Sangha Care Meetings and Updates
New Year, New Name: Second Heart Sangha
Our beloved teacher, Thich Nhat Hanh, coined the word, Interbeing to describe the teaching of the Buddha that all phenomena are empty of a separate, independent existence, each one an interconnected composite of everything else. As Thay says, “empty of a separate self means full of everything in the universe.” Over five years ago when our sangha was founded in Kingston, we borrowed this beautiful word to use as our name. However, as the teaching of Interbeing itself explains, things manifest when factors and conditions are right, and when factors and conditions no longer support that existence, they transform into something else.
The Order of Interbeing was founded more than five decades ago, at the same time the word itself was coined. All local sanghas in the Plum Village tradition are a continuation of Thay’s movement, but over the past five years, our chosen name has occasionally confused newcomers, as well as those already connected to our tradition, because Interbeing, as a group name, truly belongs to Thay’s original monastic community. We do not have a unique name by which to identify ourselves, and this is especially unhelpful for sangha building online.
For our sangha, the pandemic has been a period of survival followed by growth. We have weathered the storm and transformed into an online community of practice for a supportive group of regular participants, from both Kingston and far beyond. This has been supported by intentional actions taken by our Sangha Care Team. In Fall 2020, we made the decision to transition to a shorter name (without “of Kingston”) informally, while pursuing growth online and planning to remain a hybrid online group long term, placing ads on social media to attract participants outside of Kingston. More recently, in Fall 2021 our Sangha Care Team reviewed a proposal to support a new name, and reached consensus that Second Heart Sangha was an inspired and skillful choice.
The phrase “Second Heart” is the namesake teaching of Thay’s profound book, The Sun, My Heart, and closely related to our original name, describing how all living beings, and everything on earth, “inter-are” with the sun, and ultimately inter-are with the whole universe. At the centre of The Sun, My Heart, Thay writes that the sun is everyone’s second heart:
“Look at the immense light we call the sun. If it stops shining, the flow of our life will also stop, and so the sun is our second heart, our heart outside of our body. This immense “heart” gives all life on earth the warmth necessary for existence. Plants live thanks to the sun. Their leaves absorb the sun’s energy, along with carbon dioxide from the air, to produce food for the tree, the flower, the plankton. And thanks to plants, we and other animals can live. All of us — people, animals, and plants — “consume” the sun, directly and indirectly. We cannot begin to describe all the effects of the sun, that great heart outside of our body. In fact, our body is not limited to what lies inside the boundary of our skin. Our body is much greater, much more immense.”
–Thich Nhat Hanh, The Sun, My Heart
As a new name, Second Heart Sangha
• reminds us of our Interbeing with all life through the sun.
• evokes the universal symbol for love and compassion with the heart.
• distinguishes us from other groups as we continue to build our sangha; In the wider Plum Village tradition worldwide, the name has never been used by another group, and will be unique to us.
• serves as a metaphor for the sangha itself, a second heart we share, which, like the sun, unites and sustains us as a community practicing mindfulness together.
The sun holds a special place for Thich Nhat Hanh. Thay tells us that “the Sun is a Great Buddha.” In many dharma talks, The Sun, My Heart, and other works, Thay speaks of the “Sun of Awareness” in each of us – the inner spotlight of our awareness – our capacity to direct our consciousness and attention, and to shine mindfulness on and embrace all thoughts and feelings, and accept what arises rather than fighting internally with them.
“Throughout your meditation, keep the sun of your awareness shining. Like the physical sun, which lights every leaf and every blade of grass, our awareness lights our every thought and feeling, allowing us to recognize them, be aware of their birth, duration, and dissolution, without judging or evaluating, welcoming or banishing them. It is important that you do not consider awareness to be your “ally,” called on to suppress the “enemies” that are your unruly thoughts. Do not turn your mind into a battlefield. Do not have a war there; for all your feelings-joy, sorrow, anger, hatred-are part of yourself. Awareness is like an elder brother or sister, gentle and attentive, who is there to guide and enlighten. It is a tolerant and lucid presence, never violent or discriminating. It is there to recognize and identify thoughts and feelings, not to judge them as good or bad, or place them into opposing camps in order to fight with each other. Opposition between good and bad is often compared to light and dark, but if we look at it in a different way, we will see that when light shines, darkness does not disappear. It doesn’t leave; it merges with the light. It becomes the light.”
