The Art of Appreciative Attention

John Brehm, author of Dharma Talk (Wisdom Publications, 2023) proposes a new way of reading poetry, one where our primary intention is to find greater intimacy with the poem rather than greater understanding of it. Just as a person will relax and come alive when they feel truly seen, poems begin to glow in the light […]

The Inner Work of Age: Shifting from Role to Soul

Even those of us with spiritual practices don’t often connect them to our aging. How do we use the circumstances of age as openings to psychological and spiritual development? How do we do shadow-work in the context of retirement, illness, loss, and mortality? How do we find spiritual practices that lead to expanding our awareness […]

Mindfulness of Mind-Heart and the Five Conditions

When we project conditioning from our past onto the present, we turn a benign moment into something else. The Five Conditions model is a «user-friendly» version of the traditional 5 Aggregates/5 Skandhas system. It’s an extremely helpful tool in clarifying the distinction between our direct experience of reality and the mental projections we add to […]

Committed Relationships & Peacemaking

please join: Roshis Pat Enkyo O’Hara & Barbara Joshin O’Hara, Roshis Nicolee Jikyo McMahon & Barry Kaigen McMahon, Roshis Gerry Shishin Wick & Ilia Shinko Perez, Roshis June Ryushin Tanoue & Robert Joshin Althouse

The Receptivity of Bearing Witness & How we Rekindle it after Shutting Down

As Peacemakers or Buddhists, we face the challenge of dropping our fixed ideas and opinions in order to meet difficult situations freshly, with open hearts. Meanwhile, the world keeps hitting us with louder displays of brutality, dehumanization, and disregard for life, including the systems that protect it. How can we alleviate our desperation and connect […]

Bearing Witness to the Beauty of Everyday Objects

Bearing witness to beauty is just as important as bearing witness to suffering. Beauty nurtures love and joy; suffering nurtures compassion and connection. In this hour and half-drawing workshop, we will take everyday objects from our environment, see them in a new light, and honor them through our drawing. No drawing experience is needed. Come […]

Gestalt Therapy Healing – Focused on Flight and Migration

Gabriele Blankertz has been working with refugees from Syria since 2015. The lives of people who have lived under a dictatorship and experienced war and flight are characterized by many interruptions. Gestalt therapy is particularly suitable in this field for re-regulating and revitalizing the interrupted flow of life. During this event, we will learn more about this […]

Meet the Lotus Institute

Join us as as we meditate with and learn more about The Lotus Institute, an organization that blends Buddhist teachings with science, movement, music, and art. During this event, we will have an Introduction with Matt Dorma,  somatic exercises led by Mona Abutaleb, a guided meditation with Peggy Ward, a talk on the 3 Pillars presented by Larry Ward, and an interactive Q&A with everyone.