S a c r e d A c t i v i s m
Featuring:
Andrew Harvey
Rabbi Rami Shapiro
DATE: NOVEMBER 30, 7:00pm-9:00pm
DECEMBER 1, 9:30am-4:30pm
PLACE: GRACE ST. PAUL¹S CHURCH
2331 E. Adams Street, Tucson, AZ
PRICE: November 30: $18 in advance, $25 at door
December 1: $115 including lunch
$140 after 11/27/07
REGISTER NOW at
www.TheInnerConnection.org
or by calling 520-322-7689
CONTACT PERSON: Harini
CONTACT PHONE: 520-322-7689
CONTACT EMAIL: loribwhite@...
MORE INFO: www.theinnerconnection.org

Andrew Harvey is
a renowned and
distinguished mystical
scholar, Rumi translator and
explicator, poet, novelist,
spiritual teacher and writer,
and architect of Sacred
Activism.
www.andrewharvey.net
Rabbi Rami has served for
over 25 years as a congregational
rabbi, spiritual director
and professor of world
religion. "I am Jewish by
birth, and a rabbi by training,
but I have gone beyond
both in my explorations of
how to awaken the Divine in
all things . . . that's what
drives me.
www.rabbirami.com

FEBRUARY 1, 2007


^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^
^:^:^ THE SOUTHWEST INSIGHT E'LETTER ^:^:^
^:^:^ŠŠŠŠŠŠŠ..Vol. 07.02ŠŠŠŠŠŠŠ.^:^:^
^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^

A monthly newsletter for contemplatives in the Southwestern USA

              a service of the Great Western Vehicle
                       € Mahapacchimayana €
                   a 4th wheel Buddhist tradition
       http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/index.html

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SEE FOR YOURSELF !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

There are a lot of claims what the Buddha said.  You can find out what the
Buddha really said from the earliest record of his teachings.
http://www.seeforyourself.org
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Buddha¹s definition of the 8th fold of the Noble Eightfold Path
Maha-satipatthana Sutta (DN 22.22), translated from the Pali by Jhananda
11-02-06
  (1st Jhana)
[22]"And what Bhikkhus is right absorption (sammàsamàdhi)? There is the case
where a contemplative is withdrawn from sensuality, withdrawn from
unwholesome mental states and beliefs, with applied and sustained attention
and bliss and joy (pãtisukhaü) one resides in the clarity of the first
ecstasy (pañhamaü jhànaü) Originating from withdrawal, clear intention
(vitakkavicàrànaü våpasamà).

  (2nd Jhana)
³With a noble tranquil mind, in the absence of applied and sustained
attention, and with absorption in bliss and joy (pãtisukhaü), one resides in
the clarity of the second ecstasy (dutiyaü jhànaü):

  (3rd Jhana)
³Residing in bliss (Pãtiyà), dispassion (viràgà) and equanimity (upekkhako);
and with a luminous (sampajàno) joy-filled body (sukha°Ëca kàyena) a noble
one proclaims a joyful abiding in the equanimity, mindfulness and clarity of
the third ecstasy (jhana).

  (4th Jhana)
³With the abandoning (pahànà) of pleasure (sukhassa) and anxiety
(dukkhassa); and the earlier abandoning (pahànà pubbeva) of manic-depression
(somanassadomanassànaü), agitation (atthaïgamà), suffering and unhappiness;
one arrives at the clarity and complete purity of mindful equanimity
(upekkhàsatipàrisuddhiü) of the fourth ecstasy (catutthaü jhànaü). This
Bhikkhus is called right absorption (sammàsamàdhi)."

"Bhikkhus, this is called the noble truth (ariyasaccaü) of the path of
generation of the extinction of stress and anxiety
(dukkhanirodhagàminãpañipadà).²
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/pali/Phala_Nikaya/mahasatipatthanasutta.h
tm

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Jhana Meditation Sitting Groups !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
There are meditation groups sensitive to and supportive of the cultivation
of meditative absorption (Jhana, samadhi) and the other fruits of the
contemplative life. Email us for the nearest location of one, or if you wish
to start one, just let us know at: info@... and we will
list your group

Altoona, PA Contact: D. Ernest Wachter < ministryofdew@...>
Boulder, CO Contact: Michael Hawkins <adreampuppet@... >

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Buddhist Meetup !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

