Triangle Insight Meditation Community |
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March 2022 Newsletter
triangleinsight.org
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When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, “Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.” To this day, especially in times of disaster, I remember my mother’s words and I am always comforted by realizing that there are still so many helpers—so many caring people in this world.
Fred Rogers
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Our home is the
Episcopal Center at Duke
505 Alexander Ave. | Durham, NC 27705
(when safe to gather in person)
Morning meditation: Monday and Thursday
Wednesday meditation with Dharma Talk, or as Insight Dialogue (below)
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Wednesday Evenings
6:30 - 8:00 pm (Insight Dialogue: 6:30 - 8 pm)
March 02 – Scott Bryce
March 09 – Ron Vereen
March 16 – Francesca Morfesis
March 23 – Mary Grigsby (Insight Dialogue)
March 30 – Jeanne van Gemert
April 06 -- Ron Vereen
April 13 -- Scott Bryce
April 20 -- Karen Ziegler
April 27 -- Phyllis Hicks (Insight Dialogue)
Monday and Thursday Morning Meditation
7:00 - 7:45 AM (click here for more info)
Zoom locations to be emailed.
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Winter-Jasmine
By Arricca Elin Sansone, Mar 6, 2020
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To receive this monthly newsletter, please complete the newsletter subscription on our Newsletters webpage, or send your request to the info email above.
If you would like to change any part of your subscription(s), please email us and we will make this change for you.
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The Practice of Insight Dialogue at Triangle Insight |
Insight Dialogue is an interpersonal meditation practice and is offered at Triangle Insight once monthly, usually on the fourth Wednesday of the month. It brings the mindfulness and tranquility of silent meditation directly into our experience with other people. ......................................................................................... Southern Dharma Retreat Center
An excellent resource for learning more about the practice is the new website for Insight Dialogue: www.insightdialogue.org.
The evening begins with silent meditation practice, followed by gentle mindful movement, and then shifting into dyad practice where interpersonal mindfulness is explored with a partner in response to a contemplation that is offered. The dyad practice is optional so that anyone who chooses to remain in silent practice may do so, rather than shifting into dyad practice. One can investigate the guidance of the contemplation internally, noticing the moment by moment unfolding of internal experience. Note that the ID practice goes from 6:30 to 8:00 pm while meeting on Zoom. When it is possible to resume in-person meetings the time will return to 8:30 pm, to allow for more spaciousness and time for questions. We hope you will be able to join us.
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Reference Notes for Wednesday Dharma Talks
Triangle Insight Meditation teachers invite us to consider these notes to the references they used for their Dharma talks. Please click on the link below to see teacher notes for the current month.
Feb. 02 - Ron Vereen
Feb. 09 - Scott Bryce
Feb. 16 - Emily Griffith Burke
To find teacher notes for previous Dharma talks, go here, on the TIMC website.
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RETREATS and SPECIAL EVENTS |
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IMCC Spring 2022 Residential Retreat |
Untangling the Tangles
with Sharon Beckman-Brindley and Hugh Byrne
April 28-May 1, 2022
Serenity Ridge Retreat Center
Nelson County, Virginia
Retreat Description
‘A tangle within, a tangle without, people are entangled in a tangle… Who can untangle this tangle?’ (SN 7:6)
The Buddha saw, with great compassion, that people in his time were caught up in tangles of desire, discontent, and worry. His teachings offered an answer to the question of tangles as he pointed to the cultivation of appropriate attention and to other skillful qualities of heart and mind—such as mindfulness, discernment, compassion, joy and letting go.
We, in our own times, can be similarly caught in tangles. In this retreat, we will, together, deepen our cultivation of the freedom that can be found in the wholesome practices offered by the Buddha. We will focus especially on making our spiritual practice uniquely our own as we apply the teachings to the particular circumstances of each of our own conditions, experience, and life.
IMCC is Insight Meditation Community of Charlottesville
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Planning for Hybrid Meetings |
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Save the Date!
Hybrid Meeting Testing Session
Sunday, April 10th, 10 am - 2:30 pm
Episcopal Center at Duke and via Zoom
The TIMC Board is actively planning for a hybrid meeting arrangement in the near future, thanks to the generosity of the sangha. You have helped us to raise $8,287 toward the purchase of the Meeting Owl Pro Conference Camera system, and other necessary equipment. At the last Board Meeting, the Board reviewed current trends of the Omicron variant and--barring unforeseen developments with the virus--will be testing this new equipment on Sunday, April 10th.