So, our new name is a reminder of both Interbeing and the practice of directed awareness for mindful living Thay teaches, as well as serving as a metaphor for the warmth and light of our community, that unites and sustains us.
At this moment of the Winter Solstice, we see from our vantage point on earth less and less of the sun, but like the sun of awareness, it is always there. Beginning with this moment, we see more and more of the sun, as the days grow longer. We will also see more of the sun in our new sangha name and logo. We have reserved www.
The title of Thay’s famous poem, “Call Me By My True Names” also describes the interbeing of us all, as ultimately, although we may appear different and separate from one another, we are not, we “inter-are” the same light of awareness shining in different forms. The true name of our sangha will never change. For that true name is all of our names, the composite of all of who practice together as a community, that dwells in each of our hearts. Our sangha, like the sun – our second heart that we all share – will continue to sustain us, as we continue to be there for one another as a community.
New Bell Minder Profile: Charmaine Jones
We gratefully welcome Charmaine Jones as our newest Bell Minder! Charmaine brings her gentle mindfulness and wisdom gleaned from her work as a palliative care physician to facilitate our practice together for the first time on Sunday, November 21st.
Charmaine worked in hospice/palliative medicine, including serving as Program Lead for the Regional Palliative Medicine Program in Windsor and Essex County. She learned early on that spirituality was an important component of her work – both for her patients and for her own survival. She dabbled in learning something about Buddhism and read of Thich Nhat Hanh over the years but it wasn’t until her retirement that she was able to explore fully.
After a week at Plum Village in 2018, she wanted to join a sangha; however, living on a small island north of Kingston made it impractical until the pandemic opened up zoom meetings! She is grateful to have found the Interbeing Sangha of Kingston.
New Bell Minder Profile: Marie
We gratefully welcome Marie-Christine Bourdon as our newest Bell Minder, minding the bell to facilitate our practice together for the first time next week, Sunday, October 31st. Marie discovered the practices of mindful movement and meditation when living on Vancouver Island in the late 2000s. She has since continued to nurture healing and self-discovery by practicing yoga, forest therapy, mindfulness and ecstatic dance. Following a medical release from the Canadian Forces, through movement, mindfulness and nature connection practices, Marie found a safe space to heal and to adapt to a new way of living and being. She also noticed that spending contemplative time in the forest helped identify the elements needed to optimize her health and wellbeing: movement, community, and nature connection – the foundations of her passion project: Move to Nature. Marie is so grateful to be part of the uplifting and supportive Interbeing Sangha to safely bring people together in mindfulness and community. See you on the cushion! 🙂
Volunteer for May Retreat Planning
In the interest of determining whether Interbeing Sangha of Kingston has the capacity to proceed with hosting a residential retreat in May 2019, to take the place of the annual regional retreat usually led by the monastics of Blue Cliff Monastery, we need to ensure we can build a strong team to plan the retreat. Ottawa Pagoda Sangha has kindly shared a timeline to help us with planning, which you can review here. We have two possible venues (both tentatively held) for the weekend of May 9th-12th, 2019, including a beautiful residence with a private inner courtyard at Queen’s University, and the Sisters of Providence Retreat Centre. Joyfully, Dharma teachers from Ottawa Pagoda Sangha and Kingston Sangha are willing to lead the programming if our sangha will plan and host the retreat.
The talents and skills you contribute will help to build the wider sangha for Thay’s movement. Thich Nhat Hanh teaches that the noblest task is sangha building. Several key volunteer roles must be designated now if we are to proceed. Working together to host a regional retreat will both help make our practice available to many people who can benefit from Thay’s teachings and bring us closer as a sangha. Please review the roles below, and email interbeingkingston@gmail.com to indicate your interest in one of the roles. If you have experience in Project Management or Event Planning (or even if you don’t, but are enthusiastic about this retreat) please consider volunteering for the Lead Coordinator role, as it is essential in order for us to proceed.
- Lead Coordinator: Project manager for the retreat planning. Using the timeline provided by Ottawa Pagoda Sangha, and with the support of experienced members of the Ottawa sangha as well as our planning team, this person will lead the event planning for the retreat, help develop programming with the Dharma Teachers Facilitator and the teachers, arranging meetings for the team, and serving as the main contact for the others on the team, keeping everyone on schedule to ensure all tasks are completed.