First Thursdays most Buddhist Meetup Groups meet.  To find the meeting in
your area click on this link http://buddhism.meetup.com/

%%%%%%% A SW CONTEMPLATIVE¹S CALENDAR %%%%%%

%%%%%%%%%% WINTER %%%%%%%%
%%%%% FEBRUARY %%%%%%%

Feb 1 Full Moon

Feb 1, Sunset (7:12 PM) Planet Coexist's Full Moon Gathering at the
Terrasante Community, near Three Points west of Tucson, AZ. Contact our
office at 520-790-1757 or email us at together@... €
http://www.planetcoexist.com  Directions at:
http://planetcoexist.com/sips%20of%20earth/tanqueverde%20gatherings/terrasan
te.html

Feb 1, First Thursday @ 7:00 PM Tucson Buddhist Meetup Group at the Epic
Cafe 745 N 4th Av  Tucson, AZ  520-624-6844
http://buddhism.meetup.com/10/

Feb 1, Thursdays, Applied Meditation 7 pm Three Jewels 314 E. 6 Street, just
west of 4 Avenue 207-9889

Feb 2 Candlemas, Groundhog Day

Feb 2, 5:30 to 6:30 PM Fridays, Tibetan Buddhist Meditation Hour, Dharma
Kirti College UA Pierce McCormick Building, 1401 E First St, Tucson, AZ
www.dharmakirticollege.org

Feb 2 at 7 PM, FIRST Fridays, Sedona Dances of Universal Peace at the
Village of Oak Creek. For further information, please contact Kate McGovern,
928-284-9292.

Feb 3 Socrates Saturday Morning Forum 1st, 2nd, & 5th Saturdays at Ward 6
Midtown Council Office (3202 E. First St, Tucson, AZ 370-6338 or
philwhite857@...

Feb 3, Saturdays, Heart Sutra: a course in emptiness 10-2/ Kids' Yoga Garden
345 pm (ages 6-10) Three Jewels 314 E. 6 Street, just west of 4 Avenue
207-9889

Feb 4, Sundays at 10:30AM, Vedanta Discussion group of Swami Vivekananda's
Complete Works at 2634 E. Malvern St., Tucson, AZ 85716. Tel: 520 795 6382.
 

Feb 4, Sunday mornings from 10 to 11:30AM Gay-Lesbian-Bi-Trans meditation
group, meets at Wingspan, 425 E. 7th St., Tucson, AZ

Feb 4, Sundays 6:30 ­ 8:00 PM, Singing Bird Sangha, Thich Nhat Hanh, Pima
Friends Meetinghouse, 931 N. 5th Street, Tucson, AZ
First and third Tuesdays 6:30-7:30 PM 2415 E. 6th St, Tucson

Feb 4, Sundays 6-7 PM, Meditation and Chanting at Tucson Yoga Downtown. 148
S. Fourth Ave. Tucson, AZ 882-0597 or www.tucsonyoga.com

Feb 5, 7 PM Tucson BPF meetings 1st and 3rd Mondays at Martin's house, 701
E. Mabel, Tucson. (520) 320-5883. bpf_Tucson@yahoogroups.com
HTTP://groups.yahoo.com/groups/bpf_Tucson/cal

Feb 6, 7:00 - 8:15 PM, most Tuesdays an "Ongoing Class on Zen", with Dan
Dorsey at Zen Desert Sangha (ZDS), 3226 N. Martin Avenue; Tucson, AZ. with
optional sitting at 6:30 PM, and continuing. Info: call Dan at 624-8030, or
email to: <dorsey@...> <http://www.zendesertsangha.org/>

Feb 6, Tuesdays, 5:30 pm, Meditation for Drunks, Rockstars, and the rest of
us / Applied Meditation 7 pm Three Jewels 314 E. 6 Street, just west of 4
Avenue 207-9889

Feb 7, Wednesdays, 5:30-7:30 p.m., Lopön Barbara Du Bois and the Garchen
Prescott Sangha, Tibet Gallery, 209 West Gurley, Prescott, AZ; 928-777-8945
(Gallery) or 928-777-8604 (Sue)

Feb 7, Wednesdays 6:30 pm, Red Tara practice, Flagstaff, AZ, L'hundrub Ling,
Flagstaff, AZ (510) 315-1960 <ironknot@...>

Feb 7, Wednesdays at 6:30 pm Bhagavad-gita class Rama Bhakti devi dasi
Chaitanya Cultural Center & Govindas, 711 E Blacklidge Drive, Tucson, AZ
520.623.3507
ramabhakti@...