There still are opportunities for volunteer sangha members to join with the Tech Committee on Testing day, to help set up and run the hybrid experiment, both on Zoom and in person; the Zoom volunteers will be participating from their home, and the in-person volunteers will meet at the Episcopal Center (EC). The total time allotted for us is 10 am - 2:30 pm, but volunteers will not be needed until around 12:30 pm. A tentative schedule can be found here.
We must abide by the evolving guidelines for using the EC set by both the Episcopal Diocese of Raleigh and Duke University. Currently, Duke and the EC have continued to require masking indoors; however, it is our understanding from the EC that this requirement will be dropped once the positive COVID testing rate falls below 7% in Durham County. Duke recently suspended the requirement for masking outdoors throughout the campus.
We are now inviting those who are interested to help test the equipment, either at the EC or via Zoom/phone.
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If you would like to be part of this volunteer tech-testing team, please reach out to us at this email: board@triangleinsight.org.
- Tell us if you are interested in participating on-site or via Zoom.
- If we must delay our test due to pandemic changes, we will inform all those who are on the volunteer list.
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About the TIMC Technology Committee, now being formed.
We are inviting anyone who is interested to serve on this committee. Together we will try to determine our technology needs, and how best to organize and implement this technology. Right now, we are interested in the forthcoming hybrid trial-run, described in the above section. But in the longer term, it will take a number of us to prepare the Great Room at the Episcopal Center before and after each hybrid meeting as well as explore and address ongoing technical challenges. Please contact us, at board@triangleinsight.org, if you are interested in serving the sangha in this way. Many duties will not require experience with computer technology or other devices; however, the set-up and take-down before and after our gatherings will be more involved.
With gratitude for our community,
The Triangle Insight Board of Directors
(Cynthia Hughey, Marian Place, Leah Rutchick, Martin Steinmeyer, Ron Vereen)
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OPPORTUNITIES
Community Engagement
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Do you have an event or activity that you would like to share in this space? The newsletter welcomes ideas for volunteer activity to engage our Buddhist values and spirit. Email your ideas to board@triangleinsight.org, and please include main details and relevant links.
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Southern Dharma Retreat Center -- JOB OPENING |
Southern Dharma is currently seeking a General Manager to join our community in Hot Springs NC. The General Manager is responsible for all aspects of on-site operations and provides support to Southern Dharma’s Executive Director.
Southern Dharma Retreat Center offers rustic and intimate teacher-led retreats grounded in Buddhist practice traditions with a unifying thread of meditation, contemplation, and silence.
This is a full-time (40 hours/week) salaried position that includes on-site room and board, paid leave, support for retreat attendance, and medical insurance.
Compensation: $2,400 - $3,200 per month, depending on experience.
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Please use these links to visit our website for this information |
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Sangha means spiritual community, and it is treasured because without it awakening cannot be sustained. –Jack Kornfield, After the Ecstasy, the Laundry
The Welcoming Committee wishes to foster the experience of belonging to a diverse, tolerant community connected through mindfulness practice, where all feel welcome and safe. We seek to link all participants and newcomers to ongoing activities and to ensure the Zoom connection is available. You are welcome to Visit our Webpage!
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Having admirable people as friends, companions, and colleagues is actually
the whole of the holy life. - The Buddha
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In difficult times it can feel as if we’re caught in a storm. Our view gets cloudy, our bodies tighten, and we’re blown off course by the winds of thoughts and emotions. One of the gifts of a Kalyana Mitta (KM) group is to offer a place of safe harbor.
As Phillip Moffitt says in The Three Wholesome Exchanges of the Heart, “We all need to have someone hear our fears, failures, triumphs, and dreams…. This exchange is essential to our personal and spiritual development because when we are being witnessed, it allows us to really hear our own authentic voice.”
The trust, intimacy, and care of a KM group allow us to share openly and deepen connection to both self and others. We see more clearly, our hearts soften, and we move towards greater understanding, compassion, and ease.
A beautiful aspect of this process is that as the heart of the dharma is enriched in our own lives, we are contributing to the spiritual journey of others. This is the gift of the third jewel of sangha, a jewel that illuminates this path we travel together.
