Our Wednesday Sangha Nights are dedicated to supporting anyone wishing to experience and share the benefits of Buddhist practice. We are committed to strengthening the connection between personal practice and positive action in the world around us, and providing a welcoming and safe place for all those who want to participate. All are welcome here.
Our theme for 2024 is Waking up to Imagination
Imagination can bring us closer to awakening, or distract and keep us trapped in conditional views and beliefs. How do we tell the difference? This year we will look at teachings through the ages, from the Pali Canon to the modern day, that help us distinguish between imagination that opens the heart and mind and imagination that perpetuates delusion.
In Person with a zoom option.
Most evenings are informal and interactive. Introductions are followed by meditation and after the tea break there's usually a talk, workshop or discussion. No particular experience is required, though if you have not meditated before we recommend first attending one of our introductory classes.
Most of our practice periods begin with Saluting the 3 Jewels and we sometimes chant the Refuges and Precepts together.
Suggested donation: $10–$5, or whatever you can afford. If you'd like a brief orientation please arrive before 7pm.
Sangha Night Classes
Every Wednesday evening, 7pm to 9pm, in person and online
Sangha (Community) Nights are open to anyone wishing to practice together and connect around Buddhist practices and Dharma teachings. Our theme for 2024 is "Waking up to Imagination". (More information about Sangha Nights.)
Drop in to the SFBC or to our zoom room any Wednesday evening - please arrive a little before 7pm. Zoom link. In person safety requirements.
Full Program for September
September 4: Dharmadhara and Sangha Visioning and Imagining, with Prasadachitta
September 11: Celebrate Padmasambhava Day, with Mokshasi
Celebrate this important Buddhist holiday with meditation, a short introduction, and puja - more information here.
September 18: The Dharma of Dreams, with special guest, Arthabandhu
Arthabandhu will help us explore ways to reconnect with the magic of our dream lives and show how dreams can be part of a rich Dharma life. More information on this page.
September 25: Mitra Ceremony
Three members of our community have made a personal commitment to practicing with the SFBC Sangha as Mitras and following the Buddhist precepts of non-harm. This simple and joyful ceremony will mark the occasion.
Sangha Night Puja, Sep 11, 7pm to 9pm, with Mokshasi
Sangha (Community) Nights are open to anyone wishing to practice together and connect around Buddhist practices and Dharma teachings. Our theme for 2024 is "Waking up to Imagination".
Drop in to the SFBC or to our zoom room any Wednesday evening - please arrive a little before 7pm. Zoom link. In person safety requirements.
Padmasambhava is the 8th century Tibetan teacher who helped to establish Buddhism in Tibet. He became an almost mythical figure, transforming demons and confronting obstacles to awakening.
Within Triratna, Padmasambhava is appreciated particularly for his deep connection to Buddhist Tantra and his teachings on the radical transformation of the human psyche.
On this special Sangha Night we will celebrate Padmasambhava Day by meditating together and then exploring the symbolism of Padmasambhava, mainly through ritual (verses of the 7 fold puja plus invocations, mantras and instruments). There will be a short introduction by Mokshasi.
Padmasambhava es el maestro Tibetano del siglo 8 que ayudó a establecer el budismo en el Tibet. Se convirtió en una figura casi mitológica y legendaria al ayudar a transformar nuestros demonios.
En Triratna, Padmasambhava se ha convertido en una figura muy popular en su conexión con el budismo tántrico y la transformación radical de las profundidades humanas en línea con la naturaleza del Dharma.
En esta Noche de Sangha vamos a celebrar el Día de Padmasambhava meditando juntos/as/es y después exploraremos la figura de Padmasambhava a través de un ritual (versos de la puja de las 7 etapas más mantras e instrumentos musicales). Mokshasi dará una breve introducción a la figura de Padmasambhava para aquellos/as/es que no estén familiarizados con ella.
Full September Sangha Night Program (More information about Sangha Nights.)
Wednesday Sep 18, with special guest Arthabandhu
Explore the magic of the dream world on this special Wednesday Sangha Night, 7pm to 9pm
Arthabandhu has generously offered to lead this evening while visiting from the UK. Drawing from 20 years of exploring the dream world and the benefits it can offer he will guide us in reconnecting with the magic of our dream lives and show how dreams can be part of a rich Dharma life.
He has long had a special interest in dreams and has explored them in relation to Buddhist practice ever since hearing Urgyen Sangharakshita say: “If you want to really know yourself, pay attention to your dreams.” He lives in the UK, working with adults with learning disabilities and is visiting us after volunteering at a summer camp for people with disabilities in Minnesota.
Our Sangha nights are open to anyone interested in Buddhist practices and Meditation. They are hybrid - for in person please check our safety guidelines, for zoom you'll find the link here.
Wednesdays Oct to Dec, 7pm to 9pm, in person and online
Sangha (Community) Nights are open to anyone wishing to practice together and connect around Buddhist practices and
Dharma teachings.
Drop in to the SFBC or to our zoom room any Wednesday evening - please arrive a little before 7pm. Zoom link. In person safety requirements.
Each evening begins with meditation, followed by a talk or other activity. Our theme for 2024 is Waking Up to Imagination. (More information about Sangha Nights.)
Fall/Winter Program
October: Imagination and the Written (and Spoken) Word
October 2: The Conspiracy of Words, with Acarasiddhi
We will breathe together, meditate together, and experience a talk by Acarasiddhi (yes, using his words) on the interplay between practice and prose, practice and poetry, and practice and life itself.
Acarasiddhi will share how his Dharma practice, which began over 30 years ago, led to (among other major changes in his life), his path as a writer. He will offer thoughts on the connections/interplay between "the Buddhist" and "the writer." And more, we will each have the opportunity to do a bit of writing this very night.
Note: The word "conspire" comes from the Latin com spirare --- "to breathe together."
October 9: The Unreliable Narrator, with Prajnakavi
October 16 and 23: Word-4-Word Dharma - 2 Week Series, with Danamaya
Most Dharma study consists of talks, readings and discussions to learn the concepts. Completely valuable, but not the only way to understand the Dharma. The Buddha’s teachings were first given and, for several centuries after the Buddha’s passing, as an oral tradition. There was great wisdom in this approach. Everyone loves a good story! We’ll be hearing the Dharma in story form.
Week One: Angulimala’s name means Garland of Fingers and he was one bad dude who robbed and killed travelers. He also cut off a finger of his victim to add to his grisly necklace. Yet meeting the Buddha changed his life and he eventually gained Insight. Come find out what happened to the Karma he generated in his life.
Week Two: Conversations with the Gods or There’s No Place Like Home: a story within a story—The Buddha tells Kevala about a monk who has burning questions: Where do the 4 Elements (earth, water, fire and wind cease without a remainder? In other words, where does is the cycle of rebirth broken? When do things stop being transformed from one for to another? So the monk goes traveling…
October 30: Day of the Dead celebration, with Mokshasi
November: Sangha and the Collective Imagination
November 6 - Post Election Sangha get together
November 13 - Sangha Day Celebration
November 20 - Holiday (no class)
November 27 - with Viradhamma
Celebrating 30 years in the Triratna Buddhist Order
December: Turning Inwards
December 4 - with Viradhamma
Love, Compassion, Joy and Equanimity
December 11 - Meditation and talk
December 18: End of year celebration and imaginings
Closed for Winter Retreat 21 to 28
Class resumes January 8 2025