Events at Tilorien Monastery iSangha

Refuge Revisited – Deepening Commitment to a Wakeful Life
Online Retreat, 21-23 August

Starts: Friday, August 21st at 7 pm (CEST)
Ends: Sunday, August 23rd at 5 pm (CEST)

2020-08-21T17:00:00Z2020-08-23T15:00:00Z

Ayya Anopama and Deanna Burkett will offer an online retreat, including Insight Dialogue, on the weekend 21-23 August 2020, hosted by Tilorien Monastery’s iSangha.

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The global pandemic has confronted many of us with the truths of impermanence and suffering. This experience has also revealed places of unreliable, unexamined refuge: our career, physical health, daily routines, social relationships and our expectations for the future. Many of us have been directly confronted with the loss of these things which has challenged our deep conditioning to seek security in these ways of being in the world.

As we are seemingly returning, post lock-down, to things that feel familiar and safe, how do we remember, in a skillful and supportive way, that these places are not true refuges? How do we remain present and committed to live in ways that support awakening and an ease of heart in the face of ongoing uncertainty and suffering?

In this retreat, we will propose to take refuge in three precious qualities: Awareness, Compassion and Wisdom. Through the practices of silent meditation and Insight Dialogue, we will cultivate and explore these qualities as refuges which can support us in times of difficulty and joy and do not require that life returns to ‘normal’.

About Insight Dialogue

Insight Dialogue is a relational meditation practice designed to help us be awake in our everyday lives. It brings together meditative awareness, the wisdom teachings of the Buddha and the power of relationship, to support the development of liberating insight and compassion while investigating present moment experience.

Ayya Anopama has extensive meditation experience with a number of well-known teachers and has been sharing the Dhamma in various settings internationally. To find out more, go to: https://www.samita.be/en/monks-nuns/ayya-anopama/

Deanna Burkett was introduced to meditation while attending a month-long Yoga Teacher Training Intensive at the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health. She has been meditating since 2007 and going on annual silent meditation retreat since 2008. The felt experience of the body is central to her meditation practice and is an orienting factor in her practice and facilitation of Insight Dialogue. Deanna is a masters-level mental health professional, Certified Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) teacher, and Kripalu Yoga teacher. She has been facilitating MBSR groups since 2013, and teaching meditation for SMART Recovery, supporting meeting participants in recovery from addiction. She has trained as an Insight Dialogue facilitator and is currently studying Somatic Experiencing (SE).

Time of Retreat: The retreat starts on Friday 19.00 and ends on Sunday 17.00 (CEST)
2020-08-21T17:00:00Z2020-08-23T15:00:00Z (click here for a detailed schedule).

Prerequisites: prior meditation experience. This can include a consistent silent/solitary meditation practice or prior experience with mindfulness or meditation courses and retreats. Participants are asked to commit to participating for the entire retreat.

Limited Space: Due to the nature of online practice there is a limited number of places available. People will be accepted on a first come first serve basis.

Registration: Please complete the “Refuge Revisited” registration from (you will receive a confirmation email upon submission; if this doesn’t arrive, please check your junk mail and if it isn’t there, get in touch with using Tilorien’s contact page) .

Dana: This retreat is offered out of generosity. If you feel moved to engage in this circle of generosity and would like to support the facilitators and Tilorien Monastery in spreading the Dhamma you can make a donation by following this link and stating “Online Retreat: Refuge”: https://www.samita.be/en/donations

For more information about Tilorien Monastery and the iSangha, see: www.tilorien.org and www.tilorien.org/en/iSangha

For more information about Insight Dialogue, see: www.insightdialogue.org

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Ajahn Brahmali's 'Four Noble Truths retreat' moved online

Due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, we decided to move Ajahn Brahmali’s retreat online. Originally it was to take place in June in Belgium but will now take place from 25th November to 4th December online on Zoom at the Tilorien iSangha. Ajahn Brahmali has been so kind to offer the whole retreat online from Perth, including daily meditation instructions and Dhamma talks.

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Those who were already registered for the original retreat that was to take place last June will automatically be offered a place for this online retreat. Further registration for this retreat will open in October 2020. So watch this space!