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Current KM Groups
We currently have openings in our Insight Dialogue group. Our Chapel Hill-Carrboro and Raleigh groups each have a waiting list. Information about our KM program and links to helpful resources are on our KM web page. Our Secular Dharma group is in the process of re-forming and will be open to new members in the near future. Details about each of our groups are on our List of KM Groups web page.
Now Forming: Sutta Study
Information about our KM program and links to helpful resources are on our KM web page. If you’d like more information, or you want to join a group, be on a waiting list, or start a new group, please contact Sarah Tillis, KM Coordinator at sarah@triangleinsight.org.
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The KM Coordinating Team of Sarah Tillis and Tamara Share expresses deep gratitude for the dedication of our sangha. |
May our Kalyana Mitta groups be of great benefit to all. |
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Known as RAGs, Racial Affinity Groups allow people to deepen self-awareness around issues of race in small, racially homogeneous groups. As we face our long history of systemic racism and violence against people of color, RAGs provide a safe space where participants can integrate the dharma into their exploration of racial belonging and racial habits of harm.
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Announcing a New RAGs Coordinator
Kathy Shipp, long-time participant of the Triangle Insight community, is now the coordinator of TIMC's Racial Affinity Groups. Kathy will keep the sangha aware of on-going RAGs and the opportunities for practice that they offer, through newsletter, website and meeting announcements. She will be available to answer questions about RAGs formation and RAGs experience, and she will be a resource of information about racial equity training and practice. Among the coordinator's other responsibilites, she will maintain an up-to-date list of active RAGs, and connect people who are interested in forming a new group, To reach out to Kathy, email her at kathy@triangleinsight.org.
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Sangha Support: Caring Circles, Helping Hands
A TIMC Sangha Initiative connecting and strengthening the bonds of our shared practice.
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Caring Circles offers the Triangle Insight Meditation Sangha a simple framework for requesting and providing services to cope with the uncertainties and needs of everyday life.
Knowing there is a helping network for sharing and receiving is a great joy and safe haven. Requests for assistance from the TIMC community will be connected with TIM regular practitioners who are ready to volunteer their assistance as a form of dana service.
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Financial Support
For Training Programs and Workshops in Racial Justice and Diversity
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Our goal:
To help individuals and our community deepen the understanding of how unexamined views of race can limit the mind and human systems.
A Scholarship Fund for this purpose exists through donations from the TIMC General Fund and the generosity of several Triangle Insight participants.
If Triangle Insight sangha participants would like to receive scholarship support for training with OARNC, White Awake, or other programs addressing racial injustice, please send email to board@triangleinsight.org.
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We invite the community to join this initiative by contributing directly to this scholarship fund.
For your convenience, you may use the dedicated PayPal portal
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Why the Buddha's Teachings Call Us to Action on the Climate Crisis this Spring |
Presenter: Callie Justice, guiding teacher of Dhamma Friends Community and cofounder of Quit Carbon NC.
Together we will face the realities of growing climate crisis and learn about the approach to rapid nonviolent social change that has the best chance of turning it around. We will look to the teachings of the Buddha for courage and inspiration to help us do what must be done.
March the 8th; on Zoom – 7 to 8:30 p.m.
No Charge
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Spring 2022 White Awareness: Relational Mindfulness and Race Equity |
The Spring 2022 program for white identified individuals runs nine consecutive Thursday evenings, and begins Thursday, March 3, 2022, offered by Holly Nelson Johnson, Mindfulness for Living.
White Awareness (WA) integrates the practice of mindfulness with anti-racism education. With the support of a dedicated online community, we will explore what it means to be white as we deepen our capacity to pay attention in the present moment without judgment. Through relational mindfulness practice and compassion, we may better understand the impact of racism and our own cultural conditioning.
We look forward to creating a vibrant, and wakeful community together.
Direct Links:
*Registration closes Thursday, February 17, 2022. Class size limited, early registration suggested*
How to Register:
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Application: Complete the White Awareness application form, and submit the form to program manager: Susie Clarion: rmawa4@gmail.com.
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Facilitator Meeting: Upon receipt of your application, a facilitator will reach out within a few days to arrange a meeting.
