Erawan Restaurant   3rd Avenue and 17th Street in Rock Island.

After the reception, Somnieng leaves for Des Moines and then Cambodia.  Meet his mother and Venerable Chhoeum, visiting from Cambodia.

The Thursday evening meditation will begin at 6:30 pm at the Satva Center, 19th Street and 7th Avenue in Rock Island.

Both Friday groups and the Sunday group meditations will be at the usual locations.

We will gather at 6:45 pm Wednesday, June 5th, at Vanderveer Park, near the Main Street fountain at the south end of the park.  Look for the Quad City Meditation banner and the rainbow colored prayer flag teepee.

The Walk will end at 7:40 and we will reconvene at Christ the King Chapel on the St. Ambrose campus for an 8 pm meditation service.

Use the St. Ambrose parking lot across from the Galvin Fine Arts Center (Gaines & High Streets).  You may park there and walk to the park if the weather is good.  Please bring an umbrella if the weather calls for light rain.  If there is heavy rain, we will gather at the St. Ambrose chapel at 7 pm.  For gnats we will have some coconut oil and some lotion to share.

Kindly invite others to share this practice time with Somnieng.

For those who will be unable to attend, there will be a Meditation with Somnieng on Thursday, June 6th, starting at 6:30 pm at the Satva Center in Rock Island.

May you be safe and protected

May you be peaceful and happy

May you be healthy and strong

May you care for yourself with ease

May you know your own goodness

May others see you with clarity

May your heart be light and spacious

May you open to holding all of life

May you accept things as they are

May you care for others, realizing you cannot keep them from suffering

May you cultivate liberation of the mind, practicing love.

May love be your vehicle and your foundation

May you stabilize love and exercise yourself in it

May you perfect love fully

Valentine, let us share a bow and a smile.

The schedule is:

Sitting meditation, guided by Somnieng,  7 pm  Wednesday, November 21 and 7 pm Thursday, November 22 (Thanksgiving Day).  You have two opportunities to sit with Somnieng during the Thanksgiving holiday. ( The regular Thursday group meditation is cancelled for Thanksgiving Day.)

Sutra chanting, led by Somnieng,  10 am Thanksgiving Day

followed by a potluck starting around 11 am Thansgiving Day (this Thursday).

A wonderful opportunity to experience authentic Khymer Buddhist religious culture and taste Thai and Laotian delicacies along with our American Thanksgiving dishes.  It it a potluck, so bring a Thanksgiving dish, if you can.

Cost is your potluck offering and free will dana.  Somnieng’s plane ticket was quite expensive, so consider dana, if you have the means.

Charlie Day is the lead teacher of the Des Moines mindfulness community.  Recently, during a day of mindfulness retreat, Charlie said the trick is finding the preciousness of our most serene, focused moments , finding that same preciousness in our everyday lives.  Finding the sacred in the mundane.  ” After ecstasy, the laundry”, quips Jack Kornfeld.

Here is a short passage from Suzuki’s Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind:  But our approach is just to be concentrated on a simple basic practice and a simple basic understanding of life.  There should be no traces in our activity.  We should not attach to some fancy ideas or to some beautiful things [or luminous experiences].  We should not seek for something good. The truth is always near at hand, within your reach.

In the mindfulness traditions we do not seek to transcend or illuminate.  Our practice is to be present to what is already here.  It is no more complicated than the flow of our breath.  When we leave no trace of our self, our ego, our judgments, we find jewels scattered all around.  That is Charlie’s trick.  It takes a lifetime of practice and only a moment.

Many of you know Somnieng Hoeurn, the Cambodian Buddhist monk who lived in the Quad Cities for 2 1/2 years, while studying at St. Ambrose. I was in Boston for my son, Bryan’s wedding and spent Sunday afternoon with Somnieng.  We met at Harvard Square and then a tour of the Kennedy School of Government.  Somnieng is in the Masters program for a year.  Even in the diverse crowds of Cambridge, his orange robes and shaved head stand out. 
 
