Peaceful Heart Sangha gathers: 

~Mondays from 630-8pm is on Zoom weekly And in person-twice/month (every 1st and 3rd Monday) at the UU church 69 Winthrop St in Augusta, Maine. Feel free to email peacefulheartsangha@gmail.com for link/information.

~Thursdays 8-930am are in-person weekly (except the last Thursday of the month, which is on Zoom) at the River Studio at 332 Water St in Hallowell, Maine

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      ~Upcoming events in 2026:

                    Saturday, 10.24.26 (930am-330pm)

A Day of Mindfulness with visiting Boston-area Dharma teacher John Bell  

At People Plus at 35 Union Street in Brunswick, Maine

"From Caterpillars to Butterflies: Journey from our small self to our cosmic self"

                                                              Registration Link

From Caterpillars to Butterflies: Journey from our Small Self to our Cosmic Self

At People Plus in Brunswick (35 Union Street, Brunswick ME 04011

October 24 from 9:30 AM - 3:30 pm 

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 Dear Friends, 

We hope that you are safe and well at this time and taking care of yourselves and each other! We are happy to announce an upcoming Zoom Retreat open to all...

 

Mid-Winter Zoom Retreat, February 18-21, 2021 

 

“Interbeing:  Opening our Hearts to Life”

 

The greater New England Sangha is offering an online Retreat with talks and meditations led by Dharma teachers Fern Dorresteyn, Richard Brady and Michael Ciborski. The retreat will include many wonderful practices, such as dharma sharing in small groups, walking meditation, deep relaxation, and tea meditation. The retreat begins with an orientation session on Thursday evening, February 18 and concludes on Sunday afternoon at 2:00 PM. 

Online Retreat Sessions:

Thursday

• 7 – 8:30pm Evening session

Friday

• 9am -noon Morning Session
• 1:30 – 4:30pm Afternoon Session
• 7 – 8:30pm Evening Session

Saturday

• 9am -noon Morning Session
• 1:30 – 4:30pm Afternoon Session
• 7 – 8:30pm Evening Session

Sunday

• 8 – 11am Morning Session
• 12 – 2pm Afternoon Session

Please register by February 14th, so that we have time to plan retreat logistics.

For more Information and Registration Click Here

Interbeing: Opening Our Hearts to Life – MorningSun (morningsuncommunity.org)

 

May All Beings be Healthy and Safe-online sangha option

Dear Friends, 
Wishing you all health and safety during these shifting times with the onset of Covid 19 concerns. Recognizing the importance of community and connection, especially during these trying times, the Peaceful Heart Sangha has committed to an online sangha and Not meeting in person until it is deemed safe to do so. Please feel free to join us online on Monday evenings (6:30-8pm) and Thursday mornings (8-9:30am). It is free, you don't need an app and can use a phone-in option.

     ~IMPORTANT UPDATE from 4.6.2020: 

  For the security and safety of our online sangha's, a password is now being required for you to enter Zoom meetings, please email peacefulheartsangha@gmail.com to request/access.

    In the meantime, take good care of yourselves and your community. May all beings be safe and free from harm.

PHS celebrates 12 years of practicing joyfully together!

    On Monday, 3.2.2020, members new and old celebrated the 12th anniversary-continuation day of  the Peaceful Heart Sangha. We sat, walked, enjoyed tea and snacks and shared our gratitude for each other in words, song, poetry and bringing our mindful energy to the group...many thanks to Harry Grimnitz for capturing this beautiful photo!

Follow this link to a listing of Maine sangha's in the Plum Village tradition and upcoming events

                           www.mainesanghas.org
                      
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 ~Join Lynn Deeves and Jen Deraspe as they collaborate joyfully and mindfully in offering a Solstice celebration and sauna ceremony at "Nurture through  Nature" in Denmark, Maine on 12.21.19. See flyer below for details/FMI.

10th Anniversary/Continuation of the Peaceful Heart Sangha...

 

In deepest Gratitude to all of the mindfulness practitioners (new and not-so-new) who helped create a warm and wonderful celebration for the Peaceful Heart Sangha's 10th Anniversary/Continuation on Monday, 3.5.18...we are so incredibly fortunate!

Upcoming Events...

Friday-Sunday September 27-29, 2019

"Cultivating Balance: Opening Our Hearts to the World as It Is"

Sangha retreat at Nurture though Nature in Denmark, Maine

                             www.ntnretreats.com

               with dharma teacher Jeanne Anselmo

Suggested Donation to NTN for the weekend: $100 per person. 

We will bring our own food. Rustic accomodations, composting toilets, yurts, cabins, tenting available. Dana (donations) will be collected for our teacher who will be traveling from Long Island, NY.

The weekend may include: sitting, walking and eating meditation, dharma talks, dyads and dharma sharing groups, guided deep relaxation, an evening bonfire with offerings of: music, poetry, skits, readings, etc.

