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Announcing the NEXT book in the Everyday Buddhism Book Club - Beginning on March 4, 2024.
Are you looking for a way to read Buddhist-oriented books with others, so you can stay motivated and be inspired? BUT you're not ready or able to commit to a sangha? We've got just the thing for you! A curated, virtual book club using a combination of message-based discussions and once-monthly live, virtual gatherings led by Wendy Shinyo Haylett of the Everyday Buddhism podcast, sangha, and membership community.
The next book starts on on Monday, March 4, 2024, in the online community for 'reading assignments' and initial text-based discussion. The book is: Your Heart Was Made For This: Contemplative Practices for Meeting a World in Crisis with Courage, Integrity & Love by Oren Jay Soffer.
The club online discussions are hosted on the private, Everyday Buddhism platform, in a dedicated book club "room". The first live meeting will be Thursday, March 28, 2024 and 7:00PM U.S. Eastern Time. Subsequent live meetings will be scheduled for the last Thursday of each month. Online discussions will continue between meetings, as participant messages on the private forum.
The book club is FREE to Everyday Buddhism Community members. If you are not a Community or Sangha Member, see below to for how to join the Book Club ONLY.
Buy the book (Everyday Buddhism Amazon affiliate link): Your Heart Was Made for This: Contemplative Practices for Meeting a World in Crisis with Courage, Integrity, and Love by Oren Jay Soffer
Register for the Everyday Buddhism Book Club: https://donorbox.org/special-book-club_heartsoffer
* Please note: No one will be turned away. If you are unable to donate $5, please contact me at: wendyshinyo@everyday-buddhism.com and we will support and register you.
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The Everyday Sangha begins a new study of The Way of the Bodhisattva beginning with the meeting on February 10, 2024
These are the books we will be using:
The main text we will be using is The Way of the Bodhisattva: (Bodhicaryavatara), Revised Edition (Shambhala Classics), by Shantideva and translated by the Padmakara Translation Group. The link below is an Amazon affiliate link to the book:
There are other translations (notably A Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life, translated by Stephen Batchelor). If you own that book, it will work, but in my opinion, it does not have the richness of verse that the Shambhala publication has and I believe the "feeling" isn't quite there.
We will also be using a commentary / practice book, Becoming Bodhisattvas: A Guidebook for Compassionate Action by Pema Chodron for the study. Amazon affiliate link: https://amzn.to/3tSfXjI
There is also a wonderful commentary by His Holiness The Dalai Lama, if you are interested. It is: For the Benefit of All Beings: A Commentary on the Way of the Bodhisattva. It will not be officially part of our practice, but as an FYI. Again, the link below is an Amazon affiliate link to the book: https://amzn.to/48U7Amu
The Everyday Sangha is a virtual sangha (via Zoom) held every-other Saturday at 10:00AM EDT U.S.
Feel free to join at any time, even if you haven't yet purchased the book we are studying. The Dharma talks and open sangha discussion touch on things in everyone's life and you don't need to read the book.
Our sangha meetings consist of service first, including a short meditation period, traditional vow recitations and other invocations (refuge, bodhisattva vows, etc.) and some chanting. The service introduces more ritual and liturgy into the structure of our meeting, much like you would find at a non-virtual Buddhist temple, church, or sangha.
The service includes a Dharma talk by one of the practice leaders or myself, Wendy Shinyo Sensei, and, many times a volunteer Dharma Glimpse by a sangha member. After the service, we open it up to discussion of the current book study or anything that was inspired by one of the Dharma talks.
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The NEXT Introduction to Buddhism course begins Thursday, February 22, 2024
The next Introduction to Buddhism Course starts on Thursday, February 22nd, 2024 at 7:30PM U.S. Eastern Time (virtual via Zoom)!
The course is a real-life approach to living the Noble Eightfold Path, based on the course text, Everyday Buddhism: Real-Life Teachings & Practices for Real Change, by Wendy Shinyo Haylett Sensei.
The course is FREE to Everyday Buddhism Community and Everyday Sangha members. If you are not a Community or Sangha Member and don't wish to join either, the suggested donation is $25. It runs 9 weeks, from Thursday, February 22nd through Thursday, April 18th, 2024.
We will need a donation or request for scholarship to ensure your registration. If you join the Membership Community or Everyday Sangha, you can cancel your participation in those and the Intro Course at any time.
* PLEASE NOTE: No one will be turned away. If you are unable to donate or join at the Member or Sangha level, please contact me at: wendyshinyo@everyday-buddhism.com
Click on the "Intro to Buddhism Course and Registration" tab above for more details and to register:
More info or to register for the Introduction to Buddhism Course
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Listen to the latest Members' Only Bonus Podcast: A Listener's Question on Religion!
This is the first of a multi-part member's only bonus podcast, responding to a listener question about religion and Buddhism. I had originally planned a panel podcast discussion with 3 people coming from diverse religious backgrounds, but who now identify as Buddhist and/or practice Buddhism.