Sakyadhita Canada
NEWSLETTER 
   DECEMBER, 2015



Upcoming Annual 
 General Meeting

  Sakyadhita Canada is a non-profit charitable organization, supported and served by a dedicated group of volunteers. It is the national branch of Sakyadhita International.

  Sakyadhita Canada would love to have you join us in networking with other Buddhist women practitioners, and to assist in creating and nurturing an open and cohesive spiritual community. It is through your active participation that we support and connect with women and men, in Canada, who practice or have an interest in the Buddhist teachings.

   Volunteer Opportunities
 The SC Annual General Meeting will be in April 2016, so we are looking for volunteers to assist us in developing our membership, to sit on the board of directors, to write for and publish our internet newsletter, to contribute to Face Book postings and to help organize occasional events. This is a wonderful opportunity to connect and share with like-minded people. Please contact us if you are interest, and go to the website for more information:
Contact: info @sakyadhitacanada.org
Sakyadhita Canada's Mission is to:
*To establish an alliance of ordained and lay Buddhist women in Canada.
*To create a network of communication for Canadian Buddhist women.
*To support the establishment of Canadian chapters of Sakyadhita Canada.
*To support the objectives of Sakyadhita International.
*To promote harmony and dialogue among all Buddhist traditions and other religions.
*To encourage research and publication of topics of interest to Buddhist women.
*To foster compassionate social action for the benefit of humanity.
*To promote world peace and harmony through the teachings of the Buddha.
Sakyadhita International, established in 1987, is an Association of Buddhist Women with the goal to empower the world's 300 million Buddhist women to advance their spiritual and secular life and work for peace and social justice. Sakyadhita Canada supports Sakyadhita International and its objectives.  For more information on SI please visit: www.sakyadhita.org .

       PRESS RELEASE
Richmond Hill, December 1, 2015
Sumeru announces publication of:
LOTUS PETALS
 IN THE SNOW
Voices of Canadian Buddhist Women.
  Tanya McGinnity, editor
   
Lotus Petals in the Snow is the result of outreach across Canada with the goal of bringing together the work of scholars and stories from practitioners, scholar-practitioners, Dharma students, teachers, nuns and laywomen. With pieces covering a vast landscape of experiences, this book is unique in focusing entirely on the voices of Canadian Buddhist Women.
The book, organized alphabetically, offers up stories of motherhood, grief, travel, art, the universal nature of suffering, and several works dedicated to notable teachers and organizations who have left a profound impact upon the participants' lives.
Each story is authentic and demonstrates the distinctively feminine voices of girls, mothers, goddesses, crones, dakinis, nuns, bhikkhunis and all of the various emanations of the female form (both in the absolute and relative sense of the word). These may all just be convenient labels though, as a good story is a good story regardless of gender, but reclaiming our voices as women who have been rendered silent in many domains - including Buddhism - does deliver collective power.
This book was produced in the gift economy. Contributors donated their works. Profits from online sales are being donated to the Buddhist Compassion Tzu Chi Foundation of Canada and all profits from direct sales support local Dharma activities across Canada.

To purchase this book, visit



May all beings be happy 
May all beings be healed and whole 
May all be protected from harm, and free from fear 
May all beings enjoy inner peace and ease 
May all be awakened, liberated and free 
May there be peace in this world, 
and throughout the entire universe. 


 
       Happy December greetings to all. 
 It has been 38 years since we have seen a full moon on Christmas day, and it won't happen again until 2034. .....making it all the more special.

 Even though Christmas is traditionally a celebration referring to Jesus Christ, and Christianity, it truly originated to celebrate a message of love, nurturing, and healing. 

  Christ, as Buddha taught compassion for all living things, and that we should practice living in a way that lessens not only our own suffering, but the suffering of all.

 The real teaching of Jesus, and Buddha, was that there is a Divine spark that dwells within each of us.