- Registrar: (update: Monica Burger has volunteered) The person in this role will be the main contact for potential participants, will collect registrations from registrants, assign rooms for out-of-town and local participants who wish to stay in the residential accommodations at our retreat venue, and help coordinate the participants registration materials, name tags etc during the retreat.
- Treasurer: This person will collect the fees and be responsible for all the financial aspects of the retreat, including the budget, accounting, and payment to suppliers (primarily the retreat venue and catering), and ensure that we cover all costs for the venue, catering and other supplies required.
- Venue Liaison: (update: Susan Howlett has volunteered) Contact for the retreat venue, who will work with the Lead Coordinator and rest of the planning team to book appropriate services as well as catering for all of the retreat meals, and ensure that the overnight accommodations are correct for the registrants. During the retreat, serves as the main contact for the participants regarding their stay, and coordinates with the venue to ensure they are comfortable.
- Dharma Teachers Facilitator: (update: Colette Peters has volunteered) Liaison for the Dharma Teachers from Ottawa Pagoda Sangha and Kingston Sangha, working with them and the Lead Coordinator to develop the programming for the retreat (dharma talks and other guided activities) and help make all arrangements for the Dharma Teachers’ needs.
- Communications Officer: (update: Keith Gawronski-McNinch has volunteered) This person coordinates outreach in advance of the retreat to promote and publicize the event and attract participants, both internally to sangha members and friends from our local and regional sanghas, as well as externally to the wider community. Helps to connect registrants to the other members of the planning team as appropriate, and helps distribute materials in advance and during the retreat.
Our original Sangha Care Meeting planned for Sunday, January 20th to discuss the above was cancelled due to extreme winter weather conditions in Kingston, so a new meeting is planned for Sunday, January 27th from 5:00 pm – 6:15 pm, preceding our regular weekly meeting at 6:30 pm. Please email in advance of this meeting, your interest in taking on one of the above roles, to interbeingkingston@gmail.com.
Books in the Sangha Library
A list of the books currently in the sangha’s library. If you wish to borrow something, please connect with our librarian, Anne Graham, after the weekly meeting, and be sure to return in 2 weeks so that others can enjoy the item.
Anger
Thich Nhat Hanh
Being Peace
Thich Nhat Hanh
Call Me By My True Names
Thich Nhat Hanh
Calming the Fearful Mind
Thich Nhat Hanh
The Energy of Prayer
Thich Nhat Hanh
Flowers Fall
Hakuun Yasutani
Golden Wind
Eido Shimano Roshi
Happiness
Thich Nhat Hanh
The Heart of Understanding
Thich Nhat Hanh
Interbeing
Thich Nhat Hanh
Joyfully Together: The Art of a Harmonious Community
Thich Nhat Hanh
Love Letter to the Earth
Thich Nhat Hanh
Mindfulness
Thich Nhat Hanh
Peaceful Action Open Heart
Thich Nhat Hanh
Reconciliation: Healing the Inner Child
Thich Nhat Hanh
Savor: Mindful Eating, Mindful Life
Thich Nhat Hanh
The Sun My Heart
Thich Nhat Hanh
Together We Are One
Thich Nhat Hanh
Touching the Earth
Thich Nhat Hanh
Three Pillar of Zen
Philip Kapleau
Touching Peace
Thich Nhat Hanh
True Love: A Practice for Awakening the Heart
Thich Nhat Hanh
With Each & Every Breath
Geoffrey DeGraff (Thanissaro Bhikkhu)
Work
Thich Nhat Hanh
Zen Antics
Thomas Cleary
Zen Battles
Thich Nhat Hanh
Zen Mind, Beginners Mind
Shunryu Suzuki
Zen Koan
Isshu Muira & Ruth Fuller Sasaki
With Each and Every Breath (A Guide to Meditation)
Geoffrey DeGraff
Sangha Care Meeting – November 12th, 2018
Interbeing Sangha of Kingston held a Sangha Care Meeting on Sunday, November 12th, Dave & Janet Armstrong, Anne Coward, Dale Fainstat, Darcy & Keith Gawronski-McNinch, and Anne Graham attending.