Feb 7, Wednesdays, Kids' Yoga Garden 330 pm (ages 2-5) Three Jewels 314 E. 6
Street, just west of 4 Avenue 207-9889

Feb 9, 2nd Fridays MENSA monthly meetings, Mama¹s Pizza 4500 E. Speedway
Blvd. Tucson, AZ 615-3996

Feb 10, 2nd and last Saturdays 7:30-9:30 Phoenix Metro area Dances of
Universal Peace at the SouthWest Institute of Healing Arts, Tempe, 110 E.
Apache Blvd (East of Rural) John Hinton (602)841-2843, or om4u@...

Feb 11, 2nd Sundays 6 PM, Tucson Peace Center board meeting.  All peace
people welcome. At Prescott College, 2233 E. Speedway Blvd., Tucson, AZ

Feb 11, 2nd Sundays 6 -7:15 PM Children's Dharma Class, Ages 5 to 10,
normally. 931 N. 5th Ave., (Pima Friend's Meeting House, Tucson).
Activities will include Jataka tales, art projects, sharing and mindful
snacking.  For more information call Katherine at (520) 290-1722.

Feb 14, Saint Valentine¹s Day

Feb 17, New Moon

Feb 17, New Moon 4:00 ­ 7:00 pm, Fire Ceremony to Honor Mother Earth &
Ourselves at St Francis in the Foothills, River & Swan, Tucson,
Institute of Shamanic Wisdom, Inc. POB 35262, Tucson, Arizona 85740 (520)
820-5665 <liana@...>
http://www.instituteshamanicwisdom.com

Feb 17, New Moon meditation at the Yoga Connection, 4893 E. Speedway Blvd.,
Tucson, AZ 323-1222

Feb 17, 3rd Saturdays 7:30-9:30 Tempe, AZ, Dances of Universal Peace at the
Bodyworks Studio, 1801 S. Jentilly Ln., Suite B8, Tempe, AZ Terry Matthews
(480) 998-9331 or (602) 368-6784 or Terryamat@...

February 17, Concert, Charlie King and Karen Brandow, Peoples Music Network
for Songs of Freedom and Struggle, FREE meal 6 pm, FREE concert 7:30 pm at
the Unitarian Universalist Church, 4831 E 22nd St, Tucson, AZ
Saturday Presented by ITZABOUTIME.  For more info: 623 1688

Feb 18 Sun enters Pisces, Chinese New Year (The boar)

Feb 18: Losar (Tibetan New Year) Celebration with Garchen Rinpoche at the
Garchen Institute, P.O. Box 4318, Chino Valley, AZ 86323. (928) 925-1237
<questions@...> <www.garchen.net>

Feb 19 Presidents day

Feb 20 Shrove Tuesday, Mardi Gras

Feb 20-21: ³The Aspiration Prayer of Samantabhadra² and Spiritual Songs of
the Glorious Drikung Kagyu Lineage with Garchen Rinpoche and Traga Rinpoche
at the Garchen Institute, P.O. Box 4318, Chino Valley, AZ 86323. (928)
925-1237 <questions@...> <www.garchen.net>

Feb 21 Ash Wednesday

Feb 24, 4th Saturdays 7 - 9 Pm Cottonwood Dances of Universal Peace, , at
the Old Town Center for the Arts, 633 N. 5th St., Studio B (just off Main
St.) Cottonwood AZ. Info. about Dances of Universal Peace,
http://www.moonsinger.com/DUP.htm
<http://www.prescottdances.org>

Feb 24, 2nd and last Saturdays 7:30-9:30 Phoenix Metro area Dances of
Universal Peace at the SouthWest Institute of Healing Arts, Tempe, 110 E.
Apache Blvd (East of Rural) John Hinton (602)841-2843, or om4u@...

Feb 24, last Saturdays, Cornville, AZ, Dances of Universal Peace ­ Last
Saturdays at The Earthship. Cathryn Swann (928) 634-1696
conscious@...

