More events at Tilorien Monastery iSangha

The Watercooler
1

Following on from this thread, there are more events at the iSangha of Tilorien Monastery:

Bhante Sujato speaks at Tilorien’s iSangha on 25th April: Now we are all Rapunzel – Singing lessons in the Kingdom of Corona

We are very happy that Banthe Sujato from Australia has agreed to give a talk at the Tilorien iSangha on Saturday 25th April from 9.30-11am CEST (see here for other time zones).

Bhante Sujato is an Australian Buddhist monk in the Thai Forest tradition. More on Bhante Sujato can be found here Bhante Sujato – Samita ASBL.

Because of the time difference with Australia, the regular Friday night iSangha meeting on 24th April is moved to Saturday morning 25th April.

10 Likes
2
6 Likes
3

Tsunma Tenzin Dasel speaks at iSangha on 2nd May – Courage and Compassion in Challenging Times

You are very warmly invited to join Tsunma Tenzin Dasel from Northern India at the Tilorien iSangha (iSangha – Tilorien Monastery) for a Dhamma Talk, meditation and discussion on Saturday 2nd May from 9.30-11am CEST (see here for other time zones ).

“The uncertainty and fear in the context of the current pandemic provide us with the opportunity to become more familiar with the truth of impermanence and our habitual seeking for control. The Buddha Dharma often teaches the reality of uncertainty in our existence, with change and death being certain. We can choose courage and compassion as valid and supportive practices to guide us, day to day, breath by breath, to maintain a happy heart and healthy mind. During this session we will also learn the Tibetan meditation called tonglen, the practice of willingly taking on suffering and sending out loving kindness, as an effective way to grow our courage and compassion.”

Tsunma Tenzin Dasel is the lead teacher and meditation guide at her home center Tashi Gatsel Ling in Maine, USA. She collaborates with several ME high schools to give talks on Buddhism and guides meditation for the students and teachers. She returns to TGL once a year.

Tsunma Tenzin Dasel is a 1988 graduate with a BA from the prestigious Bates College, in Maine, USA. She received her Degree of Master in Arts from the respected Bangor Theological Seminary, the third oldest seminary in the USA, where she graduated summa cum laude.

An experienced practitioner and teacher of meditation, she is the founder of Maine Mindfulness Project in the USA. She has instructed thousands of people and helped many through counseling and meditation.

In March 2019, due to Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo’s long time foreign nun assistant returning to Australia, Tsunma Dasel became Jetsunma’s assistant and serves her at Dongyu Gatsal Ling Nunnery in Northern India.

Because of the time difference with India, the regular Friday night iSangha meeting on 1st May is moved to Saturday morning 2nd May.

4 Likes
4

Vesak Online – A Day of Celebration and Contemplation at iSangha on 9th May

Dear friends,

You are warmly invited to join us online for Vesak , the most important celebration in the Theravada Buddhist calendar, which marks the birth, enlightenment and passing away ( paranibbana ) of the Buddha.

Vesak is a wonderful occasion for coming together. Our intention for the day is to share and practice in community and to contemplate the Buddha, Dhamma and the Sangha in gratitude and joy. There will be chanting, silent meditation, movement and sharing.

The day will be guided by Ayya Anopama and Riët Aarsse. You can find out more about them by visiting: Ayya Anopama – Samita ASBL and Riët Aarsse | Amsterdam Inzichtmeditatie

Time: 9.30am-4.30pm CEST (see here for other time zones ).

Registration: For registration, please send a message to
Tilorien stating ‘Vesak’ in the subject heading. You will then receive further details for participation and online access. Places are limited.

The day is offered out of gratitude and generosity and made possible with kind support of Vipassana-Meditation Centre Groningen and Amsterdam Insight Meditation. If you feel moved to give dana, you can offer to Tilorien Monastery, stating ‘iSangha’ via: https://www.samita.be/en/donations/

8 Likes
5

I’ll leave this comment here so that you can keep posting on this thread. I enjoy meeting with y’all on iSangha!
:anjal: :anjal: :anjal:

4 Likes
6

The iSangha talk by Bhante Sujato from 25th of April has now been uploaded to YouTube:

6 Likes
8

Thanks so much for sharing Ang. Sabbamitta, your ever-service to the Dhamma and chums on the path is so greatly appreciated!

Timothy, I’m sure your objection is good-spirited and well-intentioned, but the guidelines don’t really support your point.