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Bhante Sujato Metta Meditation series

In the last four weeks, we have started to re-publish a series of Dhamma talks on Metta Meditation on on Samita’s YouTube channel. A new part will be published every Friday.

In this 10-part series, Bhante Sujato describes in detail Ajahn Mahachatchai’s method of Metta Meditation. This course was given in Santi Forest Monastery over a period of 12 weeks during the 2007 monastic rains retreat.

It is the most detailed course of this method on the internet, brought with Bhante Sujato’s characteristic humor and deep understanding. This is a unique series that we wanted to highlight a bit more because it was very hard to find between other materials on the internet.

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Death meditation with Ven. Vimala

Date: 1st September 2020

  • In English: 18.00-19.00 CEST
    2020-09-01T16:00:00Z2020-09-01T17:00:00Z

  • In German: 19.30-20.30 CEST
    2020-09-01T17:30:00Z2020-09-01T18:30:00Z

On the death anniversary of her mother, Ven. Vimala will offer a death meditation in her honor.
Death is a natural part of life. Everything that comes into being must also one day pass away, but we can look back at the good times we had together while it lasted with great gratitude for how the relationship has enriched us. Ven. Vimala will lead a skeleton meditation and reflect on the impermanence of life and death, to guide us on our journey through life.

If you are registered at our iSangha already you can simply take part on the regular Zoom link. If not, you can do so on our iSangha page: iSangha – Tilorien Monastery

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Dhamma Contemplation Group with Gregory Kramer

We are very happy to announce that Gregory Kramer, the founding teacher and author of " Dharma Contemplation: Meditating Together with Wisdom Texts ", has agreed to facilitate a session of our Tilorien iSangha Dhamma Contemplation group on Monday 14th September from 19.30-21.00 CEST.
2020-09-14T17:30:00Z2020-09-14T19:00:00Z

The Dhamma Contemplation group is based on the methods as described in Gregory’s book.

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Gregory Kramer teaches, writes, and is the founding teacher of the Insight Dialogue Community. His primary focuses are sharing a relational understanding of the Dhamma and teaching Insight Dialogue, an interpersonal form of Buddhist insight meditation. He also developed Dharma Contemplation, a text-based contemplation practice. He has been teaching worldwide since 1980. For more, visit gregorykramer.org

If you would like to take part in the Dhamma Contemplation group, please register on our iSangha page: iSangha – Tilorien Monastery

After the Dhamma Contemplation session, Gregory has kindly offered to stay on until 21.30 CEST to answer questions with regards to Dharma Contemplation and Insight Dialogue.

There is also the intention to start an Insight Dialogue group starting in the second half of September. More information will be announced on our website and Facebook page closer to the time. If you are interested, you can sign up via the iSangha contact form stating ‘Insight Dialogue Peer Group’ to be informed once the date is confirmed.

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Death meditation with Ven. Vimala is now on Youtube

See the announcement at post #4 for context:

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Thank you for posting the link. I was very sad to have been unable to participate the day of the event.
:pray:

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Is everything OK at Tilorien? I just tried their website and the ISangha and I get

tilorien.org ’s server IP address could not be found.

I’m not tech-savvy enough to know what that really means, but I am hoping it is just some internet weirdness that is keeping me from connecting.
EDIT: I got a response from Samita ASBL
" We are changing the website to another server and it has been given some problems.

So the website is still offline for the time being.

Most news and information can also be found on the samita website www.samita.be

Tomorrow there is a workshop :Bhante Sujato—Life Hacks for the End of the World – Samita ASBL"

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I checked on https://downforeveryoneorjustme.com/ and their server seems to be offline for everyone.

Perhaps @Yasoj might be able to offer some insight?

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Ayya Vimala messaged me about this. Without saying too much, I had registered the original URL to protect it some years ago for Ayya (it has since been transferred over to Tilorien) , and provided the hosting through Godaddy. There seems to be some problem with the hosting on Godaddy and I am trying to resolve it. I am not tech savvy, and trying to find out why the hosting is down through Godaddy to get this remedied asap.

