2021
The Beautiful Mind: Thursday Class Series (drop-in)
Chris will give a series of Dharma reflections on equanimity (Pali: upekkhā) beginning Thursday, March 18. These talks, offered virtually March through May, will explore different ways of understanding equanimity–its characteristics, modes of practice, relationship to other Dharma teachings, and its benefits.
Dates: March 18; April 8 & 22; May 6; June 10
Thursday classes are drop-in and no registration is required. While students interested in a comprehensive exploration of equanimity will benefit from attending the full series, any class can be attended as a ‘stand-alone’ class.
Weekly drop-in class on Zoom: no registration required.
Note: This class meets every Thursday. There is a guest teacher when Chris is not scheduled to teach.
This event is offered in the tradition of dana (Pali for giving or generosity): while there is no set cost of attending, we invite you to consider making a donation to support the teacher and The Boston Meditation Center.
Body, Breath, and Mind: Meditating without Attachment
June 26, 2021
This program is in-person at IMCN!
IMCN
9am-12:30pm
This half-day retreat brings together the Buddhist ideal of non-attachment and the foundations of insight meditation: body, breath, and mind. Through alternating periods of sitting and walking meditation interspersed with Dharma reflections, together we will undertake a careful investigation of non-attachment in a simple, pragmatic way, aimed at deepening our meditation practice as well as bringing the ideal of non-attachment more alive in our day-to-day lives.
All are welcome and invited. This retreat is open to beginners and experienced meditators.
Foundations of Dharma Practice: The Five Recollections
BMC July 24
9:00am-12:30pm
Generally when we think of Buddhist meditation, mindfulness comes to mind, or maybe loving kindness. When we consider essential teachings, we often default to the Four Noble truths. However, before the Buddha taught about suffering he taught generosity, and The Five Recollections are the foundation for all of our Dharma activities. Exploring the truth of aging, sickness, and end-of-life, the Five Recollections are an essential foundation of Dharma practice; how attuned we are to these ‘recollections’ contributes to our motivation for practice, and can refine our understanding of why we practice.
In this half-day retreat we will explore the Five Recollections, emphasizing their place in the Buddhist path as motivational forces, and as a framework for meditation practice that fosters non-attachment leading to joy.
All are welcome and invited–both beginners and experienced meditators.
Adhitthāna Day: Nurturing Mind & Heart
A Day-Long Retreat with Chris Crotty and Boston Meditation Center practice leaders
This will be BMC’s inaugural weekend program at the new center. This program will be in-person. Pre registration required.
Saturday, Oct 2
Full Day: 9:30am to 5:00pm ET
Half Day: 9:30am to 1:00pm ET
Boston Meditation Center
Overview
Adhitthāna Day is a time of self-nurturance rooted in practicing and hearing the Dharma–an opportunity to unplug, set aside our many responsibilities, and take refuge in the simple rhythms of sitting and walking meditation for a full day. This day of practice combines meditation periods with a Dharma talk by BMC’s guiding teacher, Chris Crotty, along with the opportunity to practice with other community members.
To be offered in both the spring and fall, Adhitthāna Day is intended as a bi-annual tradition, a time to dedicate a day to developing one’s meditation, establishing the conditions for the restorative quiet and calm available to us when we rest our many distractions, habits, and longings.
Adhitthāna Day is open to everyone, beginners and experienced meditators.
Where
Boston Meditation Center
440 Somerville Ave., Somerville, MA
Investment
Full Day: $50 Base; $70 Sustaining; $90 Contributing
Half Day: $25 Base; $35 Sustaining; $45 Contributing
Paying at the highest level you can afford helps us make our programs available to as many people as possible. There is also an opportunity to offer additional dana (generosity) for the teacher at the end of the program.
Please let us know if finances are an obstacle. Scholarships are available for anyone experiencing financial hardships.
True Dharma: Winter Practice Period-The Heart Teachings
3-Month group-mentoring & Dharma study with Chris Crotty
Fall 2021-Winter 2022
Given a successful three-month winter practice period that ended in January 2021, and student requests to enroll in the program again, BMC will offer a ‘second annual’ winter practice period, beginning Fall 2021 and ending winter 2022.
Check back soon for a full program description and information about how to apply.