Excerpt from the guidelines:

The Watercooler Category

If posting to the Watercooler category please take particular care to make sure your post belongs there. As noted above, this forum is about Early Buddhist Texts. We do, nevertheless, have a Watercooler category for more informal, relaxed, light-hearted exchange. We still encourage that posts to this category are related to the Dhamma, but this is not a fixed rule and an amount of leeway is allowed for other topics. However, there is no leeway with regards to the guideline that all posts to the Watercooler must be of a friendly, light-hearted and harmony-promoting nature. The Watercooler is a place to support each other and make connections, not to prove a point or for heated debate.

3 Likes
9

Likewise! Without someone preparing the videos and uploading them, what could I share?

And thanks for reminding the guidelines!

@Timothy, I am sure there is no bad intention involved in your comment.

1 Like
11

Thanks for your concern for the rules.

However, the “Watercooler” category has explicitly been made to allow for posts with a bit more loose content. Please check the guidelines. Aminah has posted an excerpt above for reference (click on the arrow to see the excerpt).

3 Likes
12

Hi Timothy :slightly_smiling_face:

The Watercooler was created for just what @Aminah pointed out: informal, lighthearted exchange that is preferably Dhamma related. It has come about over the years that different teams of mods may have interpreted that in slightly different ways, always responding to the manner in which the forum was using the category.

As a former member of the mod team I’m sure you remember the amount of discussion that is involved in determining what bumps up against proper use of the Watercooler and what doesn’t. No, we’re not perfectly consistent. But we do our best.

4 Likes
13

Much metta and appreciation to Tilorian ISangha and others who are providing the (mostly EBT-oriented :sweat_smile:) Dhamma exposition and chanting that we cannot currently have in person.

I see that Bhante Sujato’s New Year retreat are on YouTube: Audio & CDs – Samita ASBL. Is the audio also available separately (I generally prefer to just listen, unless there are actual visual aids - I can, of course, convert YouTube to audio, but if it’s available, that’s faster… )?

:heart:

2 Likes
14

Well, the original recording of this retreat is audio only. As Samita’s website doesn’t have a huge storage capacity, it is not possible to upload many retreat talks there, which is why these talks have been uploaded to YouTube. In order to do so, it has to be a video, so a picture has been added. It’s not really a video, it’s just an audio recording with an additional picture.

Maybe at some point @musiko finds the time to make nice audio files? In that case I could put you in touch with Samita’s sound technician (who is not a user on D&D) for the original sound files.

4 Likes
15

Already have them prepared :wink:, but didn’t manage to upload them yet.

Coming soon™

7 Likes
16

:clap:

Your efforts are really appreciated! I converted Bhante’s NY talks to MP3 myself. Not hard with online tools, but it’s so nice to have them easily accessible as MP3…
Now, I must go for a walk and listen to the next talk while it is still sunny here… :low_brightness:

5 Likes
17

The video of today’s iSangha talk by Tsunma Tenzin Dasel has been uploaded to YouTube—THANK YOU, @Aminah!

5 Likes
18

Venerable Akāliko speaks at iSangha on 16th May – The Joy of Giving

You are very warmly invited to join Venerable Akaliko at the Tilorien iSangha ( iSangha – Tilorien Monastery ) for a Dhamma Talk, meditation and discussion on Saturday 16 May from 9.30-11am CEST ( see here for other time zones ).

During the Covid-19 pandemic we saw panic buying and stockpiling, but also beautiful acts of sharing and kindness. The Buddha frequently praised generosity, saying it was a beautiful ornament for our mind. Through the act of giving, we abandon selfish, miserly states of mind, allowing joy and happiness to arise instead.

Join Venerable Akāliko for reflections and a guided meditation on generosity and discover how giving deepens your spiritual practice, bringing benefits to others and yourself.

Akāliko Bhikkhu is an Australian monk in the Theravada forest tradition. Bhante Akāliko first encountered Buddhism as a teenager and spent over twenty years practising in different traditions both in Australia and overseas, before taking full ordination at Bodhinyana Monastery with Ajahn Brahm as his preceptor. He is the founder of Rainbodhi LGBTQIA+ Buddhist Community and a Buddhist chaplain at Western Sydney University.

He currently resides with his long-term teacher, Bhante Sujato, at Lokanta Vihara (the Monastery at the End of the World) in Sydney, Australia.

www.facebook.com/akalikobhikkhu

https://lokanta.github.io/

8 Likes
19
6 Likes
20

Abiding Beyond Limits – The Brahma Viharas. An Insight Dialogue online course 18th May – 8th June

Ayya Anopama & Juliane Dienemann will offer an online Insight Dialogue course to explore the Brahma Viharas on four consecutive Mondays, 18th & 25th May, 1st & 8th June, from 19.15-21.15 (CEST) as part of Tilorien Monastery’s iSangha progamme.

