People of Color Full-Day Retreat with Bhante Buddharakkhita of Uganda

Cultivating Compassion & Wisdom to Heal Our Communities

A DONATION-BASED MEDITATION PROGRAM.
$30 suggested or as you can, greater or smaller.*

Sunday, September 9, 2018
9:30 AM – 4:30 PM EDT
Early Learning Center | Atrium Room
1 New York Avenue | Second Floor
Newark, NJ

REGISTER NOW: ncmc-poc-retreat.eventbrite.com

Led by Ugandan Buddhist monk, Bhante Buddharakkhita (b. Steven Jemba Kaboggoza; bio below), this meditation retreat is specifically for those people from communities of color who are immigrant Americans or reside in America and who consider themselves as indigenous, enslaved, colonized, disenfranchised, and/or marginalized. People of Color retreats are especially intended to provide an affinity group for individuals who daily confront the effects of racism.

We ask that all participants attend the program in its entirety. The program is designed for all to feel comfortable, comprehend, and hold interest — whether you are a beginner, experienced, or committed meditator of any discipline. Consider inviting a meditation buddy to attend with you (it’s a nice supportive practice).

Included in the program will be guided meditation, Dharma Talks, walking meditation, yoga movement, Dyads, and Q&As. There will also be an Art As Insight Workshop. Assisting Bhante from the NCMC board community will be instructors Andrea Lee, Kamilah Crawley, and J. Javier Cruz, and announcer Ihsaan R. Muhammad. (Bios on the Leadership Page of our website.) A vegan meal will be served.

The venue is in a state-of-the-art LEED-certified green building with wheel-chair and elevator access. If the weather is nice we will also use the adjoining Outdoor Courtyard to the Atrium Room during some of the movement sessions. It is an easy and direct .6 mile/11 minute walk from Newark Penn Station. Street parking is available in the area.
Bhante Buddharakkhita’s most popular book, Planting Dhamma Seeds: The Emergence of Buddhism in Africa and his most recent book on meditation, Sowing Seeds of Peace, will be available for purchase. All proceeds after costs will go to his center in Uganda for their projects such as the Peace School for Children, Orphan Project, and Women’s Livelihood Project.

*Donations go to cover program expenses and gifts to teacher and instructors.

REGISTER NOW: ncmc-poc-retreat.eventbrite.com

Tentative Schedule

ARRIVAL
8:30 Volunteer Arrival
9:00-9:15 Participant Arrival. Please arrive no later than 9:15.
MORNING SESSION (3 hours)
9:30-12:30 Dharma Talk, Guided Meditation, Yoga Movement, Dyad, Q&A
LUNCH (1 hour)
12:30-1:30 Mindfulness of Eating Guidelines, Meal Blessing, Meal, Rest, Interviews with Teacher
AFTERNOON SESSION (3 hours)
1:30-4:30 Dharma Talk, Guided Meditation, Art Workshop, Walking Meditation, Dyad, Q&A
DEPARTURE

Teacher Bio-note

Bhante Buddharakkhita was born and raised in Uganda, Africa. He first encountered Buddhism in 1990 while living in India, and he began practicing meditation in 1993. He was ordained as a Buddhist monk by the late Venerable U Silananda in 2002 at the Tathagata Meditation Center in San Jose, California and then he spent eight years under the guidance of Bhante Gunaratana at the Bhavana Society, West Virginia. He is the founder of the Uganda Buddhist Center in Uganda. Besides spending time at his Center, he is the spiritual director of Flowering Lotus Meditation Center in Magnolia, Mississippi. Bhante has been teaching meditation in Africa, Australia, Europe, Asia, and the U.S, since 2005. His book, Planting Dhamma Seeds: The Emergence of Buddhism in Africa, tells the story of his religious and spiritual work in Africa. His most recent book is Sowing Seeds of Peace. He is a Visiting Monastic Teacher with Newark Center for Meditative Culture in New Jersey. He is on the council of advisers to Buddhist Global Relief in New York.

About NCMC

Newark Center for Meditative Culture is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization serving a diverse urban meditation community. Your tax deductible donations make it possible for us to deliver life-changing programs to the Greater Newark community.

All of our programs are offered as donation-based no-fee to the participant. Instead, we invite all participants to make voluntary gifts to the level of their ability, sometimes with suggested donation amounts. NCMC disperses the donations equitably between teachers and venue providers. We base this system on the practice of dana or generosity, which is inherent to many spiritual traditions.

Contact us with questions at info@newarkmeditation.org.

