the suchness of sangha | sacred irreverence

Fact: Many of us don’t carry cash. Funny: The hilariously-creative alternative that was offered instead, with affection and sincerity I must add, by a friend wanted to honor the practice of generosity.  So, henceforth, let it be known that scratch-offs and books of stamps will gleefully be accepted as donations…psst, along with gift cards, sushi,…

Read More

on refuge + resistance | reclaiming king’s dream

We begin this historic week with the commemoration of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the National Day of Racial Healing as we trudge toward the final day that our country’s first Black president, Barack Obama, will stand as head of state. Fueled and aflame, with our hearts and minds resting on justice, liberation and healing,…

Read More

special sangha event [1/22]: deep refuge + restoration circle

Harnessing the energy and light of the Women’s March in Washington as well our very own March on #LoveLansing, Sangha will draw closer together to shine our beacon of refuge, resistance, and restoration. Living Into Community, Building Our Capacity with the Noble Eightfold Path. 11 am – 12:30 pm | Meditation + Dharma Discussion 12:30 –…

Read More

the eightfold path: on skillful speech, skillful action + skillful livelihood

Sangha is studying how we “live into community” and the purpose of gathering as spiritual friends to build our capacity for skillfulness and resilience. To that end, we’re contemplating the Eightfold Path as a set of embodied practices that help us develop wisdom, ethical action, and various faculties that support our meditation. The Eightfold Path is the fourth of…

Read More

happy 2017 | beginning anew on the noble eightfold path

  Sangha enters the New Year by continuing our steady journey along the Noble Eightfold Path: 8 January | Beginning Anew + Skillful Speech (part II) 15 January | Skillful Action 22 January | Skillful Livelihood 5 February | Skillful Effort 12 February | Skillful Mindfulness 19 February | Skillful Concentration   a look back: on skillful…

Read More

words to live by | omid safi

“Let us mourn the ending of one world together, even as we anticipate the arrival of other, more joyous worlds to come. Let us not suffer in the shadow, alone. Let our grief be as public and shared, loved and supported, as we insist our joys be. There is healing and redemption in that togetherness.”…

Read More

criteria for skillful communication

Last December, I was invited to give a presentation to fellow members of my local Facilitators Guild on the 4 Gates of Speech after referencing them in one of our monthly meetings. As I prepared, I discovered overlapping ideas across various wisdom traditions and expanded my presentation into a list of Criteria for Skillful Communication below.  Cultivating skillful…

Read More

on kindred practices: prayer, silence + spacious awareness

“In Buddhism, simply resting in a relaxed, open, spacious state of mind without purpose and without a goal is considered the highest form of spiritual practice… This spacious awareness is considered both an advanced practice and a practice even the merest beginner can do. This seems paradoxical, but when a beginner does it, it has…

Read More

on the dharma shelf | december 2016

there are no new ideas, just new ways of giving those ideas we cherish breath and power in our own living. ~ audre lorde  In a given season I cycle through a stack of books and frequently exchange “currently reading” snap shots with my circle of family and friends. What and when I read depends…

Read More

on the danger of delusion + co-signing craziness

Requiem: Prelude, Coda, Encore  This. Again — a million hoodies, a million hearts: metta behind the movement for trayvon martin I didn’t know where to physically place this section in the body of this writing. An overlapping marker on the timestream — the beginning, the end, the looping back to repeat for impact and emphasis —…

Read More