- Program Fee: $375 / $275 / $150. Sliding scale, no one turned away. One quarter all proceeds donated to Equal Justice Initiative: https://eji.org.
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Completed Registration: Your space reserved once: all paperwork is received, facilitator meeting conducted, and payment accepted.
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Financial assistance is available for Triangle Insight sangha participants through the TIMC scholarship fund. Please refer to the section on Financial Support, above.
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TIMC BOARD | NEWS AND REPORTS |
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Currently serving on the Board of Directors: Cynthia Hughey, Marian Place, Leah Rutchick, Martin Steinmeyer, Ron Vereen.
Board Meetings
Cynthia, Leah, Marian, Martin and Ron convened an open board meeting on February 19, 2021, on Zoom. Here's a brief summary of the minutes.
The board convened at 12 p.m. with no additional participants present from the sangha. The 2021 TIMC Annual Financial Report was presented in preparation for the annual board meeting scheduled for 3/19/22. It was requested that one additional item be added to indicate the total amount received in 2021 for the technology upgrade before final approval of the report. The board voted to make an additional donation to the Episcopal Center when we pay the rent for use of the building for the hybrid test session on 4/10/22. The 2021 Financial Report will be shared on the website after the annual meeting, and expenses for the hybrid technology will be itemized.
The board set the date of the Annual Meeting for 3/19/22 from 12 - 2 pm. Election of officers will be held in Executive session, with Martin Steinmeyer as chair and Marian Place as secretary. The agenda is being prepared as well as a listing of current board members and tracking of their terms, and the Board will be exploring among sangha participants as to who might serve on the Board.
There was a report on the follow up with Perry Sweitzer regarding the Board's questions related to his proposed project with the TIMC community. It was noted that he agreed to the Board's requested stipulations and the research proposal was approved and liaisons will be identified as contacts for Perry.
The hybrid test meeting has been tentatively set for 4/10/22 at the EC, and approved the ordering of the Owl-Pro cameras. A protocol for the hybrid testing will be shared with the board and will be available to volunteers. We will monitor ongoing updates of the COVID guidelines for use of the EC, e.g., masking, vaccination and/or testing status.
A website redesign was discussed and a report will be forthcoming from the technology committee as to whether we should continue to use the current platform or shift to a contact management system (CMS). The board will asses the pro's and con's of both and make a final decision once this information has thoroughly reviewed.
The next open board meeting will be the TIMC Annual Board Meeting and will be held on Zoom, Saturday, March 19, 12 p.m. - 2 p.m. A Zoom invite will be sent to newsletter members in the week prior.
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Newsletter Submission Pointers |
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At least two weeks prior to the month in which you wish your announcement to appear, submit new items to info@triangleinsight.org.
- Include in your request a short statement of your relationship to TIMC.
- New requests submitted in the last week of any month may not be accepted if time is a factor in preparing a final copy.
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Changes to existing entries may be incorporated if submitted early in the last week of any month.
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All authors are encouraged to update their newsletter entries and to resubmit, clearly indicating all changes in text and lay-out to minimize error and design time.
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Keep the text crisp and short, but include important details and attachments. Instead of longer texts, refer the reader to websites for additional information.
- Indicate how many months you want your entry to be published, and
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Stay in touch with updates if any specific details change. You are responsible for calling in any changes in time, special dates and/or end dates for ongoing classes, groups or other continuing entries.
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Special circumstances may require adjustment of the deadlines indicated here; early submission is a best practice and helps the newsletter editors determine where, how and if the item submitted shall be published (please see #1 in the Guidelines).
Please contact us through info@triangleinsight.org, and include "Newsletter" on the subject line. We will help you get your item published. Thank you for helping us!
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The Triangle Insight Board is looking for interested sangha participants to help us build a Communications Network for our whole practice community
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Newsletter Editorial Committee
To all interested sangha participants, we are forming a Newsletter Editorial Committee and hope you will volunteer to help develop and maintain the Newsletter. Email www.board@triangleinsight.org. noting Editorial Committee in the subject line.
Website
Plans are in the works for refreshing the website with advice from. a professional website designer. If you are interested in working on planning the website, send us an email: ww.board@triangleinsight.org.
Thank you!
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You are welcome to contact me directly with any comments or suggestions to improve the newsletter and website.
In humor and good intention,
Leah Rutchick, leah@triangleinsight.org
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