Urban Nature Bathing

Re-Naturing Ourselves and Our Children:
The Tree vs. The Screen

 

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Some of our current and past nature programs, left to right, top to bottom: Child sits quietly near meditation circle at Military Park; our new meditation circle in Independence Park; children play at the trees; a child tries a few minutes of meditation, a boys/men mindful nature hike in South Mountain Reservation, an Earth Month pond clean-up and mindfulness in motion in Branch Brook Park with teenagers.

 

The japanese have a practice called shinrin-yoku, translated to forest-bathing, that simply put means taking the forest in through our senses. To just be in nature, with no particular aim, can bridge the gap beween us and the natural world that we are intrinsically a part of, but too often we have lost touch with.

We use all our senses of seeing, hearing, tasting, smelling, and touching to forest bath. Along with awakening the five senses to nature, we can elevate our sixth sense base of consciousness (present with all of these other senses) to a mind state of joy, kindness, and wholeness.

Many of us have become so separate from nature as now the majority of the world’s population lives in cities. Though we might not often be able to go “into the woods”, we have our urban green spaces as little oases.

If not for our own good, we need to consider exposing our urban-bred children to natural settings. There are significant and diverse studies that indicate that being in nature is important to children in their cognitive, emotional, social, and educational development.1 In a more natural way of putting it, we can say that children who experience natural settings are able to stay in touch with themselves and be more peaceful, which helps them to stay more focused and less fragmented.

There too are clear class- and race-based inequalities in urban children’s exposure to the natural world as well as industrial environmental hazards1, but we as a community and as parents and caregivers can make informed choices as to how we use our precious time.

At Newark Center for Meditative Culture (NCMC), being in nature has an important role in our teacher’s practices. Those in the community who keep up with us recognize that bringing nature programs and sessions to the community is a priority.

This summer through the end of August, NCMC is offering two free opportunities to bath in urban nature with us and learn to meditate while you are at it. Each Tuesday we are running Meditation Classes in Independence Park in the Ironbound (translation into spanish and portuguese as requested). Downtown each Wednesday we are running Meditation Classes in Military Park. Weather providing, both start at 7:00pm and go to 8:00pm.

These are Family Friendly programs, so we invite you to bring children who can sit quietly with us or play near us to get their first taste of mindfulness practice in nature.

If you can’t sit with us, perhaps this information will inspire you to commit to engage with nature through local hikes and nature outings or as much as possible get out at lunch to sit at a tree, lay in the grass and look at the sky, or instead of gazing at a television screen or phone screen, step out at night to gaze up at the stars.

1Reference Article: Childhood Development and Access to Nature: A New Direction for Environmental Inequality Research; https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3162362/

For further information, contact Newark Center for Meditative Culture at info@newarkmeditation.org.

Part 1.4: Self-Healing Meditation Medicine

Introduction to Meditation Medicine Course

Part 4 of 4 Lessons

The purpose of this course is to help you move beyond settling for the explanation of meditation, into the experience of meditation and a consistent practice. Meditation is something that you have to practice and make a part of your life. You will come to understand what Meditation Medicine means and why meditation is medicine. (See blog post Course 1.0: Introduction to Meditation Medicine—Course Description that gives the entire overview.)

Step 1: Watch Intro to Meditation Medicine Talk 1.4

Short talk about developing a sacred approach to your practice, space, and time in order to focus internally on yourself for power, wellness, and wisdom. (9 min)

Step 2: Listen and practice Guided Meditation 1.4: Self-Healing Meditation Medicine

Short talk on meditation as a self-healing modality within a specialized society and the ensueing fragmention of ourselves that we can heal through meditation. Includes brief body scan and breath meditation and a new practice of Inner Smile meditation. (24 min)

Step 3: Practice what you’ve learned in these videos for a week. Then continue on with your own practice.

We also would love for you to join us if you haven’t already on the Meditation Medicine Study Group on Facebook where we can support each other’s practice through online discussions, sharing relevant posts, and asking questions to the teacher.

Additional Resource: Infographic 1.4: A Consistent Sacred Meditation Practice.
Feel free to print this out and use it as a reference.

Infographic_Consistent Sacred Meditation Practice.png

Consultation: Optional twenty-minute consultation with Kazi concerning your meditation experiences, insights, challenges, etc. via email, phone, or skype. Contact us at info@newarkmeditation.org to request.

Ongoing online group discussions and teachings with Kazi: You can join the Meditation Medicine Study Group on Facebook to engage with a group of kindred spirits to share your meditation medicine journey with.

