Sutra Study (Hybrid In-Person/Zoom)
2024-06-22 09:30 - 12:00 (America/New_York) | Plymouth Meeting Friends, 2150 Butler Pike, Plymouth Meeting, PA, 19462, United States
Join us for our monthly Sutra (Sutta in Pali) study. We will be meeting both in person and on Zoom. For those who would like to join us in person, we will meet at Plymouth Meeting Friends. Directions can be found here: https://philabuddhist.org/directions-to-plymouth-meeting-friends/. The Zoom link will be provided in the email announcement. If you are not signed up to receive our weekly emails, please sign up here: http://eepurl.com/h1xjvz
For this month’s sutra study, Dr. Robin Carr will lead MN 87 Piyajatika Sutta: From One Who Is Dear translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
What does non-attachment mean in the context of family life and intimate loving relationships? How do we minimize suffering within these relationships and the changes life, illness and death bring to them?
From 9:30am to 9:50am we will have 20 minutes of mediation, and the sutra study will begin at 10am after a short break.
If you have any questions, please email us at info@philabuddhist.org.

Sutra Study (Hybrid In-Person/Zoom)
2024-07-27 09:30 - 12:00 (America/New_York) | Plymouth Meeting Friends, 2150 Butler Pike, Plymouth Meeting, PA, 19462, United States
Join us each month to discuss the Buddha’s teaching. Check back here at the beginning of the month for the sutra that we will be studying.

Introduction to the Sutras
2024-09-25 19:00 - 20:00 (America/New_York) | Zoom
Are you interested in learning more about the Buddha’s teachings? Have you read some of the sutras (suttas) and wanted to have a better understanding of their meaning and relevance in the 21st century? Then join us for our newly formatted sutra study session on the fourth Wednesday of the month on Zoom.
This first session will serve as an orientation and introduction to the sutras and answer any of your questions about what they are and how we might approach studying them. Forthcoming sessions will cover the fundamental sutras so that you will have a core understanding that will provide a solid basis for future sutra studies. If you have any questions in the meantime please don’t hesitate to reach out to us at info@philabuddhist.org.
The Zoom link will be provided in the email announcement. If you are not signed up to receive our weekly emails, please sign up here: http://eepurl.com/h1xjvz

CANCELLED: Wednesday Night Meditation Practice Discussion
2024-11-27 19:30 - 20:30 UTC | Zoom
Note that tonight’s meditation practice discussion is cancelled in observance of Thanksgiving.

Lecture & Discussion (on Zoom)
2024-12-08 19:30 - 21:00 (America/New_York)
Please join us this Sunday from 7:30pm to 8:30pm for our monthly Lecture and Discussion series. Please come back to check for the lecturer and topic later.

Ordinary Mind is the Way: A Day of Zen Practice
2025-02-01 09:00 - 17:00 (America/New_York) | Plymouth Meeting Friends, 2150 Butler Pike, Plymouth Meeting, PA, 19462, United States
We are pleased to announce a hybrid (in person & on Zoom) silent retreat, “Ordinary Mind Is the Way: A Day of Zen Practice”, led by Zen Teacher Peter Nichols on Saturday, February 1st, 2025, atPlymouth Meeting Friends.
In a Zen dialogue recorded in ancient China, a monk asks, “What is the Way?”
The Zen master replies, “Ordinary mind is the Way.”
The question is centuries old, probably as old as the human race. It’s our question too: Who am I? What is it to be alive? Why does my life feel unsettled or unsatisfying or unhappy or muddled or…you fill in the blank? Shouldn’t it feel great? What must I do to make everything OK?
The master says, You already have everything you need. It’s the lesson Dorothy brought home from her journey to the Land of Oz: “If I ever go looking for my heart’s desire again, I won’t look any farther than my own backyard.”
Our Ordinary Mind Is the Way retreat will be a day of Zen practice—together as a group—that includes how-to instruction for zazen (meditation), plenty of sitting periods (approx. 25 min) broken up by walking, a dharma talk, a little chanting and bowing, time for eating and resting, private face-to-face interview with the teacher (optional), and a chance to ask questions and talk about your experience at the end.
Come prepared to surrender being in control, to practice hard, and to see what happens when you do nothing more than pay attention to what’s as ordinary as your own backyard.
All PBA activities are free of charge, but we recommend a donation of $25-$50 to the teacher if you can. Please don’t let financial issues keep you from attending. RSVP HERE.
This will be a hybrid retreat, so for those who are not able to join in-person, a Zoom link will be provided in advance of the retreat.
Peter Nichols was a student of Bernie Tetsugen Glassman and John Daido Loori in the late 1980s and early 90s. Later he practiced with Pat Jikyo George from whom he received dharma transmission in 2022. He is a husband and father, a retired writer-editor, and a teacher at the Zen Center of Philadelphia.
