Tahoma Unitarian Universalist Congregation

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Home Spirituality Adult Spiritual Development
Adult Spiritual Development
The purpose of Adult Spiritual Development is to promote a free and responsible search for truth and meaning in an open classroom setting, using a variety of curricula, activities, and speakers, and with guidance from the TUUC and the UUA principles. ASD helps participants to answer spiritual questions, such as: Who am I? Why am I here? What is it that I set my heart to? What shall I do? What is enlightenment?  Click on the Program Guide at the left to see the scheduled classes, workshops, and events.

A YEAR TO LIVE... What would you do?

A Year to Live

What would you do if you were told you had only one year to live? An Adult Religious Education group is forming that will meet through 2010 on the following Sundays of each month from 12:15 -2:15 pm to take up this question through exercises, meditations, and field trips.

January 31
February 28
March 28
April 25
May 23
June 27
July 25
August 22
September 26
October 24
November 21
December 19

Participants will need to read A Year to Live: How to Live This Year As If It Were Your Last by Stephen Levine prior to our January gathering; commit to attend at least 10 of 12 sessions; and work together with others to build the group's covenant. To register, please contact Karin Van Vlack at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or (253) 884-9888. Please note that this is a "what if?" endeavor, not a support group for the terminally ill.

 

Vipassana Meditation

A meditation group meets regularly in the sanctuary every Monday evening from 7 to 8:45 p.m. We begin with a silent sitting meditation for a half hour, then we listen to a talk by contemporary teachers from the Buddhist tradition, followed by a period of discussion and reflection. So far the teachers have been Rodney Smith, Thich Nhat Han, Pema Chodron, Sharon Salzburg, and Jack Kornfield. Please join us. For more informaion, contact Rob Gramenz, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

For Monday, January 11th, 2010:  As usual, we meet at the church at 7pm, sit for a half hour, then have a program, ending around 8:45.  This evening, Heather Kindem will facilitate the meditation and there will be an audio discussion by Eckhart Tolle.

 

Some additional notes from Rob:

Please come this next Monday, and invite others that might be interested. These notes contain information that could be helpful for those new to the practice, or considering beginning a meditation practice.

Books suggested by sangha members to support practice:

Change Your Mind by Paramananda

Breath by Breath by Larry Rosenberg

Rodney suggests the following book as a companion to his class:

The Beginners Guide to Insight Meditation by Arinna Weisman and Jean Smith

I am posting some web addresses here with explanations:

Please use the SIMS web site for information about classes, retreats, and general news about our main teacher's (Rodney Smith) sangha and activities:

http://www.seattleinsight.org/

 

For those who are new to this school of buddhist meditation (Theravada or Vipassana), Rodney has an excellent class that he teaches about twice a year.  This class consists of 6 talks and practice sessions and a final day-long non-residential retreat (non residential means that you do not stay at the retreat overnight). You can find the downloadable or stream-able talks on the web site.

http://www.seattleinsight.org/teachertalks.aspx?id=1

 

Tricycle Magazine is a non denominational quarterly subscription journal that includes articles and materials out of many Buddhist traditions, not just Vipassana.  Two years ago, they sponsored a 90 day Vipassana Meditation Challenge, designed to help motivate novice meditators and encourage development of a daily practice.  This year, the 90 day challenge  is in the Zen tradition, and it starts Monday Feb. 23. Some of us in the TUUC sangha will be following along with Tricycle in this activity (The Big Sit).  There are supportive texts and Dharma Talks on their web site that will be a part of this activity, if you sign up.  I suggest you go to the web site and check it out.

http://www.tricycle.com/

 



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