Bildschirmfoto vom 2020-05-06 11-40-56

The sudden appearance of a global pandemic confronts us most immediately with the fragility of life and the truth of suffering. More than ever do we sense our relatedness: in life, in sickness and in death. And yet, in the struggle to find some stability, our more unhelpful tendencies seem to be reinforced: to separate, alienate, to accumulate and to attempt controlling what cannot be controlled.

The Brahma Viharas , also called ‘Sublime Abidings’ or ‘Immeasurables’, offer a way out of this spiral. As undetachable qualities of the heart, they can offer us an unlimited resource and refuge when we face distress: never distant, always available. By exploring and cultivating them, we can discover our intimate connection with others and the world as a whole – beyond physical distancing, beyond borders. This realization can provide us with the strength and courage to face the world’s challenges with wisdom and compassion. As expressions of a liberated mind the Brahma Viharas have the potential to become a gateway for liberating insight and for the mind’s deliverance itself.

Together we will cultivate, investigate and dwell in these ‘Immeasurable Abidings’ of Benevolence, Compassion, Appreciative Joy and Equanimity in silence and speech. The powerful practice of Insight Dialogue will support us in engaging inquiry with kindness and wisdom, bringing the meditative qualities of mindfulness and stillness into our relationships.

Ayya Anopama has extensive meditation experience with a number of well-known teachers and been sharing the Dhamma in various settings internationally. To find out more, go to: Ayya Anopama – Samita ASBL

Juliane Dienemann has been practicing in the Insight Meditation tradition since 2014 and spends several weeks a year on retreat. She has a keen interest in a relational understanding of the Dhamma. One of her passions is exploring how the Buddhist wisdom teachings can foster appropriate responses to the socio-ecological challenges of our time. Juliane worked as a secondary school teacher and studied Literature and Philology, Sustainable Development, International Management and Organizational Psychology. Since 2016 she has been leading groups on interpersonal mindfulness and generative dialogue. Currently, she is training as Insight Dialogue facilitator.

Prerequisites: prior Insight Dialogue and meditation experience.

Limited Space: Due to the nature of online practice there are a limited number of spaces available. Out of respect to all who wish to participate, we ask that, before registering, you are committed to attending all sessions for the duration of the course. Naturally, we will be flexible with extenuating circumstances that arise during this time. People will be accepted on a first come first serve basis and their ability to commit to attending all sessions.

Registration: send a message to Tilorien stating ‘Insight Dialogue: Brahma Viharas’ in the subject line. Details and access to the designated zoom room will be sent prior to the start of the course.

This course is offered out of gratitude and generosity. If you feel moved to engage in this circle of generosity and would like to offer dana to support the facilitators and the teachings at Tilorien Monastery, you can do so following this link and stating ‘Insight Dialogue’: 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

4 Likes
21

Ayya Anandabodhi speaks at iSangha on 22 May: Words of Awakening – Poems of the Early Buddhist Nuns

You are very warmly invited to join Ayya Anandabodhi, Tilorien Monastery’s spiritual advisor, on Friday 22 May at 7pm CEST (local times) at Tilorien’s iSangha (iSangha – Tilorien Monastery) where she will share poems from The First Free Women – Poems of the Early Buddhist nuns , opening up the teachings that are woven into these timeless verses.

The poems are based on the Therigata (verses of the Senior Nuns), verses uttered by some of the very first, fully awakened Buddhist nuns living in the times of the Buddha. The Therigata is the world’s oldest collection of women’s literature, forming the basis for ‘ The First Free women – Poems of the Early Buddhist Nuns’ which offers a radical and contemporary adaptation of these verses while remaining true to the essence of each poem and highlighting the struggles and doubts, as well as the strength, perseverance, and profound compassion, embodied by these courageous women.

Ayya Anandabodhi first encountered the Buddha’s teachings in her early teens, igniting a deep interest in the Buddha’s Path of Awakening. She lived and trained as a nun in the Forest Tradition at Amaravati and Chithurst monasteries in England from 1992 until 2009, when she moved to the US to help establish Aloka Vihara, a training monastery for women.

Her practice and teaching are guided by early Buddhist scriptures and through nature’s pure and immediate Dhamma. In 2011 she took full Bhikkhuni Ordination, joining the growing number of women who are reclaiming this path given by the Buddha.

In 2016 she received the Global Bhikkhuni Award:Anandabodhi

14 Likes
22

The video of last Saturday’s iSangha talk by Bhikkhu Akaliko has been uploaded to YouTube—with many thanks to @Aminah:

7 Likes