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Classes with Mark Hart   |  Dharma Inquiry Group
   Weekly Sittings  |  Non-Bodhisara Mark Hart Events
Guest Teachers

Classes with Mark Hart

Relax, Open, and Inquire
Tuesday Evenings, 7:30-9:00PM
January 26-March 16
The Cadigan Center, Amherst College (Directions)
Suggested Donation: $100
Register now.

Meditation could be described as a dynamic combination of two skills: 1) relaxation that lowers reactivity and allows the mind to rest and to open and 2) inquiry that uncovers the causes of stress and discontent in our mind.  This 8-week course teaches various meditative approaches both to relaxation and to intuitive, non-analytical observation of experience. Students who will gain the most benefit from the class are those who attend all classes and commit themselves to practicing meditation for at least 20 minutes daily.

 

Being Free Within Experience
Tuesday Evenings, 7:30-9:00PM
March 23-May 11
The Cadigan Center, Amherst College (Directions)
Suggested Donation: $100
Register now.

Most of the time we are struggling (unsuccessfully) to be free from certain experiences we dislike and to have the ones we want stay with us. This eight-week class explores a third possibility, that of being free within any experience we are having and finding a joy not so vulnerable to the conditions we find ourselves within.  This class will provide both a suitable introduction to insight meditation for beginners as well as ongoing instruction for more experienced students of meditation. 30-40 minutes of each class will be devoted to sitting in meditation.

 

Sundays and Sittings

Dharma Inquiry Group:
2nd and 4th Sundays,
Feb 14-May 23
7:00- 9:00 p.m., Leverett
Suggested Donation: $100 


The inquiry group is for those who wish to explore within a group what is true and what liberates.  Each member takes responsibility for discovering his or her own real questions about the Dharma and sharing that inquiry with the group. We aim to talk about what is most alive and energizing in each person’s practice as well as what is stuck and difficult.  We also read a book in conjunction with this exploration.  This fall’s book was Adyashanti’s The End of Your World.  A book for the spring term has not yet been selected. Members must have an established Buddhist meditation practice for at least two years and registration is limited to 12.  Priority is given to prior members.

Sunday Morning Sitting Group
Sundays 10-11:30AM

Each group includes 45 minutes of sitting and 45 minutes of conversation in which we share, in a context of spiritual friendship, our own exploration of truth and freedom in our lives. Not a teacher-led group. Normally this group is held on Sundays 10:00-11:30 a.m. at Julie Graham’s home, 75 Town Farm Road in Shutesbury; however, this winter we will be meeting at various venues.

Feb 28           Kate Hart, 20 Schoolhouse Road, Shutesbury  259-1954
March 7         Kate Hart
March 14       Irene Saunders, 25 Stowell Road, Shutesbury
March 21       Laurene Greneir, 26 Greenleaves, Drive Unit 609, Amherst   256-4516
March 28       Laurene Grenier
April 4            Irene Saunders
April 11          Laurene Grenier
April 18          Irene Saunders
April 25          Julie Graham

If you are interested in coming, lease email Mark at harts@crocker.com or call 259-2145 to be added to our email list for this group to be notified of any changes.
 

Adyashanti Gathering
First Friday of each month, 7PM
Hadley

This group, for all who are interested in the teaching of Adyashanti, includes meditation, a CD or DVD teaching by Adyashanti, and a discussion.  It is held on the first Friday of each month at 7 PM in Hadley. Contact Mark Lange at lange.mark@charter.net or at 413-549-1002 for information.


Movie Night

Bodhisara sponsors a movie night about 4 times per year of some movie of relevance to Buddhism or the Dharma.  The evening includes a potluck supper at 6:30 and the movie begins at 8 PM.  These are normally held at the home of Olivia Bernard in Leverett.

Next Movie Night: Friday February 12th. We'll be watching Blessings, a wonderful account of a group of women travelling with Tsoknyi Rinpoche to visit the Nangchen nuns of eastern Tibet. View the trailer here.

 

 

 

Guest Teachers

Loch Kelly: Cancelled Due to Weather 2/26

 

 

 

Mukti

Co-founder of Open Gate Sangha with her husband Adyashanti, Mukti studied the teachings of Paramahansa Yogananda for 20 years and has been a student of Adyashanti’s since 1996. More information about Mukti can be found at www.muktisource.org.

Tuesday, March 23 and Wednesday, March 24 at 7:00 PM —Satsangs at a location to be announced.

 


Non-Bodhisara Teachings by Mark Hart

At the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies, (978) 355-2347 or www.dharma.org/bcbs/

  • Awakening—Dual or Non-Dual?, September 17-19 (residential weekend)

 

At Pioneer Valley Co-Housing and sponsored by Insight Pioneer Valley:

  • Liberating the Heart, non-residential retreat co-led with Rebecca Bradshaw, January 29-31; register at InsightPV, 413 527-0388 or www.insightpv.org. $40-80 sliding scale, plus dana.

 

At Insight Pioneer Valley, Eastworks, 116 Pleasant St. Ste. 2310, Easthampton (no pre-registration):

  • Coming into our Bodies, February 1-22, 7:00-8:30 PM, $28-$40 + teacher dana

 

At Insight Meditation Community of Martha’s Vineyard
Day-long retreat April 17, 10-4:30 at the Unitarian Church, 238 Main Street, Vineyard Haven, $25 plus teacher dana

 

At Northampton Insight Meditation Community (in the Karuna Center:

    • Dharma Talks on various Sunday evenings 7-9 PM, at the Karuna Center, Northampton, dana; for an up-to-date schedule, go to http://buddhabrarian.org/nimc/

     

     

     

     

     

     

    About the teacher
    Mark Hart has practiced Insight Meditation since 1981, studying primarily at Insight Meditation Society in Barre, MA.  Since 2000 has also studied with teachers of non-dual awareness, including Adyashanti, and has incorporated that into his teaching.  He is guiding teacher of the Bodhisara Dharma Community  in Amherst, Massachusetts, on the teacher’s council at Insight Pioneer Valley in Easthampton, and adjunct religious advisor to Buddhist students at Amherst College. He holds a Ph.D in theology from Boston College, an MA in Counseling from Seattle University, and has a private practice of psychotherapy in Amherst.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Directions to the Cadigan Center for Religious Studies, Amherst College

    For those of you who'd like to mapquest, the address is 38 Woodside Avenue, Amherst.  The Cadigan Center is not on the main part of the campus but west of Route 116/South Pleasant Street by one block.  Starting from the traffic light at the intersection of Route 9 and South Pleasant street by the Amherst Common, go west on Route 9 (toward Hadley and Northampton) and take the first left.  Go down to the end of the block and the Cadigan Center is on your left just before you come to the intersection with Walnut Street.  Coming from Hadley on Route 9 go past the Amherst College fields coming up the hill toward the common.  Woodside is the right turn after Orchard St. and the last right before the traffic light.

    There is no parking on Woodside until you drive past the intersection with Walnut street.  So don't park on the street in front of Cadigan. Keep going to park on the street. You may park at the Cadigan Center off the street, either in the circular driveway or on the side. Parking will take a little getting used to but there is plenty.  It is also a brief walk from downtown.

     

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