Go to Course 1.0: Introduction to Meditation Medicine: Course Description

Go to Lesson 1.1: Meditation is Medicine

Go to Lesson 1.2: Preventive Meditation Medicine

Go to Lesson 1.3: Curative Meditation Medicine

Go to Lesson 1.4: Self-Healing Meditation Medicine

 

Peace. Kazi

 

Part 1.3: Curative Meditation Medicine

Introduction to Meditation Medicine Course

Part 3 of 4 Lessons

The purpose of this course is to help you move beyond settling for the explanation of meditation, into the experience of meditation and a consistent practice. Meditation is something that you have to practice and make a part of your life. You will come to understand what Meditation Medicine means and why meditation is medicine. (See blog post Course 1.0: Introduction to Meditation Medicine—Course Description that gives the entire overview.)

Step 1: Watch Intro to Meditation Medicine Talk 1.3

Short talk your mindset, erasing doubts, letting go, and our abillity to truly relax in order to activate our parasympathetic nervous system. (10 min)

Step 2: Listen and practice Guided Meditation 1.3: Curative Meditation Medicine

Short talk on meditation as a curative measure, relating to tension, pain, and chronic pain. Includes additional guidance on contract-relax body scan and breath meditation, followed by a new practice of mindfulness of pain. (28 min)

Step 3: Practice what you’ve learned in these videos for a week. Then go to Lesson 1.4: Self-Healing Meditation Medicine.

Additional Resource: Infographic 1.3: Basic Meditation Practices Prescribed.
Feel free to print this out and use it as a reference.

Infographic_Basic Meditation Practices_color.png

Consultation: Optional twenty-minute consultation with Kazi concerning your meditation experiences, insights, challenges, etc. via email, phone, or skype. Contact us at info@newarkmeditation.org to request.

Ongoing online group discussions and teachings with Kazi: You can join the Meditation Medicine Study Group on Facebook to engage with a group of kindred spirits to share your meditation medicine journey with.

Go to Course 1.0: Introduction to Meditation Medicine: Course Description

Go to Lesson 1.1: Meditation is Medicine

Go to Lesson 1.2: Preventive Meditation Medicine

Go to Lesson 1.3: Curative Meditation Medicine

Go to Lesson 1.4: Self-Healing Meditation Medicine

 

Peace. Kazi

 

Part 1.2: Preventive Meditation Medicine

Introduction to Meditation Medicine Course

Part 2 of 4 Lessons

The purpose of this course is to help you move beyond settling for the explanation of meditation, into the experience of meditation and a consistent practice. Meditation is something that you have to practice and make a part of your life. You will come to understand what Meditation Medicine means and why meditation is medicine. (See blog post Course 1.0: Introduction to Meditation Medicine—Course Description that gives the entire overview.)

Step 1: Watch Intro to Meditation Medicine Talk 1.2

Short talk on how to create a space conducive to meditation practice. (11 min)

Step 2: Listen and practice Guided Meditation 1.2: Preventive Meditation Medicine

Short talk on meditation as a preventive measure, its positive effect on the immune system and well-being, and the qualities of mindfulness. Includes three guided meditation exercises: body scan, breath meditation, and mindfulness meditation. (31 min)

Step 3: Practice what you’ve learned in these videos for a week. Then go to Lesson 1.3: Curative Meditation Medicine.

Additional Resource: Infographic 1.2: Creating Good Meditation Associations.
Feel free to print this out and use it as a reference.

Infographic_Creating Good Meditation Associations.png

 

Consultation: Optional twenty-minute consultation with Kazi concerning your meditation experiences, insights, challenges, etc. via email, phone, or skype. Contact us at info@newarkmeditation.org to request.

Ongoing online group discussions and teachings with Kazi: You can join the Meditation Medicine Study Group on Facebook to engage with a group of kindred spirits to share your meditation medicine journey with.

Go to Course 1.0: Introduction to Meditation Medicine: Course Description

Go to Lesson 1.1: Meditation is Medicine

Go to Lesson 1.2: Preventive Meditation Medicine

Go to Lesson 1.3: Curative Meditation Medicine

Go to Lesson 1.4: Self-Healing Meditation Medicine

 

Peace. Kazi

 

Part 1.1: Meditation is Medicine

Introduction to Meditation Medicine Course

Part 1 of 4 Lessons

The purpose of this course is to help you move beyond settling for the explanation of meditation, into the experience of meditation and a consistent practice. Meditation is something that you have to practice and make a part of your life. You will come to understand what Meditation Medicine means and why meditation is medicine. (See blog post Course 1.0: Introduction to Meditation Medicine—Course Description that gives the entire overview.)