Feb 25, 4th Sunday at 2:00 PM Antigone's Buddhist reading group at
Antigone's bookstore at, 411 N. 4th Ave. Tucson, AZ. They can be reached at
(520) 792-3715 to find out the book they are currently working with or
www.antigonebooks.com

Feb 25, 4th Sunday, 6:15 to 7:15 p.m. Children's Dharma Class, for older
kids, ages 10-14 info. 931 N. 5th Ave., (Pima Friend's Meeting House,
Tucson). For more information call Katherine at (520) 290-1722.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%


+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
++++++++++++++++++++++ EDITORIAL +++++++++++++++++++++

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Jhanananda-s_Journal/message/64
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

This Issue:

Love and Bliss
Posted by: "Raph" beingnothing00@...  beingnothing00
Mon Jan 8, 2007 8:39 pm (PST)
Hello

I wonder if anyone could shed some light on an experience I had at the end
of meditation last night.

I experienced a deeply moving bliss that was directed and focused at
everything, especially people. Normally, the bliss I feel is quite insular
to be honest, where I don't really sense things around me. This bliss
however had a sense of oneness and love with humanity. It continued even
after I opened my eyes, and eveywhere I looked, I just continued to feel
that bliss and love, even when walking or writing. To be frank, it was at
the very limit of what I could handle. It felt like a profound feeling of
death, but not in a bad way.

Any feedback would be appreciated.

Peace and love
Raph


Luminous Orbs
Posted by: "Jill" datjat1@...  jillatay
Sun Jan 7, 2007 12:36 pm (PST)

Dear Teacher Jeffrey,

This week I experienced something new. It is always an interesting thing
when you read about a phenomenon, feel skeptical and then it happens to
oneself. Humbling and delightful. I saw the luminous orb of white light and
it was sometimes accompanied by that beautiful feeling of love.

I then read the article again about the unifying theory of meditative
absorption and wanted to ask you in your opinion, when this heart opening
takes place. In my previous sojourn through life I have had this opening on
a only a few occasions. Once as a child of 7 when I felt it toward my
brother and served him like a disciple. It was definitely an altered state
that lasted for days if not weeks. The second time was when I discovered
jhana/samadhi which I have reported here some time ago. That came at the end
of my self retreat of an entire summer and was the highlight of my life.
This most recent experience was while seeing the luminous orb and feeling
devotion to the light but it was only intermittent. I know these states are
what he speaks of when addressing the Divine Abodes.

Any words you can say on this subject will be greatly appreciated.

Much happiness,
Jill

(((((((((((((((((((0)))))))))))))))))))))
Response from Jeff:

Hello friends, Raph, Jill and others please excuse the long delay in my
response. The funding of the GWV often leaves me with too little to travel
in and out of town, let alone enough to live in a building, so presently I
cannot afford to come into town very often to check on email and the GWV
dialogs. I am hoping to remedy that by acquiring a diesel van and converting
it to run on vegetable oil. If anyone is interested in supporting that
venture please do make a contributions today.

Regarding Raph and Jill¹s experience of feeling a ³Love and Bliss² or a
³heart opening² of a ³profound universal bliss,² yes I am familiar with that
level of bliss. It is very often expressed in terms of non-dualism as well.
This profound sense of bliss is what drives people to homelessness on
missions of mercy for all humanity, and I believe this is the very source of
the messianic mission where historically people were so driven by the
universal sense of bliss that they felt from this level of meditative
absorption (samadhi) that they gave up their entire lives: first to maintain
that bliss, then also to teaching others how to experience this profound
universal bliss.  The level of renunciation for these messiahs is often to
the point of severing ties with their family, friends and profession, and
even as far as being martyred in bliss and joy.

A lot of Buddhists believe that bliss is to be avoided and that the Buddha
was some kind of stoic Greek Philosopher type.  They point to the fact that
Sidharta Gotama identified the senses as a domain of difficulty for the
contemplative, and they are correct.  If we examine the Bahuvedaniya Sutta
(MN 59) we will clearly see that confirmed.

Bahuvedaniya Sutta (MN 59)
6. "There are five strands of sense desire. What are these five? Forms
cognizable by the eye... The pleasure and joy arising dependent on these
five strands of sense desire, that is called sensual pleasure."

I don't believe however the Buddha ever said that one should withdraw from
the senses.  If we look at the Potthapada, Sutta (DN. 9) we will clearly see
that the Buddha wanted us to be mindful of the senses.

