Blog Posts - Open Heart Zen Sangha

Saturday Retreat via Zoom - January 21, 2023, from 9 am to noon

12/22/2022

To register for the retreat, please send an e-mail to [email protected]
containing the following information:
First name, Last Name, Part time or Full time,
(Part time participants - please specify the time frame)
This is a great opportunity to have moments of peace and quiet before beginning of the busy holiday season.
Looking forward to seeing you at the retreat.

Monthly Group Discussion December 28, 2022, @ 7 PM

12/22/2022

This month's group discussion is focusing on Chapter 7 Right Concentration and Chapter 8 The Development of Wisdom of the book "The Way to the End of Suffering" by Bhikkhu Bodhi.
Before the discussion, the group will view these two videos.
The Noble Eightfold Path - Right Concentration by Ajahn Sona (18 minutes)
The tenfold path -Right Knowledge and Liberation by Ajahn Sona (12 minutes)
Ajahn Sona is a first wave Western Theravāda ordained practitioner. He took full monastic ordination at the first Theravāda monastery in the United States in 1989. His pre-monastic education is in philosophy, humanities, and specifically classical Western music. These have been an aid in understanding the Western psyche and trying to establish paradigm bridges between East and West.

Saturday Half Day Retreat - November 19, 2022, from 9 am to noon

11/19/2022

To register for the retreat, please send an e-mail to [email protected]
containing the following information:
First name, Last Name, Part time or Full time,
(Part time participants - please specify the time frame)
This is a great opportunity to have moments of peace and quiet before beginning of the busy holiday season. Looking forward to seeing you at the retreat.

No Weekly Practice on Wednesday, November 23, 2022

11/15/2022

Monthly Group Discussion Wednesday, November 30, 2022 @ 7 PM

11/15/2022

The discussion topic is "Right Mindfulness", Chapter 6 of the book "The Way to the End of Suffering"
by Bhikkhu Bodhi. Before the discussion, the group will view two videos:
The first is short, just five minutes, on mindfulness in the context of the eightfold path, from the Zenways youtube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFa2_85z1rk
and the second is longer, 20 minutes, a more expansive discussion of mindfulness from Thich Nhat Hanh:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2uV1V1M_3g

Monthly Group Discussion October 26, 2022, @ 7 PM

10/21/2022

The group will view three videos presented by Ajahn Sona.
Right Effort Basic (1) 10:27 minutes
https://youtu.be/M4AoOHNX-Cc
Right EffortBasic (2) Preventing Troublesome Emotions 9:28 minutes
https://youtu.be/-cHxBxb_I6Y
Right Effort Basic (3): How To Be Happy 14:18minutes
https://youtu.be/NOJO4ezlxt0
Ajahn Sona is a first wave Western Theravāda ordained practitioner. He took full monastic ordination at the first Theravāda monastery in the United States in 1989. His pre-monastic education is in philosophy, humanities, and specifically classical Western music. These have been an aid in understanding the Western psyche and trying to establish paradigm bridges between East and West.

For those who are reading the book "The Way to the End of Suffering" by Bhikkhu Bodhi , and the focus will be on chapter 5 - Right Efforts. (Click to view the PDF version of the book).

Group Discussion September 28, 2022, @ 7 PM

9/23/2022

For September 28th, the monthly group discussion stays on the theme of "The Noble Eightfold Path". The group will continue reading the book "The Way to the End of Suffering" by Bhikkhu Bodhi , and the focus will be on chapter 4 - Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood. (Click to view the PDF version of the book).
Two videos - What is Right Speech and What is Right Action (click on title to view the video) are selected to accommodate the reading.

Saturday Retreat- September 17, 2022 from 9 am to noon

8/22/2022

To register for the retreat, please send an e-mail to [email protected]
containing the following information:
First name, Last Name, Part time or Full time,
(Part time participants - please specify the time frame)
Looking forward to seeing you at the retreat.

Monthly Group Discussion - August 31, 2022, @ 7 PM

8/21/2022

For August 31, the monthly group discussion stays on the theme of "The Noble Eightfold Path". The group will continue reading the book "The Way to the End of Suffering" by Bhikkhu Bodhi , and the focus will be on chapter 2 -Right View and Chapter 3 -Right Intentions (Click to view the PDF version of the book).

Monthly Group Discussion, July 27, 2022, @ 7 PM

7/13/2022

Starting July till October, the theme of the monthly group discussion will be an overview of "The Noble Eightfold Path". the group will view a 30 minutes video "Secular Buddhism podcast with Noah Rasheta, #83, The Eightfold Path." ,(Click to view) , followed by discussion. For those who are reading the book "The Way to the End of Suffering" by Bhikkhu Bodhi , the focus will be on the first chapter (page 1 to 12- Click to view the PDF version of the book).