 

Step 1: Watch Intro to Meditation Medicine Talk 1.1

An introduction to the series, its purpose, and goal. (11 min)

 

Step 2: Listen and practice Guided Meditation 1.1: Meditation is Medicine

Short talk on the medicinal potential of meditation and its main functions including the concept of bringing ourselves back to center, to equilibrium. Includes two basic guided meditation exercises: contract-relax body scan and breath meditation. (33 min)

Step 3: Practice what you’ve learned in these videos for a week. Then go to Lesson 1.2: Preventive Meditation Medicine.

Additional Resource: Infographic 1.1: Bringing Ourselves Back to Center.
Feel free to print this out and use it as a reference.

Infographic_Bringing Ourselves Back to Center.png

Consultation: Optional twenty-minute consultation with Kazi concerning your meditation experiences, insights, challenges, etc. via email, phone, or skype. Contact us at info@newarkmeditation.org to request.

Ongoing online group discussions and teachings with Kazi: You can join the Meditation Medicine Study Group on Facebook to engage with a group of kindred spirits to share your meditation medicine journey with.

Go to Course 1.0: Introduction to Meditation Medicine: Course Description

Go to Lesson 1.1: Meditation is Medicine

Go to Lesson 1.2: Preventive Meditation Medicine

Go to Lesson 1.3: Curative Meditation Medicine

Go to Lesson 1.4: Self-Healing Meditation Medicine

 

Peace. Kazi

 

Learn how to make meditation a part of your life in a simple four-part lesson!

Introduction to Meditation Medicine 1.0 — Course Description

A Course of The Spirit-Centered Life held in conjunction
with Newark Center for Meditative Culture.

Teacher: Ib’nallah S. Kazi (Go to bio.)

“The experience proceeds and is more important than the explanation.”
— Old African Proverb 

 

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If you have started to read this it might suggest that you believe there is personal, social and perhaps universal value in the practice of meditation. As the practice of meditation becomes more mainstream with each day, the opportunity to begin a meditation practice often remains stymied by a lack of time, energy or just a lack of knowledge on how and where to begin. We are currently offering a four-part lesson on Meditation Medicine for free. It is our wish that this series of teachings contributes to removing these obstacles to your meditation practice.

Peace. Kazi

Course Description

OVERVIEW: The purpose of this course is to help you move beyond settling for the explanation of meditation, into the experience of meditation and a consistent practice. Meditation is something that you have to practice and make a part of your life. You will come to understand what Meditation Medicine means and why meditation is medicine.

COURSE INCLUDES: Prerecorded Web Talks and Guided Meditations; Optional Discussion and Consultation; Infographics.

LESSON 1.1: Meditation is Medicine

VIDEO TALK 1.1: Intro to Meditation Medicine — An introduction to the series, its purpose, and goal. (11 min)

PRE-RECORDED GUIDED MEDITATION 1.1: Meditation is Medicine — Short talk on the medicinal potential of meditation and its main functions including the concept of bringing ourselves back to center, to equilibrium. Includes two basic guided meditation exercises: contract-relax body scan and breath meditation. (33 min)

INFOGRAPHIC: Bringing Ourselves Back to Center

LESSON 1.2: Preventive Meditation Medicine

VIDEO TALK 1.2: Creating a Meditation Space — Short talk on how to create a space conducive to meditation practice. (11 min)

PRE-RECORDED GUIDED MEDITATION 1.2: Preventive Meditation Medicine — Short talk on meditation as a preventive measure, its positive effect on the immune system and well-being, and the qualities of mindfulness. Includes three guided meditation exercises: body scan, breath meditation, and mindfulness meditation. (31 min)

INFOGRAPHIC: Creating Good Meditation Associations

LESSON 1.3: Curative Meditation Medicine

VIDEO TALK 1.3: Meditation as a Posture of The Mind — Short talk your mindset, erasing doubts, letting go, and our abillity to truly relax in order to activate our parasympathetic nervous system. (10 min)

PRE-RECORDED GUIDED MEDITATION 1.3: Curative Meditation Medicine — Short talk on meditation as a curative measure, relating to tension, pain, and chronic pain. Includes additional guidance on contract-relax body scan and breath meditation, followed by a new practice of mindfulness of pain. (28 min)

INFOGRAPHIC: Basic Meditation Practices Prescribed

LESSON 1.4: Self-Healing Meditation Medicine

VIDEO TALK 1.4: A Sacred Attitude in Meditation Practice — Short talk about developing a sacred approach to your practice, space, and time in order to focus internally on yourself for power, wellness, and wisdom. (9 min)

