, published in Tricycle magazine, Pema Chödrön tells a story of a group of people climbing up a very steep mountain. Some made it to the top and some, frozen in fear, stopped along the way.  She says, “Life is a whole journey of meeting your edge again and again. That’s where you’re challenged; that’s where, if you’re a person who wants to live, you start to ask yourself questions like, “Now, why am I so scared? What is it that I don’t want to see? Why can’t I go any further than this?” The happy people who got to the top were not the heroes of the day. They just weren’t afraid of heights; they are going to meet their edge somewhere else. The ones who froze at the bottom were not losers. They simply stopped first and so their lesson came earlier than the others. However, sooner or later, everybody meets their own edge.” May we all learn to appreciate the many forms in which our teachers appear as they help us see our edges and discover our strength.

With Care,
Shelly

Community Potluck!
Sunday, September 11th
12:00pm – 2:00pm

Come celebrate our community together! Bring a dish to share and perhaps a folding chair or blanket to sit on in the garden. Childcare will be offered from 10:30am – 2:00pm (including childcare during Mark Nunberg’s Sunday Morning Practice Group before the potluck begins at noon).

Click here if you’d like to volunteer during the event.

Online lunch for the Zoom community will run from 12:00pm – 1:00pm.

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 in-person and on Zoom with Mark Nunberg
• Sunday evenings, 7:00-8:30pm in-person with Mark Nunberg
  • September 4th with Jean Haley
• Wednesday evenings, 7:30-9:00pm on Zoom with Shelly Graf

Yoga & Qigong
We offer Yoga and Qigong several times a week, both in person and online. Click here for times and details.

• 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

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 
Please contact Robin Major at robin@commongroundmeditation.org if you are interested in any of these volunteer opportunities:

• Community Potluck on Sunday, September 11th: If you would like to volunteer for childcare, set-up or clean-up, enter your name and email here.
• Audio Editing: We are looking for a couple volunteers to help with audio editing. Comfortability with tech is helpful, no previous audio editing experience needed.
• Children’s Program: We are looking for a couple folks to help lead the revitalization of the children’s program. Please email a letter of interest to Robin.
• Wishlist items: large pot (for over 20 servings), one bookshelf

Community News 

Engaged Buddhist Gathering
September 10th, 3pm – 5pm
Are you interested in taking action to make our world a more just, equitable and peaceful place for all beings? Join Buddhist practitioners and organizers in a conversation about spiritual values and activism work. Click here for location and more info.

Buddhist Justice Reporter
Please take a moment to read an article recently published under the auspices of the Buddhist Justice Reporter. Common Ground is a fiscal sponsor for BJR.

Stop Woke: The War Against Awakening and Belonging by Ann Gleig

Upcoming Community Group Meetings:

• Be Queer Now, weekly on Wednesday, 7:30-9:00pm
• Black, Indigenous, People of Color Community Group, Thursday September 1st, 6:30-8:00pm
• Mindfulness & Depression, Sunday, September 4th, 4:00-5:30pm
• Community Group for Organizers & Social Justice Activists, Thursday September 8th, 6:00-7:30pm
• Buddhism & Other Religions Book Group, Saturday, September 10th, 9:00 – 10:15am
• Retirement Community Group for Retirees, Thursday September 15th, 12:00-2:00pm
• Millennials Sangha, Friday, September 23rd, 7:00-8:30pm

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

Weekly Tejaniya

Never try to locate the mind;
place is a concept. You recognize the
mind by the work it is doing.

 Thanks to The Daily Tejaniya for this quote

The rare Eastern Black Swallowtail butterfly visits Common Ground Meditation Center’s garden this week. Photo by Mark Mirick