Potthapada Sutta (DN 9.9-10)
9-10. (One scrutinizes) the sense doors...Having reached the first jhana,
(one) remains in it. Whatever sensations (that were there) disappear. At
that time there is present a true but subtle perception of delight and
happiness, born of detachment, and (one) becomes one(,) who is conscious of
this delight and happiness. In this way some perceptions arise through
training, and some pass way. This is that training...

Also, in the Satipatthana Sutta (MN 10), where the Buddha establishes his
foundations of mindfulness, he tells us that one of the foundations of
mindfulness is to meditate upon the whole body. How are we to be mindful of
the whole body except through the senses?

Satipatthana Sutta (MN 10) ³the Four Foundations of Mindfulness²
"Experiencing the whole body, I shall breathe in," thus one trains oneself.
"Experiencing the whole body, I shall breathe out," thus one trains oneself.
"Calming the activity of the body, I shall breathe in," thus one trains
oneself. "Calming the activity of the body, I shall breathe out," thus one
trains oneself.
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/pali/Phala_Nikaya/satipatthanasutta.htm

Further in that same sutta we see that the senses are one of the other
foundations of mindfulness. Therefore the Buddha did not want us to withdraw
(relinquish) our grasp on the senses, but on the objects (forms) of the
senses.

Satipatthana Sutta (MN 10) ³the Four Foundations of Mindfulness²
II. The Contemplation of the Senses
And how, monks, does an aspirant live contemplating the physical senses?

Herein, monks, an aspirant when experiencing a pleasant feeling knows, "I
experience a pleasant feeling"; when experiencing a painful feeling, one
knows, "I experience a painful feeling"; when experiencing a
neither-pleasant-nor-painful feeling," one knows, "I experience a
neither-pleasant-nor-painful feelingŠ"

If we examine the Bahiya Sutta (U 1.10) we find the Buddha clearly indicated
he was interested in the senses, he just was not interested in the content
of the senses, or identification with that content.

Bahiya Sutta (U 1.10) ³Relinquishing Cognition²
"Then, Bahiya, you should train yourself thus: In reference to the seen,
there will be only the seen... When for you there will be only the ...
sensed in reference to the sensed ... then, Bahiya, there is no you in terms
of that. When there is no you in terms of that, there is no you there. When
there is no you there, you are neither here nor yonder nor between the two.
This, just this, is the end of suffering (dukkha)."
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/pali/Phala_Nikaya/bahiyasutta.htm

The point is the Buddha talked about there being three kinds of sensory
phenomena, pleasant, unpleasant, and neither pleasant nor unpleasant.  The
"neither-painful-nor-pleasant" was difficult for me to get at for many
years.  I thought he was talking about our everyday threshold of sensory
data that isn't in the domain of pleasure nor pain, just the everyday
sensations that we were ambivalent toward.  Well, I was wrong.

When the Buddha was talking about sensations that were
"neither-painful-nor-pleasant" it turns out he was talking about being
mindful of the arising of the characteristics of absorption or charisms.

Bahuvedaniya Sutta, MN 59
3. "This neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling has been stated by the Blessed
One as a peaceful and sublime kind of pleasure."

7. "Now, if someone were to say: 'This is the highest pleasure and joy
(sense pleasure) that can be experienced,' I would not concede that. And why
not? Because there is another kind of pleasure
(neither-painful-nor-pleasant) which surpasses that pleasure and is more
sublime. And what is this pleasure? Here, quite secluded from sensual
desires, secluded from unwholesome states of mind, a monk enters upon and
abides in the first meditative absorption (jhana) ... and has in it joy and
pleasure born of seclusion. This is the other kind of pleasure which
surpasses that (sense) pleasure and is more sublime."

If we examine the Satipatthana Samyutta (SN 8) (8) ³The Competent Cook
sutta² we find the characteristics of absorption or charisms he called
³jhana nimitta.² And, he claimed it was very important for us to bringing
our mindfulness to these subtle sensations, which are a "subtle but true
pleasant abiding" of the jhana nimitta (charisms) in our daily
moment-to-moment life.  And, it is these subtle sensations which are what he
consider to be bliss (piiti).