PRE-RECORDED GUIDED MEDITATION 1.4: Self-Healing Meditation Medicine — Short talk on meditation as a self-healing modality within a specialized society and the ensueing fragmention of ourselves that we can heal through meditation. Includes brief body scan and breath meditation and a new practice of Inner Smile meditation. (24 min)

INFOGRAPHIC: Developing a Sacred Consistent Practice

Go to Course 1.0: Introduction to Meditation Medicine: Course Description

Go to Lesson 1.1: Meditation is Medicine

Go to Lesson 1.2: Preventive Meditation Medicine

Go to Lesson 1.3: Curative Meditation Medicine

Go to Lesson 1.4: Self-Healing Meditation Medicine

Ongoing online group discussions and teachings with Kazi: You can join the Meditation Medicine Study Group on Facebook to engage with a group of kindred spirits to share your meditation medicine journey with.

 

CULTIVATING INSIGHT & INSTINCT: A Daylong Retreat

OPTIONAL DAY-LONG OR PART-DAY PARTICIPATION (morning or afternoon session)

Sunday, May 20, 2018
10:00am to 4:00pm
Early Learning Center, 1 New York Ave.
(absolutely no walk-ins/no calls please)

Meditation teachers Ib’nallah S. Kazi and Cornelia Santschi will lead this donation-based NCMC program.  (Bios on Leadership Page of website.)

This retreat will help the community to understand the need to cultivate the insight, instincts, and focus needed to navigate the growing uncertainty and instability manifesting in our world. You will take home meditation tools that will help you to reconnect to the inner guidance previously lost in the incessant noise of modern society.

Included will be guided meditations, qigong and yoga movement, an art as meditation session, a visual presentation, and discussion. NCMC instructors J. Javier Cruz and Jennifer Becher will provide assistance. The program is intended to be appropriate for beginners through experienced meditators. A seasonal vegan Medicine Meal will be prepared by Arelis Hernandez, a Newark urban farmer-meditator.

If the weather is nice we plan to spend much of the day in the spring breeze of the adjoining outdoor courtyard! It will be a unique opportunity to experience the setting of a state-of-the-art LEED-certified green building. The venue is an easy and direct .6 mile/11 minute walk from Newark Penn Station. Wheel-chair access.

Please, absolutely no Walk-Ins and no Phone Calls to the Early Learning Center. Call NCMC at 862-227-3288 with inquiries or by email at info@newarkmeditation.org. For more information about Newark Center for Meditative Culture go to the website at www.newarkmeditation.org.

Registration Required on Eventbrite at:
 https://ncmc-there-is-a-season-retreat.eventbrite.com
Suggested donation is $20 by PayPal/Credit Card when you register or Cash or PayPal/Credit Card at Door.

A donation-based program of Newark Center for Meditative Culture.

 

Part 3: Curative Meditation Medicine now available to Members on the Meditation Medicine Study Group on Facebook

FACEBOOK STUDY GROUP:
Meditation Medicine 4-Part Lesson with Kazi —
Free Introductory Series
Tuesday Evenings Beginning April 3, 10, 17, 24*
7:00pm EST | 4:00pm PST
*Access to recorded sessions if you can’t join us live.

This 4-part lesson is exclusive to Meditation Medicine Study Group Members and will be held on Tuesday evenings, April 3rd, April 10th, April 17th, and April 24th. The lessons include live web talks, pre-recorded guided meditations, discussion, consultation, and some home assignments. For more details, you can go to the Meditation Medicine Study Group on Facebook with Master Teacher Kazi of The Spirit-Centered Life.

To join in on the Course: Become a Member of the Meditation Medicine Study Group

A free introductory program of The Spirit-Centered Life held in conjunction with NCMC.

Part 2: Preventative Meditation Medicine now available to Members on the Meditation Medicine Study Group on Facebook

Part 2_Preventative Medicine_MM.pngFACEBOOK STUDY GROUP:
Meditation Medicine 4-Part Lesson with Kazi —
Free Introductory Series
Tuesday Evenings Beginning April 3, 10, 17, 24*
7:00pm EST | 4:00pm PST
*Access to recorded sessions if you can’t join us live.

This 4-part lesson is exclusive to Meditation Medicine Study Group Members and will be held on Tuesday evenings, April 3rd, April 10th, April 17th, and April 24th. The lessons will include live web talks, pre-recorded guided meditations, discussion, consultation, and some home assignments. For more details, you can go to the Meditation Medicine Study Group on Facebook with Master Teacher Kazi of The Spirit-Centered Life.

To join in on the Course: Become a Member of the Meditation Medicine Study Group

A free introductory program of The Spirit-Centered Life held in conjunction with NCMC.