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We are a Theravada Buddhist community based in New Haven, Connecticut that seeks to create an inclusive space for all to learn about and practice meditation. |
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Dear Sangha,
This Saturday, August 1, from 10:30 am to 11:30 am, we will meet for a Simple Sit meditation ONLINE ONLY. We will continue sits without a facilitator for the month.
Join us online by clicking below:
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I go among trees and sit still.
All my stirring becomes quiet around me
like circles on water.
My tasks lie in their places where I left them
asleep like cattle.
Then what is afraid of me comes
and lives a while in my sight.
What it fears in me leaves me
and the fear of me leaves it.
It sings and I hear its song.
Than what I am afraid of comes.
I live for a while in its sight.
What I fear in it leaves it
and the fear of it leaves me.
It sings and I hear its song.
- Wendell Barry
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How to Start a Meditation Practice That Actually Sticks
It’s simpler than you think to develop your own meditation practice
Rob Dube
When I first started my business in 1991, a meditation practice was the furthest thing from my mind. In fact, it would be more than a decade before I tried it out and discovered how much meditation could benefit my leadership and my personal well-being. Even then, I considered starting a meditation practice but kept putting it off because I felt I was too busy. I researched its benefits, I learned how to get started, but it took years for me to finally commit to a daily practice.
If this sounds familiar, you’re not alone! Like you, I understood that mindfulness meditation could increase my ability to focus, help me regulate my emotions, and even improve my health. But as the owner and president of a growing company, I told myself I was too busy to carve time out of my day to do nothing. Finally, I reached a breaking point and decided to give meditation a try. Today, I’m twelve years into a daily meditation practice and even take biannual silent retreats to deepen my practice.
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The Path of Concentration and Mindfulness
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Mindfulness means being able to remember where you want to keep your awareness; alertness means being aware of what’s actually happening.
— Ajahn Thanissaro
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Many people tell us that the Buddha taught two different types of meditation: mindfulness meditation and concentration meditation. Mindfulness meditation, they say, is the direct path, while concentration practice is the scenic route that you take at your own risk because it’s very easy to get caught there and you may never get out. But when you actually look at what the Buddha taught, he never separates these two practices. They are both parts of a single whole. Every time he explains mindfulness and its place in the path, he makes it clear that the purpose of mindfulness practice is to lead the mind into a state of Right.
Part of the “two practices” issue centers on how we understand the word jhāna, which is a synonym for Right Concentration. Many of us have heard that jhāna is a very intense trance-like state that requires intense staring and shutting out the rest of the world. It sounds nothing like mindfulness at all. But if you look in the Canon where the Buddha describes jhāna, that’s not the kind of state he’s talking about. To be in jhāna is to be absorbed, very pleasurably, in the sense of the whole body altogether. A very broad sense of awareness fills the entire body. One of the images the Buddha used to describe this state is that of a person kneading water into dough so that the water permeates throughout the flour. Another is a lake in which a cool spring comes welling up and suffuses the entire lake. Concentration—to get the mind to settle down and to find a place where it can really feel stable, at home, where it can look at things steadily and see them for what they are.
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ECI Online Sits
Sunday Sit at 7:30 am
- Community meditation
- Sunday, 7:30–8:30am
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Weekday Morning Sit
- Community meditation
- Monday through Friday,
7:30–8:30am
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C
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August: Sat Sit Schedule
Simple Sit Aug 1, 8, 15, 22
August 29: Day long Sit
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Sangha NOTES
Dana
Dana, the practice of generosity, supports teachers in continuing practice and the lineage of Buddhist teachings. If you benefit from these practices and from this community, please consider supporting us. Dana is currently used to support our website, arrange visiting dhamma teachers, help to feed the New Haven community in need, and support the New Haven Free Public Library in gratitude for their generosity in providing our Saturday meeting space.
The easiest way to contribute is through this link where you can make a donation via Venmo or with a credit or debit card (via PayPal, no account required). Alternatively, if you want to send a check, please address it to:
Elm Community Insight
PO Box 6195
40 Putnam Ave
Hamden, CT 06517
Volunteering
We are seeking volunteers to assist with future Saturday Sangha meetings, including setting up, greeting visitors, and providing technical support at the Library. One way to help is to arrive early at the Library (~10:10 am) to help set up the room for Saturday Sangha. Thank you!
Community Resources
Melanie Stengel is the Sangha's Goodwill Ambassador: if have a need for concrete support (e.g., dog care, food, furniture moving) or emotional support (e.g., going through a hard time, would appreciate check-ins or visits), please reach out to her for coordination by clicking here: SanghaGoodwillAmbassador.
For supportive telephone conversation, warm lines are another resource. These phone lines are staffed by people with expertise in providing mutual aid. A list of Connecticut's warm lines is available here.
Our Community
Find more information about us, learn more about community meditation resources, or subscribe to our newsletter, visit our website at: elmcommunityinsight.org
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