Janet gave an update on our finances: dana collected from January to November 2017 totaled $1,772.35, of which $1,063.40 was given to KUF with the sangha’s remaining 40% portion is $708.95. (Post-meeting note: less than $100 of dana collected so far has been used, costs include material for floor cushion-making, and replacement beeswax candles).
Anne Graham gave an update on the library. A system has been created to keep track of books checked out, as well as a physical check-out book is now kept with the books in the new wooden chest (in the KUF library on top of the sangha cabinet). USBs have now been added with audio recordings of Thich Nhat Hanh’s dharma talks, all files can be copied onto your home computer and/or mobile devices, and returned.
Keith reported on inquiries into a location in Kingston for the regional retreat we are planning in conjunction with Ottawa Pagoda Sangha, to be led by the monastics of Blue Cliff Monastery on Mother’s Day weekend, Thursday, May 9th – Sunday, May 12th, 2019. Our needs include needing 3 nights accommodation for the monks and nuns who will be leading the retreat, as well as expected participants travelling from Ottawa and beyond. This a retreat as part of the monastics’ annual tour has been hosted every year in Ottawa for many years, with our sangha potentially rotating every other year hosting the retreat after this 2018. Ingrid Lacis, Booking Coordinator at Providence Spirituality Centre replied to our inquiry, explaining that the Sisters schedule their own events by about June for the following year, and then open up the remaining times to outside groups. There are 31 bedrooms for use by groups booking the Centre, all but 5 rooms are single occupancy, but there are 5 rooms that have 2 single beds. So, the space seems ideal, with plenty of room for the monastics and more for out of town participants. Brenda Vellino from Ottawa Pagoda Sangha has said that having tentative dates for a venue, and booking officiallky in the new year is acceptable; their sangha has done something similar with venues in the past, and may book officially about a year prior. The Sangha Care Team has asked Keith to request “actuals” from Brenda, on the up front costs that their sangha has needed to cover in the past when planning the annual retreat, and what costs to anticipate in the registration fee, that we might not have considered.
The group discussed our upcoming service on Sunday, February 25th, 2018 at Kingston Unitarian Fellowship. We will use our Sunday evening format as the model for the service, merging our traditions with the usual Sunday morning service format at KUF: examples include lighting the candles for Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha at the beginning when Unitarians light the chalice, and offering readings by Thay and community response as Dharma Sharing. Darcy will serve as service leader, and introduce aspects of our practice with which the audience may not be familiar. There will be several readings from Thich Nhat Hanh in the usual places we have readings (opening reading, guided meditation, closing reading) during Sunday service. We want to get volunteers from the sangha to share as many parts of the service as possible. Hoping to have some of the non-KUF members also as greeters. In place of a sermon, three sangha members will share short reflections (4-5 minutes each). Anne Graham will speak on Social Justice and Engaged Buddhism, Keith will talk about how compatible Thay’s teachings are with Humanism, and another person (Jane?)will speak about the conceptual similarity of the UU 7th Principle and Interbeing. We are hoping someone can lead children’s Pebble Meditation in place of the Children’s story (Stana?)
Poll for Next Sangha Care Meeting
All members of our sangha family are invited to take the Doodle Poll linked here to help choose the best date for our next Sangha Care Meeting. Along with ongoing sangha care, we have two very important topics to discuss:
1) Joyfully, our sangha has been invited to lead Kingston Unitarian Fellowship’s Sunday morning service on February 25th, 2018, and we need to begin our plans for the service, scheduled with the working title “Interbeing & the UU Seventh Principle.”
2) Plans continue for our sangha to host a 3-day regional retreat in Kingston, May 9th-12th, 2019 led by the monastics of Blue Cliff Monastery, in conjunction with Ottawa Pagoda Sangha, and we need to decide upon, and reserve, a location in Kingston with overnight accommodations. Please take the poll and plan to attend.
Sangha Care Notes – July 30th, 2017 Meeting
On Sunday, July 30th we held a Sangha Care meeting prior to our usual time for group practice. Discussion included our upcoming Day of Mindfulness, an opportunity to host a regional retreat, and reviewing our weekly meeting procedures and resources. Some notes on sangha care, following the meeting:
Sangha member Jane, who made our beautiful circle cloth that we use at our meetings, brought a beautiful meditation cushion (aka “zafu”) which she made for the sangha. She is working on sewing a cushion and mat for the bell minder.
