By FRED EPPSTEINER

Some members have referred to the amount of programs offered by our community in the past ten months as a “fire hose of Dharma.” 

Intensives, retreats, workshops, classes and daily guided meditations have all helped sustain and develop our members' capacities to lead more balanced, peaceful and open lives. Many have been able to use this time to devote more energy to learning the teachings of the Buddha and to practicing the way of mindfulness and meditation. 

Upon reflecting, it seems a good idea to pause for a month and give our members an opportunity to catch up from all they’ve learned and experienced in 2020, to reflect on what has been most significant in their past year’s learnings, and decide what to focus on and integrate into their personal and practice life now and in the near future. We can’t practice every teaching and meditation that we’ve learned, so we need to decide what is most essential and needed at this time in our lives.

To help support our members during the month of January, we will be offering a free workshop, “Empowering Your Life with Aspiration and Vows,” on Saturday morning, January 23. In addition, I am suggesting that we ‘buddy-up” for the next four to six weeks to give an added boost to our intentions for the new year.

Many of you participated in our Beginning Anew ceremony and created your list of aspirations/intentions for the coming year. This first month is most important if we seek to implement changes in the way we think, act and behave. Having someone to check in with daily for just a few minutes around our specific change goals will produce a better outcome because this produces accountability. You will be receiving an email about this program in the next few days.