Satipatthana Samyutta (SN 8) (8) ³The Competent Cook,²
³Suppose, monks, a wise, competent (and) skillful cook were to present a
king or royal minister with various kinds of curriesŠthat wiseŠcook observes
the sign of his master¹s preferences.²

  ³So too, monks, here some wise, competent, skillful monk dwells
contemplating the physical body, ardent, clearly comprehending, mindful,
having removed covetousness and displeasure in regard to the world.  While
he (or she) dwells contemplating the physical body, his (her) mind becomes
absorbed (jhana), his (her) corruptions (nivarana) are abandoned, he (she)
picks up the sign (nimitta).  He (she) dwells contemplating the (5 Skhandas)
body (rupa)Š sensations (vedana)Š perception (sañña)Š mental states
(sañkhara)Š cognition (viññana)Š ardent, clearly comprehending, mindful,
having removed covetousness and displeasure in regard to the world.  While
he dwells contemplating phenomena, his (her) mind becomes absorbed (jhana),
his (her) corruptions (nivarana) are abandoned he (she) picks up the sign
(nimitta)² of absorption (jhana) (2).
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/pali/Phala_Nikaya/competentcook.htm

So, yes, to Raph and Jill this profound liberation in universal love and
bliss can indeed persist even after we finish the meditation session and go
about our day. It is one of the many manifestations of absorption that can
remain with us well after the meditation session if we are learning to
meditate skilful and learning to hone our lives to support preserving the
experience of bliss and other charisms beyond the meditation session.

If we immerse ourselves sufficiently in meditative absorption it can indeed
be to such a degree of bliss as to be at the limit of what we believe we can
handle, as Raph reported, and yet it can be so blissful that we continue to
return time and again to this annihilating bliss. This level of bliss is
what the Sufis call Œfana¹ which means annihilation.

This universal level of bliss is what one experiences as one approaches the
5th stage of absorption, which the Buddha called ³Akasanancayatana² which
means the Domain or region of Infinite Space, which might be the
Sahas-dal-kanwal of Sikh mysticism (Sant Mat).  Thus both Raph and Jill may
very well be moving beyond the 4th jhana and into the first stage of
non-material absorption (samadhi).

This stage of bliss, as has been noted, is often of a non-dual nature.  This
level of non-dualism is; however, far beyond the level as reported by most
non-dualists, because it is associated with deep bliss, not just the
blissful tranquility of the second jhana, which is also often experienced as
a non-dual state, and is the level that most non-dualists stop at, because
they do not realize that there are seven more levels of absorption to
experience, which are deeper levels of bliss, non-dual attainment and other
charisms.

It should also be pointed out here that as we can see from these two reports
that the bliss of absorption (jhana, samadhi) is relative and increases
relative to the degree of absorption.  Thus Raph and Jill now know a very
deep level of bliss that is far beyond the four jhanas.  However, for them
there is still five more levels of annihilating bliss for them to traverse
to full enlightenment.

Kindest regards,

Jeffrey S, Brooks
(sámañña Jhananda)
the Great Western Vehicle
PO Box 41795
Tucson, AZ 85717-1795

PO Box 93
Bolinas, CA 94924
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/


[Note: Unfortunately the Bahuvedaniya Sutta, MN 59 is not on Access to
Insight, but the Pañcakanga Sutta was and it is a virtual copy of the
Bahuvedaniya Sutta.  Unfortunately the Pañcakanga Sutta, as rendered by
Thanissaro Bhikkhu, is missing the crucial 3rd stanza, so I had to refer to
the Bahuvedaniya Sutta, MN 59 for this piece.]

Sources:

Bahiya Sutta (U 1.10) ³Relinquishing Cognition²
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/pali/Phala_Nikaya/bahiyasutta.htm

Bahuvedaniya Sutta, MN 59
translated by Bhikkhus Nanamoli and Bodhi, Wisdom Publication 1995

Pañcakanga Sutta SN XXXVI.19 is at
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/sutta/samyutta/sn36-019.html

Potthapada Sutta, DN 9.9-10
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/sutta/digha/dn09.html

Satipatthana Sutta (MN 10) ³the Four Paths of Mindfulness²
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/pali/Phala_Nikaya/satipatthanasutta.htm

Satipatthana Samyutta (SN 8) (8) ³The Competent Cook,²
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/pali/Phala_Nikaya/competentcook.htm


If you believe you are experiencing meditative absorption, then please
consider filling out our Contemplative¹s Questionnaire for submitting your
personal charismatic history to the GWV Ecstatic Case Histories Archive
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/casehistories/questionnaire.htm


If it is not bliss (piiti), joy (sukha) and ecstasy (jhana) then it is not
jhana, which is Noble Meditative Absorption (sama-samadhi).

