This page is for our community of meditators. You are invited to share your upcoming event, request, service, question, answer, your whatever, with the rest of us.

Please email community@longbeachmeditation.com to post your message.

VOLUNTEERING TO SERVE THE HOMELESS

The First Congregational Church in Long Beach, the home of our Saturday and Sundays sits (in the Sacred Space), offers food, fellowship and outreach to the homeless community of Long Beach every Sunday afternoon, from 12:30 to 4:30 P.M. They appreciate the help of volunteers, to set up the room, serve food, and be of good cheer. If you would like to participate please contact:

Janet: janetsue_rhodes@yahoo.com
or
Gregory Foreman: gforeman@heltonlawgroup.com

The Church Website is www.firstchurchlb.org

Long Beach Meditation is part of the greater dharma community that reaches far and wide. We are grateful to have the opportunity to practice generosity, offering dana to other dharma organizations.

• THE PADMA LING BUDDHIST CENTER (The Gateless Sangha) of Spokane, Washington who do dharma outreach to the local prison population.

"Dear People of Long Beach Meditation Group. Today I cashed the most generous check and thank you all so much...the men are exposed to several kinds of teachings (Zen, Theravadin) and Tibetan Buddhism. It's our hope that when they leave {prison} the seeds for Dharma will have been sown well enough to last during their re-entry and so on. Just having the idea of a network of people who care is a blessing for them. So thank you again for your help."

Blessings, Judy Patterson
Padma Ling Buddhist Center
1014 W. Seventh Ave.,
Spokane, WA 99204
(509) 747-1559


• DHARMA SEED WEB DEVELOPMENT FUND

"Dear Sangha Members, On behalf of Dharma Seed, I'd like to gratefully acknowledge your generous donation to our Web Development Fund. These funds will enable us to complete the building of our website and eventually offer several thousand talks--free to stream or download and make personal copies. May our combined efforts help to alleviate the suffering in the world. Many blessings to you all."

Bowing, Nancee Bershot (Board President)
Dharma Seed
Box 66 Wendell Depot, MA 01380
800-969-7333

• INSIGHT MEDITATION SOCIETY (IMS)
Our teacher calls this his "home away from home," where he does long self-retreats at the Forest Refuge. The IMS folks are replacing the "foamies" in each room with real beds and that takes $$$. We are delighted to help out a little.

We received the following note:

Dear Friends,
I am writing to express our deep appreciation for your recent gift to IMS. Your generosity helps us provide a spiritual refuge for all who seek freedom from the suffering of mind and heart. Thank you to all in your sangha for your service to the Dharma!

With metta, Gyano Gibson, IMS

GOODYBE WILLIS...

Sangha members remember
Willis Brewer in comments below

WILLIS’ FEET

How many times during this retreat
have I wanted to sit before you
and gently take your feet in my hands,
to push on those old bones
that have carried you so far.

Eyes down,
your feet have become my anchor.
Toes crooked
all of them reaching to the sky,
as in anticipation of your ascent.

Sitting, my vision extends
to the bell on my left
and your left foot on my right.

As I sit trying to be in the moment;
observing my discomfort;
waiting for the striker to hit;
your foot
still, upon the floor,
crooked with age
and worn with miles;
speaks to me of patience
and a slow awakening
of the work to be done.

by Tom A. at our November 2002 Retreat in Temecula

- - - - - - -

"It would be just about impossible to feel "down" in any way with Willis in the room. I had only been at two or three sits when Willis embraced me like a long, lost friend. It was a great big hug and made me feel really good. I felt like I had been hugged by the Buddha." Greg C.

- - - - - - -

"Much Light to Willis..."
from Janet M.

- - - - - - -

I'm not sure that it would be accurate for me to describe Willis Brewer as a personal friend -- at least not in the way most of us would probably define a friendship. Our relationship was mostly limited to Sunday meditations and to several extended silent retreats.

But to say that he wasn't a friend would be to overlook a connection that transcended the usual definitions. Ours was a relationship beyond words; beyond definition. It was a relationship forged in silence, and it remained that way until his death.

Some part of me regrets that I wasn't able to extend more of an offering of friendship outside of the sangha, but another part understands that that connection could never have been as deep nor as meaningful as the connection we shared in the quiet fullness of a Sunday meditation.

I didn't know Willis's personal story: I didn't know his likes and dislikes; I didn't know his hopes for the future nor his regrets for the past. I didn't know his opinions about politics or religion; his favorite baseball team or his favorite ice cream. I only knew his palpable presence and his love for me and everyone else in the sangha.

I think that in some ways the bonds we form in silence are stronger than those formed through the usual channels. There's something sacred about a relationship forged in silence. Perhaps all true relationship is built on a foundation of silence. (If the ground of our being is rooted in silence then this must surely be true.)

Willis was an anchor for our sangha, not so much for his words and actions (although his verbal and physical contributions were legion), but for his indomitable spirit and physical presence. I usually felt Willis's absence from a sit well before I was consciously aware of his not being there. I would feel a shift in the energy level and would instinctively look around the room to see what was different. Invariably that difference would be Willis's absence. Such was the strength of his presence; Such was the strength of our connection.

I am truly blessed to have known, and to have been known by Willis Brewer. His body and his mind may no longer be with us, but the silence that was the foundation of our friendship remains -- untouched and unchanged.

Dan Blair

WE GET LETTERS!

Hi Everybody,
Glenn and I have been in Japan for two weeks and have one more week to go. We have visited temples and shrines in Kyota, Nara, Tokyou and have been to Mt. Fuji and back. Everyone has been very kind to us. It helps that Glenn knows a little Japanese. I've learned about half a dozen phrases.

We will stay in Tokyo a few more days and then travel down to Hiroshima and back before returning to California.

I'm still reading the email news about the sangha and am glad to see that the practice is growing. I hope everyone is doing well. Love to all.

Namaste, Allison

posted 10/07

WE GET EMAILS!

Dear Long Beach Sangha,
I do not know if you will remember me. My name is Maureen and I am a nurse. I am at this time in the Democratic Republic of Congo with Doctors Without Borders, into a 9 month mission. The isolation is quite extreme, the situation of the country horrible, and I draw a lot of strength thinking back about the Long Beach Sangha. Thank you all. Please pass this message along to Victor and all. Metta, Maureen.
posted 6/06

----------------------------

I am here, almost buried in the corporate universe. Working too hard, but still taking the best care of myself that I can. I have missed our sits but am making an effort to take some time every day to sit in quiet in the evening. At least I had lots of company at work last Saturday. A whole bunch of people were in so I do not feel personally persecuted. It's one of those frantic situations that makes you see that impermanence is a blessing. It will all change tomorrow so as long as you don't fight it,it's okay. I'm bird-dogging a major major project due on the 23rd with a customer threatening to cancel a half-million dollar project on us if we don't pull it off. Bosses and colleagues tend to get kind of wound up about such things. Being a small, employee-owned company, it's more-or-less critical to our livelihood. And of course there are 2 other projects right behind this one.... The really big challenge is trying to maintain awareness, compassion and apply the 8-fold path to all of these crazy activities, crazy customers, crazy bosses and still remember to do your job. I think compassion is key and makes all the difference in the world in dealing with stressful situations. I went to a stress-management group a few times and they were really big on "detachment". I suppose in some situations that may be an appropriate survival mechanism, but I think it's an over-simplification. And they never tell you how it is you're supposed to detach. I'm absolutely certain that meditation and applying our daily practice is a better way. Namaste
posted 6/06