2022
Community Dharma Facilitator Training (CDFT)
Embodying wisdom and kindness: an in-depth dharma training for our times
with Chris Crotty and Contributing Teachers
If one going down into a river,
swollen and swiftly flowing,
is carried away by the current –
how can one help others across?
– Sutta Nipāta 2.321
BMC’s guiding teacher, Chris Crotty, along with a highly skilled group of Contributing Teachers, will support a cohort of dedicated dharma practitioners to develop the foundational skills required to better serve their communities by applying the Dharma to matters of individual and social suffering.
Vision
Community Dharma Facilitator Training (CDFT) reflects BMC’s vision to create and guide a ‘culture of care’, where the virtues of wisdom and kindness help sustain wellbeing for all people everywhere. Building on the premise that Buddhist teachings provide a framework for a purposeful life, CDFT offers an in–depth opportunity to broaden one’s own relationship to the Dharma while training in the skills required to embody and facilitate the Buddha’s highest ideals.
Through ongoing reflection of what it means to create and sustain a culture of care, the CDFT explores the intersection of individual practice, group facilitation, and leadership, to form a contemplative personal training that is also socially relevant and applicable to the world we live in, and which specifically supports participants to bring the Dharma more fully into their life and work.
As a Dharma student preparing to better serve your community (or communities) the CDFT will help you to recognize service as practice, and will support you in translating the Dharma in ways that are personally meaningful and relevant to the challenges of our times, while grounding such skills in a lineage of authentic Dharma practice originating with the Buddha.
Who this training is for
CDFT is for students who are ready to become stewards of the Dharma, who want to help sustain the Buddha’s tradition of awakening, while evolving the way modern communities address human suffering. What all participants will have in common is a deep commitment to the Dharma, an ability and desire to work closely with like-minded practitioners to foster mutually supportive relationships, and a sincere commitment to integrating dharma practice into one’s vocational life.
CDFT is designed around many of the challenges and opportunities that progressive spiritual communities are currently facing, and will face in the years ahead. It is ideally suited for you if you want to better serve your Dharma center as a facilitator, peer-leader, staff, volunteer, or board member, and/or you want to establish a foundation in the insight lineage for ongoing long-term Dharma training. CDFT may also offer critical learning opportunities for anyone interested in Buddhist chaplaincy and pastoral care, including M.Div. and CPE students.
CDFT might also be for you if:
• You are an educator or teacher who wants to explore ways to integrate Buddhist principles, teachings, and meditation into the communities where you teach.
• You are a community organizer and/or leader interested in grounding your vision, leadership, and strategic thinking in the principles and practices of a “Buddhism” that merges the traditional and contemporary.
• You are a social service or mental health care worker who seeks the personal support and nurturance of the Dharma, while broadening your professional skills and enhancing your capacity for presence based caregiving, grounded in a long-standing tradition of wisdom and kindness.
• You are a student of any discipline who is interested in furthering your Dharma practice and developing self-awareness, while exploring if and how the Dharma might fit into your educational studies and vocational path.
When
BMC originally planned to begin the CDFT in 2020, however due to COVID and the in-depth nature of the training – which includes in-person sessions at our new meditation center in Somerville, MA – we have had to postpone the start. We currently anticipate the program to begin early 2022, with applications being accepted during the fall of 2021.
The program will consist of four, three-day modules held at Boston Meditation Center over the course of approximately 16 months. As such, CDFT is open to students who live anywhere who can travel to Boston for the required three-day modules which will take place Friday through Sunday.
Applying to CDFT
Acceptance into the CDFT is by application and the cohort size will be limited. Tuition costs have not been finalized though will be equivalent to similar professional and vocational trainings.
Students representing marginalized populations are encouraged to apply. BMC is establishing a scholarship fund to support you. Allowances per person will be partial scholarships in order to disperse these limited funds to as many people as possible across BMC’s programming. Our approach to scholarships are needs based and equity focused, meaning that we distribute a greater percentage of our overall scholarship budget to those who have been historically under-represented.
If you wan’t more information about the CDFT please let us know. Your name will be added to a list of interested candidates for this program and we will write to you and let you know when the CDFT application is available.
If you want more information about the CDFT please let us know by emailing info@bostonmeditationcenter.org. Your name will be added to a list of interested candidates for this program and we will write to you and let you know when the CDFT application is available.
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