M

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I’m happy to know it is “merely” a technical issue.

Online retreat 13-15 November

Voices of Awakening – Poems of the First Free Women with Ayya Anopama and Nicola Redfern

Ayya Anopama and Nicola Redfern will offer an online retreat including Insight Dialogue on the weekend 13-15 November 2020, hosted by Tilorien Monastery’s iSangha.

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Using the poems from ‘The First Free Women’ which are based on the Therigatha, the world’s oldest collection of women’s literature, we will be exploring the struggles and moments of awakening of the very first nuns at the time of the Buddha. These women came from all walks of life and their realizations took many forms. Investigating these teachings connects us with the challenges and doubts, as well as with the perseverance and profound compassion embodied by these courageous women. Their lived experience and insights are deeply and immediately relevant to our own lives as practitioners today.

From the forward by Bhikkhuni Anandabodhi, spiritual advisor of Tilorien Monastery: “For me, these poems have been an invitation to bring light to the hidden corners and the broken parts, to the confused parts and the angry parts, to all the parts that have been pushed aside. Because it’s only when we bring everything onto the Path that the Path can truly transform us”

In this retreat we will come together to practice silent meditation as well as Insight Dialogue, bringing together the wisdom teachings of the Early Buddhist Nuns and the power of meditation in relationship to support deep insight.

We warmly welcome practitioners of all gender expressions to join us.

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To find out more about Ayya Anopama and Nicola Redfern, see: Ayya Anopama – Samita ASBL Teaching Community - Insight Dialogue Community

About Insight Dialogue

Insight Dialogue is a relational meditation practice designed to help us be awake in our everyday lives. It brings together meditative awareness, the wisdom teachings of the Buddha and the power of relationship, to support the development of liberating insight and compassion while investigating present moment experience.

Time of Retreat: The retreat starts on Friday 18.00 and ends on Sunday 18.00 (CEST)
2020-11-13T17:00:00Z2020-11-15T17:00:00Z

Prerequisites: prior meditation experience. This can include a consistent silent/solitary meditation practice or prior experience with mindfulness or meditation courses and retreats. Participants are asked to commit to participating for the entire retreat so we can weave a deep sense of community together.

Limited Space: Due to the nature of online practice there is a limited number of places available. People will be accepted on a first come first serve basis.

Registration: please complete the “Voices of Awakening” registration from (you will receive a confirmation email upon submission; if this doesn’t arrive, please check your junk mail and if it isn’t there, get in touch using Tilorien’s contact page) .

Dana: This retreat is offered out of generosity. If you feel moved to engage in this circle of generosity and would like to support the teachers and Tilorien Monastery in spreading the Dhamma you can make a donation by following this link and stating “Online Retreat: Voices of Awakening”: https://www.samita.be/en/donations

A similar retreat based on the poems will be offered by Ayya Anopama and Nicola Redfern in the US Time Zone 19-22 November. To find out more, see (edit: new valid link): Practice Groups - Insight Dialogue Community

For more information about Tilorien Monastery and the iSangha, see: www.tilorien.org and www.tilorien.org/en/iSangha

For more information about Insight Dialogue, see: www.insightdialogue.org

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Note: The link for the retreat in the US time zone has been updated:
Practice Groups - Insight Dialogue Community

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Ajahn Brahmali - Noble Eightfold Path retreat 2020

25th November - 4th December

Edit (23/11/2020): There are still a few places available for this retreat, also if you can only make it part-time, feel free to sign up. You can always catch up on the Dhamma Talks and guided meditations via our YouTube channel.

How many factors does the noble eightfold path have? Hmm … :thinking: Nothing could be more obvious, yet it is so common to find paths with one or more factors missing, and occasionally with factors added. If we want to reap the benefits of the Buddha’s path to awakening, we need to ensure we follow the instructions.

On this retreat Ajahn Brahmali will look at the various factors in quite a bit of detail, and also show how they all relate to each other. The purpose of the retreat is to give a clear overview of what is needed for full awakening, nothing less. Regardless of where you are on the path, and regardless of what your ambition is, you will find this useful.