Sangha member Anne, our sangha librarian, has organized a system for checking out materials. Labels, a stamp with the sangha logo, and USB to hold digital media that can be checked out is in the works, and Anne will make materials available each week. Members are asked to check out books or materials for 2 week periods and then return for others and she will keep track of the items.
Sangha members Janet and Dave, co-treasurers for the sangha, have been keeping our dana collection safe each week, and delivering the funds to KUF financial contact Ken. The funds received are shared between the Sanga and KUF (sangha keeps 40% of the donations, and KUF keeps 60%). So far, the portion collected since our first meeting in October reserved for the sangha is $550.00. Anticipated upcoming expenses include expanding our library of Thich Nhat Hanh books and media, and funding to bring the new documentary, Walk With Me, to Kingston.
Sangha member Keith reported reaching out to the producers of Walk With Me, and speaking with Wendy Huot of Kingston’s Screening Room, regarding bringing the film to this venue. Concerns were raised at the meeting about accessibility (currently Screening Room is not fully accessible) and alternative spaces may be considered. For now, we are still waiting to hear when Canadian distribution will become available. Discussion about charging for tickets to the film screening led to an agreement that asking for a donation would be the best way to recoup costs but not limit people for whom this may be a barrier.
After sangha members Keith and Collette attended the retreat in Ottawa with the monastics of Blue Cliff Monastery in May, Keith reached out to Brenda from Ottawa Pagoda Sangha and began dialogue about helping to connect sanghas in Ontario, which led to discussion about hosting a regional retreat in Kingston. Ottawa Pagoda Sangha has hosted the monastics for a weekend retreat for years, and Brenda suggested that our sangha might consider taking turns, by hosting the retreat at a location in Kingston in May, 2019. Among our sangha care team and members present, there was agreement that this was a wonderful opportunity, and that we could all support this as long as members are willing to help. Keith is event planner for Principal at Queen’s University with 13 years of event planning experience, and is willing to take the lead on this. He will continue the dialogue with Brenda and report back. In the meantime, members have been brainstorming locations, as we will need to reserve a location more than a year in advance. Possible locations include Elbow Lake, Queens University, or the Sisters of Providence.
The Building Committee at KUF has kindly requested all groups to lock the door once participants have arrived. In the interest of moving forward with this request, a weekly Door Minder will now secure the exterior door during transition from sitting to walking meditation. This is reasonable time for arrivals to conclude, and occurs at a predictable weekly moment of natural transition, so it will hopefully not cause any difficulty for KUF, regular attendees, or newcomers. This new policy has been posted on our home page for potential visitors.
Concern has been raised about photography or recording at our meetings. We will be making an announcement at the beginning of our meetings to remind people to silence their cell phones and electronics, and if anyone new to the sangha is with us, to respectfully request that they not take photos or recordings during our meetings without express permission.
Lastly, planning for our retreat was discussed at the July 30th meeting – more information about the event and itinerary can be found at interbeingkingston.org/retreat.
Sangha Care Notes – January 15th, 2017 Meeting
- Heating system at KUF: Some people find it difficult to hear over the sound of the fan, so we will aim for the remaining cold months to heat up the room for a 1/2 hour prior to our meeting, and keep the heat up high for the first part when we have sitting and walking meditation, and then turn it off for the rest of our session. This should keep the environment warm, while providing more quiet atmosphere for sharing
- Our Sangha is able to keep 40% of the “dana” we collect, for supplies, materials, etc while 60% goes to Kingston Unitarian Fellowship. Rev. Carol has been keeping count, and we have some funds (almost $200) now to put towards a trunk to keep things at KUF, our own Buddha statue, cloth for the floor, and eventually some proper floor cushions (zafus).
- We hope to host a Day of Mindfulness in the coming month or so. This day retreat will include sitting and walking meditation, mindful eating together, listening to a full dharma talk from Thich Nhat Hanh and dharma sharing. This will be an opportunity to go deeper with our practice, and we will hope to host another one in May and make this a seasonal practice.
- We will aim to have another Sangha Care meeting in approximately 6 weeks, and continue this way to provide an opportunity to check in and handle administrative issues when they arise.