We’re happy to share this request from the Community of Interbeing for help with with their all age retreat this summer.

Project Manager Needed for All-Age Retreat at Stourbridge; 7 – 12 August

Dear Sangha Friends,
For many years we have held an annual retreat open to families and children, sometimes with monastics to lead, often as a lay project.  This year Plum Village are unable to send us a monastic team, but there is a strong intention on the part of last year’s retreat organising team to offer an all-age retreat at our familiar venue in Stourbridge.

Despite everything else now in place; venue, lay Dharma Teachers, Children’s Programme staff, Bookings person etc. we cannot go ahead and offer this retreat until we have a project manager (s) to coordinate everything and work with our Miracle team to make it happen smoothly.

The person (s) needs to be organised, a clear communicator, a strong practitioner and ideally have some experience of organising similar activities.

We estimate that the time needed is ca 1-2 days a month prior to the retreat and then attending the retreat. It maybe that two friends on the path might want to work on this together. Our project manager from last year is happy to provide guidance and a full briefing.

If we do not have this last requirement in place by the 26th of this month, we will have to, with regret, cancel our reservation at Stourbridge, and let go of our strong intention to continue to offer an annual retreat open to families and children.

Please contact Vari at vari.mcluskie {at} verveconsulting.co.uk for further information.

With love and hopes that one or two of you will feel able to join us,

Teri and Vari
pp the Miracle Retreat Team

We’re happy to share an inviation to Guildford Sangha’s upcoming day of mindfulness:
NB This day is for adults only.

Cultivating Joy in a World of Suffering

Experience a day of joyful mindfulness practice  organised by Guildford Sangha in the Plum Village tradition  on Sunday 4^th February 2018 from 10.30 am – 5 pm

at Broadwater Park Community Centre, Summers Road, Farncombe, GU7 3BH

The day is open to all – no previous experience is required. There will be periods of sitting and walking meditation, a dharma talk, opportunities to share from our own experiences, and other group practices. We recommend arriving around 15 minutes early to allow time to settle and breathe.

The event is free, “paid forward” through the generosity of sangha members. There will be an opportunity on the day to contribute towards future events, according to your situation.

Please bring your cushion or meditation stool and mat if you use one. Chairs will also be available. Please bring a simple vegetarian dish to share at lunchtime.

If you are planning to attend, please email us at guildfordsangha@gmail.com so that we have an idea of how many people are coming. Do let us know if you need a lift and your location to see if we can arrange this. Broadwater Park is a 10 minute walk from Farncombe station on the London-Portsmouth line. Parking for cars is available adjacent to the centre.

Don’t wait until you have no more suffering before allowing yourself to be happy.
To suffer is not enough: we must also be in touch with the wonders of life.

Thich Nhat Hanh

Guildford Sangha is affiliated to the Community of Interbeing

Further information at coiuk.org

Dear Family Sangha friends,

We’d like to warmly invite you to join us for a day of minfulness as part of the family sangha weekend being held in a woodland centre near Orpington south-east London next weekend. Please email us at familysanghalondon@gmail.com if you are interested in joining us and we can send you more information. The day will start at 9am, and will include all-age activities throughout the day. We’ve been busy planning the weekend this afternoon and look forward to you joining us.

A lotus for you all,

Noah, Valentina, Claudia, Phuong & Hannah

Dear Friends,

 

We hope you can join us for our next intergenerational day of mindfulness on Sunday, 17th September. We’ll be meeting at Longfield Hall, Camberwell. Please arrive from 9:45am for a 10:00 start. We’ll finish at 12:30pm, and if the weathers’ nice will go to the beautiful Myatt’s Fields Park across the road for a picnic.

 

 

Practices will include mindful movements, mindful walking, mindful eating, singing and sharing from the heart. We will have parallel children and adult spaces for an hour in the morning. During this time, for children aged 0-3, there will be a quiet play area within the adults’ space, or they can join the children’s space accompanied by an adult.

 

We’ll be enjoying a shared picnic lunch together afterwards, providing the weather is nice. Please bring a vegetarian dish to share, hopefully in the garden as a picnic.

We request donations of about £10 per adult and £4 per child so that we can cover the rent of the room. Family Sangha London is facilitated by volunteers and is not for profit. Your donations help us to continue to hold these gatherings. 

 

If you have not replied to let us know you are coming, please contact us. And of course, please get in touch with any questions.

 

 

 

 

***Mindfulness Hub in London***

From 5th to 12th September, a group of Monastics from plum village are setting up a mindfulness hub in Brick Lane London. You can see all the events here.

Events include an evening of poetry and music, drop-in meditation, and evenings to inspire educators and environmentalists. The pop up monastry is a unique and beautiful experiment that’s being tried out for the first time in London!

 

***Peace Sit***

On Tuesday 5th of September Monastics from Plum Village and Wake Up London are joining the Interfaith Day of Action to meditate for peace outside the Arms Fair happening in the Dockland’s Excel Centre. Hannah, Noah and Joe will be joining them, and would love it if anyone was free to come. You can find the facebook event is here. It is part of a wider week of action against the arms fair.

 

”To work for peace is to uproot war from ourselves and from the hearts of men and women. To prepare for war, to give millions of men and women the opportunity to practice killing day and night in their hearts, is to plant millions of seeds of violence, anger, frustration, and fear that will be passed on for generations to come. When we know peace in ourselves and share it with the world, we know peace is possible”
– Thich Nhat Hanh

****

 

We look forward to practising together in two weeks!

 

With metta,

 

Noah, Hannah & Claudia

Dear friends,

Thank you for last Saturday. So nice to see you all!

Our next meeting will be on Saturday 22nd July. Instead of our usual meet up in Wandsworth, we’ll be going for a picnic in the park from noon until 3pm (location to be confirmed). Everyone is welcome. It would be great to hear from you if you have bright ideas for the picnic, or if you’re new and interested in coming for the first time.