Your comments and opinions are most welcome, and please do let us know if
you wish your comments to be publicized in this journal.

May you dwell in the joyful home of the way
(Di.t.thadhammasukhavihaaraa)

Jeffrey S, Brooks
the Great Western Vehicle € Mahapacchimayana
PO Box 41795
Tucson, AZ 85717-1795
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/index.html

Find out what the Buddha really taught
http://www.seeforyourself.org

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

The intention of this newsletter is to provide timely information to the
Southwestern community of contemplatives. This newsletter offers a monthly
calendar of meditation retreats and other related activities.  You are
welcome to forward, reproduce or copy in anyway or part this newsletter for
helping others to lead a contemplative life. We only ask that you give
credit to the newsletter and its publisher.

This newsletter is a service of Jhanananda (Jeffrey S. Brooks) of the Great
Western Vehicle € Mahapacchimayana  The editor/publisher alone takes
responsibility for this newsletter and its content. Please direct all
comments or submissions to the editor: Jhanananda (Jeffrey S. Brooks) at:
Jhanananda@...

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A monthly newsletter for contemplatives in the Southwestern USA
website:      http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SWI_E_letter/
Subscribe:  SWI_E_letter-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

SUCCOR, the Journal of the GWV and the Ecstatic Contemplative
website:      http://groups.yahoo.com/group/GWV_Info/
Subscribe:  GWV_Info-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Tucson Dharma News
An event calendar for contemplatives in Tucson, AZ. USA
website:      http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Tucson_Dharma_News/
Subscribe:  Tucson_Dharma_News-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Wilderness_Retreats
For those who like the idea of meditating in the wilderness
website:      http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Wilderness_Retreats/
Subscribe:  Wilderness_Retreats-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%


Great Western Vehicle Ordination Program
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/gwvordinationprogram.htm

If you find the services of the Great Western Vehicle € Mahapacchimayanaof
value then please consider supporting the Great Western Vehicle
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/support.html


May you become enlightened in this very life-time,

Jeff Brooks
Jhanananda
the Great Western Vehicle
PO Box 41795
Tucson, AZ 85717-1795
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/index.html

Hello friends the December issue of the GWV newsletter is now available in
PDF format.  In this issue you will find:
1) An introduction of our new certified meditation teachers;
2) A recap of the year¹s events
3) A review of the services of the GWV
4) An introduction to our charismatic research program
5 And, our goals

You can find the issue at that this URL:
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/newsletters/01.01.pdf

Kindest regards,

Jeffrey S, Brooks
(sámañña Jhananda)
the Great Western Vehicle
PO Box 93
Bolinas, CA 94924
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/

<http://www.scottsdaleperformingarts.org>

THE MYSTICAL ARTS OF TIBET
@ Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts

As many of you know, the monks of the Drepung Loseling Monastery will be in residence this week at Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts as part of The Mystical Arts of Tibet tour. In addition to performing Sacred Music Sacred Dance for World Healing on Friday night, the monks will be creating a mandala sand painting in the atrium and offering a series of noontime lectures and programs. We hope you can join us for the following special events:

October 17, 2006, Tuesday @ noon
Ceremony marking the start of the mandala’s creation. Atrium. Free and open to the public.
 
October 18, 2006, Wednesday @ noon
“The Ancient Art of Healing: The Tibetan Buddhist Approach” – Lecture exploring the fundamental connection between body and mind and ancient approaches to healing through meditation, mantras and visualizations. Stage 2. Free and open to the public.
 
October 19, 2006, Thursday @ noon
“Meditation:  A Tool for Conscious Living” – Lecture exploring how to quiet the mind and establish an inner basis of clarity and well-being through meditation. Stage 2. Free and open to the public.
 
October 20, 2006; Friday @ 8 p.m.
Sacred Music Sacred Dance for World Healing
Dressed in magnificent costumes and playing traditional instruments, the monks will perform ancient temple music and dance. Virginia G. Piper Theater. Single ticket price: $38 through (480) 994-ARTS (2787).
 
October 22, 2006, Sunday @ 2 p.m.
Closing ceremony to disperse the mandala. Atrium. Free and open to the public.