His commitment to the disadvanaged in Cambodia is strong and more mature.  He spent the last year making high contacts in the Cambodian government to garner support for the projects in Siem Reap and built a solid staff for Life and Hope Association.  Many charities there are run by foreign nationals.  Somnieng is a home grown dynamo for at-risk children and youths. 
 
Recently he spoke on the Voice of America in Kymer language, fielding questions from his countrymen.  When asked how he will use his Harvard Masters, he said “When one works for his own welfare, then he benefits.  When one works for the welfare of the nation, then all Cambodians benefit.”  The quote was diseminated widely in the Cambodian press. 
 
Somnieng is a great example of engaged mindfulness.  We practice not just for ourselves.  He was a catalyst for our mindfulness community in the Quad Cities.  His practice inspires and challenges.
 
Somnieng sends his warm smile and his greetings to each of us.   
GROUP MEDITATION PRACTICE
Beginners welcome    Cushions & chairs provided
 
Siting Meditation                                             Walking Meditation 
Deep Listening/Mindful Speaking                      Sharing the Merit of Our Practice
 
THURSDAYS 7 PM
Group meets at Davenport School of Yoga, 421 Brady Street in Davenport.  Third floor of Hiberian Hall, above the antique store.   Stairs involved.  Weekly group mindfulness practice since 2005.
  
FRIDAYS 7 PM
Group meets at the Yoga School’s Bettendorf location.  3420 Towne Point Drive, Bettendorf,  IA.  Take Devil’s Glen north from Middle Road, past the HyVee.  Proceed on Devil’s Glen past the stoplight at Belmont.  Go north one more block and turn right.  The School is located just west and north of the Fareway Grocery. 
 
FRIDAY 4 PM MEDITATION AT PRAIRIE OAKS.
Prairie Oaks is meditation and retreat center on a 20 acre tree farm.  Mindfulness meditation is offered at 4 pm on Fridays.  This is out in the country behind LeClaire, west of Territorial Road.  You will need directions.  Call Joyce at 289-3292.   
  
SUNDAY GROUP:         
Sundays 3-5 pm at the home of Vasu and Girija Ramashan in Moline.  Call 309-721-9142 for details.

Before we begin practice, and often during practice, it is useful to ask “what is the mind doing”.  Sometimes, when the mind is restless, we are unaware of that.  We can mistake this restlessness for a lack of focus.  That leads to trying harder to bring the awareness to the breath.  When the mind focuses narrowly on the breath, the breath shrinks of an object of attention, and awareness of the breath becomes less relaxed.  If we pay attention to how the mind is, then we can bring a relaxed attention to the breath.  ”The mind is striving right now.  Now, awareness of the breath, slow and steady.”  Now we have a relaxed awareness of the mind and of the breath.

Whether the mind is stormy or calm, we can bring a relaxed awareness.  Easy on the mind, easy on the breath.

(compassion: exploring with tender curiosity)

A teaching we often hear is “be compassionate toward yourself. Only then can you offer peace and love.” And often self-compassion is framed as acceptance and non-judgmental letting go of expectations. Cultivating an opening of the heart has been a nourishing and freeing gift of committed practice.

There is another aspect of compassion which is energetic and turns the mind from a tendency towards passivity. During moments of focus on the breath and stillness, clear and strong emotions can arise. In ourselves or we notice them in our friend. If I can use the breath practice to set aside reacting/ignoring and let the emotion be, then there is a space to observe and explore.

Working with clear and strong emotions helps to build the skill of compassion. Then we enter the lush forest of fuzzy and more subtle feelings and habits of mind. Ajahn Chah observed “As you meditate, your mind will get quieter and quieter, like a still forest pool. Many wonderful and rare animals will come to drink at the pool, but you will be still. This is the happiness of mindfulness.”

Thursday, Barry will lead, with the topic “Ice on the Sidewalk”. A great time and place to practice concentration and mindfulness of where the feet are stepping.

GROUP MEDITATION PRACTICE

Beginners welcome Cushions & chairs provided

Siting Meditation Walking Meditation

Deep Listening/Mindful Speaking Sharing the Merit of Our Practice