Peace on Earth, and good will to all.
Wishing you all a lovely, peaceful Christmas.     
DONATIONS (MEMBERSHIPS) 2016
A time to renew & support Sakyadhita Canada

Welcome 2016 !!
Many thanks for your support, and it is now time to renew your Sakyadhita Canada membership for the upcoming year (2016) CLICK HERE
 
Please take an active part in Sakyadhita Canada. Volunteers are most welcomed and SC would appreciate your ideas, suggestions and talents - we would be happy to hear from you! Please contact:  info@sakyadhitacanada.org
Check out the website: www.sakyadhitacanada.org.  There are some excellent articles in the Resources section, and pictures from the 2015 International conference in Indonesia.
Stay in touch through the Sakyadhita Canada net letter, which is emailed to members & supporters on a regular basis.
Keep current with SC on Face book - updated daily.
Find out about Buddhist women (and men) in Canada: what are their traditions, forms of practice, needs and concerns. Your generosity and kindness will help to nurture and encourage Dhamma (the teachings of the Buddha) in our day-to-day lives.
 
Through SC we share the goodness of our practice and hope it brings blessings to everyone. Thank you for your kindness & generosity. Wishing you blessings of radiant joy & peace in your hearts .
sleeping Buddha
 
"The Buddha, "One gone thus enters into
and resides in the Divine Residences of
Loving Friendliness, Compassion, Equanimity and Sympathetic Joy."  
  
    This year, Christmas and Poya, the monthly Buddhist full moon holy day, are on the same day. It is a very good time to seriously reflect on what is happening in the world and on how both Christians and Buddhists can respond to it.  There are many calls to enter into and reside in the not divine residence of fear.  Extremists, some politicians, and some news outlets, all seem to have an agenda that agitates for an emotional response that takes us far, far away from the goals of our practices. Christ's ideal of Love and Brotherhood, and the Buddha's injunction to work towards removing all hatred from our minds, by their very nature, call to us to move away from the urge to respond in any way that condemns those calling us to fear. Both ask us to combat this call through cultivating Loving Kindness and Compassion with Equanimity; to recognize that all unenlightened beings are stuck in the same samsara, the same unsatisfactory state of being.  Those of us who have less darkness have the opportunity to shed light onto the darkness of those who are deeper into suffering.
Christ, asked us not to hide our light under a basket and the Buddha was very clear about how we are to respond to others hostility. In MN 21; the Simile of the Saw. The Buddha said, "They may address you with a mind of good-will or with inner hate. In any event, you should train yourselves: 'Our minds will be unaffected and we will say no evil words. We will remain sympathetic to that person's welfare, with a mind of good will, and with no inner hate. We will keep pervading him with an awareness imbued with good will and, beginning with him, we will keep pervading the all-encompassing world with an awareness imbued with good will equal to a cat skin bag - abundant, expansive, immeasurable, free from hostility, free from ill will.' That's how you should train yourselves.
"Practitioners, even if bandits were to carve you up savagely, limb by limb, with a two-handled saw, he among you who let his heart get angered even at that would not be doing my bidding. Even then you should train yourselves: 'Our minds will be unaffected and we will say no evil words. We will remain sympathetic, with a mind of good will, and with no inner hate. We will keep pervading these people with an awareness imbued with good will and, beginning with them, we will keep pervading the all-encompassing world with an awareness imbued with good will - abundant, expansive, immeasurable, free from hostility, free from ill will.' That's how you should train yourselves." 
It serves us well to reflect on the fact that both Christ and Buddha taught a way of life, a practice, they did not establish religions --- their followers did.  Never did they say that the practices that they taught were only to be applied to those who followed their teaching.  On the contrary, letting the light of Loving Kindness shine, shines in all directions, to all people of all faiths.  Shine On !!!
                                                                                                                                                   Sãrani 

To view more pictures, please visit our web site...


                  Home is the Way  
        A Christmas message from Thầy
(Thich Nhat Hanh)
Home in the Present Moment
The other day, Thầy was reflecting on what message to send to his friends and students abroad so that they can practice, so that they can be like Jesus or be like the Buddha. Thầy then wrote this calligraphy: "
There is no way home, Home is the way."
The means and the ends are not two separate things.  There is no way to return to our home. Our home is the way. Once we take a step on that path home, we are home right in that moment. This is true to the practice.  There is no way to happiness, Happiness is the way. Every breath and every step has the capacity to bring us right back to our true home. Right in the here and now.
    To read the complete article, click below                            HOME IS THE WAY
About Us
If you are interested in more information regarding Sakyadhita Canada, or would be interested in contributing to our newsletter please go to :  i nfo@sakyadhitacanada.org
or you can also access our website at
Thank-you