There are still a few places open in this retreat. Sign up on the website:

Note: This event was announced in the 2nd post of this thread. The dates are the same but the topic has been restricted to the Noble Eightfold Path.

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Ayya Poonsirivara - Fun with Dhamma Active Learning

Saturday 28th November, 8-10 am CET
2020-11-28T07:00:00Z2020-11-28T09:00:00Z

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As part of Ajahn Brahmali’s retreat, Ayya Poonsirivara has kindly offered a program Fun with Dhamma Active Learning.
Everyone can actively participate and share with the group. Please bring A4 papers (or bigger if you have any), pen or pencil, crayon.

Ayya Poonsirivara will also treat us to a blend of traditional Thai and Sri Lankan chantings during the morning meditation groupsittings from 6 am to 7 am every day from 26th November - 4th December.
2020-11-26T05:00:00Z2020-12-04T06:00:00Z

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The recordings of the Dhamma talks and meditations of Ajahn Brahmali and Ayya Poonsirivara’s retreat (see posts #14 and 15 just above) are now available on this Youtube playlist:


More videos will be uploaded in the coming days.

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Ani Tenzin Wangmo - Buddhism in the West

Saturday, 19th December
18.00-19.00 Guided meditation
19.00-20.00 Dhamma talk & Q&A
2020-12-19T17:00:00Z2020-12-19T19:00:00Z

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Ani Tenzin Wangmo, PhD, is a Slovenian Tibetan nun. She obtained Rabjung ordination in 2004 in Ljubljana, Slovenia and Getsulma ordination in 2014 by His Holiness Dalai Lama in Dharamsala, India. She studied sociology and philosophy, comparative studies on death and dying with an emphasis on Tibetan Buddhism and received her PhD in 2014. She currently lives in Slovenia where she gives meditation and Dharma classes. You can read more about her on the website: Bio – Ani Tenzin Wangmo | SICGU | Main Home Page

V. Wangmo will lead us through her path of a Tibetan Buddhist nun, since childhood in a socialist Yugoslavia to becoming a nun, meeting the Dalai Lama and striving towards bringing complete Buddhist education in accordance with the Tibetan tradition also to the West. She will use the milestones of her journey to discuss a wider context of contemporary Buddhism, including Buddhism in the West, the conditions of western monks and nuns, gender related questions, blind faith and accessibility of study etc. She will be happy to answer your questions.

If you are already registered for the iSangha, there is nothing you need to do. Otherwise you can sign up here: iSangha – Tilorien Monastery


New Glasses for Ani

We are raising funds for new glasses for our friend Ani Tenzin Wangmo. Being alone as a nun and bringing Buddhism to Slovenia without much support is a great and courageous task. Being a female monastic in the west is already difficult enough and her dedication to bringing the Dhamma to her homeland is exemplary. We therefore want to support her a little by raising funds for some much needed new glasses. Any funds left over will go towards a new telephone, as this is her main connection to her students.

If you want to contribute, please send your donation to Samita ASBL and mention “Wangmo” with your donation.

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Dhamma Contemplation Group with Anita Bermont

21st December 2020, 7.30-9pm CET and 10.30am-12 PDT
2020-12-21T18:30:00Z2020-12-21T20:00:00Z

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It is with great delight that we warmly invite you to participate on our special DC Session-Celebration on the Solstice Day as we will be guided by Anita Bermont:

“Anita Bermont guides Insight Dialogue practice both online and in-person. When first encountering Insight Dialogue in the mid ’90s, the practice spoke immediately and strongly to her heart. With this recognition came a deep commitment to participating in the first face-to-face practice group. As the years have gone by, her commitment to the path inspired a return to school, earning an MA in Buddhist Studies. She participates in many of the Insight Dialogue Community teams and practice cohorts and coordinates the Insight Dialogue Teaching Community Coordinating team. Insight Dialogue gets called her ‘heart song’ practice and it is from this place that the practice is shared. Anita lives in Portland, Oregon, US.”

If you would like to take part in the Dhamma Contemplation group, please register on our iSangha page: http://tilorien.org/en/isangha/

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