Our Practices
Meditation, Dharma talks, and Recitations
Tuesdays 6 - 8 PMDays of Mindfulness
Third Sunday of each monthWhat happens at the Sangha?
We follow a theme in each 9-month program highlighted each week by dharma talks, sutra recitations, specific Buddhist practices such as Touchings of the Earth, and Sangha as a Council.
Each weekly session begins with a sequence of 25 minutes sitting, 10 minutes walking, and a second 25 minutes sitting meditation. The meditation may be silent or guided by a facilitator. The scheduled talk and sharing (discussion) follows the meditation.
Recitation of the Five Mindfulness Trainings is conducted on the last Tuesday of each month.
Retreats in the Ontario and Quebec region are announced as information is available.
Sangha as a Council
The decision-making process that guides Sangha Arana, Sangha as a Council, is a format through which the aspirations of all members are brought forward to support and develop the sangha.
The principle of a community circle format is to organize the Sangha in a way that is most enjoyable for everyone. Thây offers this insight: "You will never find a perfect Sangha. An imperfect Sangha is good enough. Rather than complain too much about the Sangha, do your best to transform yourself into a good element of the Sangha. Accept the Sangha and build on it".
Sangha as a Council is scheduled approximately every six weeks.
Breath 2004
The Five Mindfulness Trainings
The Five Mindfulness Trainings are five ways to cultivate mindfulness. They are the heart and soul of a practice inspired by Thich Nhat Hanh and form the ethical base for living skillfully. Through the practice of the Five Mindfulness Trainings we aspire to transform the obstacles to our development: craving/greed, sloth & torpor, restless & agitation, doubt, and anger. As we become wise about the ways in which these unhealthy habits create dukkha (dissatisfaction), we prepare the ground of our being for the practice of the brahma-viharas: loving-kindness, appreciative joy, compassion and equanimity so that all beings may be free from suffering.