Registration is now open: peacefulheartsangha@gmail.com 

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Save the Date: New England Retreat October 24-27, 2019

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For a listing of other Maine sangha's in Maine and sangha-related, future events, www.mainesanghas.org

The new 5 Contemplations

New Contemplations before eating:
This food is a gift of the earth, the sky, numerous living beings, and much hard and loving work.
May we eat with mindfulness and gratitude so as to be worthy to receive this food.
May we recognize and transform unwholesome mental formations, especially our greed and learn to eat with moderation.
May we keep our compassion alive by eating in such a way that reduces the suffering of living beings, stops contributing to climate change, and heals and preserves our precious planet.
We accept this food so that we may nurture our brotherhood and sisterhood, build our Sangha, and nourish our ideal of serving all living beings.

Something to think about....

“Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations. But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it.” 
― Gautama Buddha

One Act - Blue Cliff Brothers Fall Trip

5 Mindfulness TrainingsTransmission

What a joyful day yesterday!  Thirty (plus or minus) people accepted the transmission of the Five Mindfulness Trainings from Joanne Friday.  Lots of smiles, a few tears and pleased murmurs were heard as Joanne read out each Dharma name.

Sangha Scholarship Available

Peaceful Heart Sangha Scholarship Application

Name:

Email/best phone #:

Thich-Nhat Hahn-based event/retreat I wish to attend:

Date(s) of event:

Total Cost of event:

Amount that I could afford to pay:

Amount requested in scholarship funds:

How long have I practiced meditation and how do I think that attending this event will help to further my practice?

Would I be willing to share some of my experience of the class/retreat with the sangha?

Please complete and return to Lynn, Greg or Marty at sangha or email your information to peacefulheartsangha@gmail.com for review. You can expect to hear back from the scholarship committee within 2 weeks. 

14 Mindfulness Trainings

A reminder: Our quarterly recitation of the 14 Mindfulness Trainings will be on Saturday, March 5
at the Unitarian Universalist Community Church in Augusta. All are welcome.
Our schedule:
9:30 arrival, settling in
9:50 begin meditation
10 - 11 recitation ceremony
11 - 12:30 Dharma sharing
12:30 - 1:30 pot luck lunch
1 - 2 after/during end of lunch - conversation about our Maine Sanghas
          ideas: coordination & sharing of our DOM/retreat plans, recitation dates, issues in individual/wider sangha?

If you plan to join us, please RSVP to peacefulheartsangha@gmail.com, so that we know how many people to plan for.
Our gathering is open to all who would like to deepen their practice.
Our next recitation will be on June 4.

A lotus to you,
a Buddha to be,

Pebble for your pocket meditation

Being that I'm somewhat of a rock hound I was drawn to this meditation.  A wonderful practice for children and adults alike.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXJs9bdcnXw

Thay has written a book for children titled A Pebble for Your Pocket.  What a wonderful way to introduce the practice to children and get them into nature.

Here's a pebble for you!

Discourse on Love

Sr. The Nghiem who lives at Blue Cliff in New York sings this version of the discourse on love.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdtnOo7XZts&feature=related

From the Plum Village web site:

“He or she who wants to attain peace should practice being upright, humble, and capable of using loving speech.

He or she will know how to live simply and happily, with senses calmed, without being covetous and carried away by the emotions of the majority. Let him or her not do anything that will be disapproved of by the wise ones.

“(And this is what he or she contemplates:)

“May everyone be happy and safe, and may all hearts be filled with joy.

“May all beings live in security and in peace — beings who are frail or strong, tall or short, big or small, invisible or visible, near or faraway, already born, or yet to be born. May all of them dwell in perfect tranquility.

“Let no one do harm to anyone. Let no one put the life of anyone in danger. Let no one, out of anger or ill will, wish anyone any harm.

“Just as a mother loves and protects her only child at the risk of her ownlife, cultivate boundless love to offer to all living beings in the entire cosmos. Let our boundless love pervade the whole universe, above, below, and across. Our love will know no obstacles. Our heart will be absolutely free from hatred and enmity. Whether standing or walking, sitting or lying, as long as we are awake, we should maintain this mindfulness of love in our own heart. This is the noblest way of living.

“Free from wrong views, greed, and sensual desires, living in beauty and realizing Perfect Understanding, those who practice boundless love will certainly transcend birth and death.”

Etena sacca vajjena sotthi te hotu sabbada. [repreat three times]

[By the firm determination of this truth, may you ever be well.]
http://www.plumvillage.org/practice/discourses/54-discourse-on-love.html

Gathas

Gathas - those short poems that we repeat to center ourselves and bring our minds back to what is important.

Waking Up
Waking up this morning, I smile.
Twenty-four brand new hours are before me.
I vow to live fully in each moment
and to look at beings with eyes of compassion.

For more click: http://www.rightdiligence.com/more/gathas

Parallax Press offers a mindfulreader blog.

Parallax Press is "the premier publisher of Thich Nhat Hanh and other teachers of engaged Buddhism"  now has their own blog about books that might be of interest to followers of Thay.

Last month they talked about the book "Child's Mind".  Click the link to see what they have to say.

http://mindfulreader.org/