 <http://www.scottsdaleperformingarts.org>

7380 E. 2nd Street
Scottsdale, AZ 85251
(480) 994-ARTS (2787)
www.scottsdaleperformingarts.org <http://www.scottsdaleperformingarts.org>
info@...



------ End of Forwarded Message

OCTOBER 1, 2006



^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^
^:^:^ THE SOUTHWEST INSIGHT E'LETTER ^:^:^
^:^:^                       Vol. 06.10                     ^:^:^

^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^


A monthly newsletter for contemplatives in the Southwestern USA

             a service of the Great Western Vehicle
                      € Mahapacchimayana €
                  a 4th wheel Buddhist tradition
      http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/index.html


!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Jhana Meditation Sitting Groups !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


The Fruit (phala) Of Right Effort (samma-vayam)
Devadaha Sutta, MN 101. 38-42
"Having thus abandoned these five hindrances, imperfections of the mind that
weaken wisdom, withdrawn from sensory phenomena, withdrawn from unwholesome
mental states; one enters upon and abides in the first meditative absorption
(jhana)...(through 4th jhana)...²Thus too, bhikkhus, this exertion is
fruitful, this striving is fruitful."
(Majjhima Nikaya trans. Bhikkhus Nanamoli & Bodhi, Wisdom, 1995)


There are meditation groups sensitive to and support of the cultivation of
meditative absorption (Jhana, samadhi) and the other fruits of the
contemplative life. Email us for the nearest location of one, or if you wish
to start one, just let us know at: info@...

Boulder, CO Jhana, Satipatthana Meditation and Sutta Discussion Group
Sundays 7-9 PM at Mandala Yoga & Meditation, 2516 Broadway, Boulder, CO.
Contact: Michael Hawkins adreampuppet@...
<mailto:adreampuppet@...>

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SEE FOR YOURSELF
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Find out what the Buddha really said
http://www.seeforyourself.org <http://www.seeforyourself.org>

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Buddhist Meetup !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

First Thursdays most Buddhist Meetup Groups meet.  To find the meeting in
your area click on this link http://buddhism.meetup.com/
<http://buddhism.meetup.com/>

%%%%%%% A SW CONTEMPLATIVE¹S CALENDAR %%%%%%

%%%%%%%%%% FALL %%%%%%%%
%%%%% OCTOBER ­ NOVEMBER %%%%%%%

SEPT 29-Oct 8, Meditation retreat led by Shinzen Young at Sunrise Ranch
Conference & Retreat Center  Sierra Retreats in Sunrise Ranch Conference
Center  5569 N. County Rd. 29  Loveland, Colorado. Phone: 970-679-4200 Fax:
970-679-4247 Email: <sunrise_conferences@...>
Conference scheduling: Kiri Saftler 970-679-4216

SEPT. 30, 9:30am-4:30pm Retreat & Renewal: A Day of Mindfulness-Based Stress
Reduction with Janet Solyntjes, MA Boulder Shambhala Center, 1345 Spruce
Street, Boulder CO 80302 [303-444-0190]
<http://www.boulder.shambhala.org/index.html>

SEPT. 30; 6:00 PM - 8:30 (?) PM; Potluck and Poetry, at Zen Desert Sangha
(ZDS), N. Martin Avenue; Tucson, AZ.
http://www.zendesertsangha.org/ <http://www.zendesertsangha.org/>

SEPT 30, 7 ~ 9 PM Cottonwood Dances of Universal Peace Old Town Center for
the Arts at 633 N. 5th St., Studio B, Cottonwood (between Main St. and the
church building) contact: Kate ~ katemcgovern@... ~ 928-284-9292 or
Lance  lsandleben@... ~ 928 445 6506
<http://www.moonsinger.com/DUP.htm <http://www.moonsinger.com/DUP.htm>  >
and <www.prescottdances.org >

SEPT 30 to October 1, Durga Puja, organized by the BCAA Bengali Cultural
Association of Arizona, at the Indo-American Cultural Foundation on Maryland
& 27th Ave. in Phoenix.

OCT 1st at 10:30AM. Sundays, Vedanta Discussion group of Swami Vivekananda's
Complete Works at 2634 E. Malvern St., Tucson, AZ 85716. Tel: 520 795 6382.

OCT 1-6 Sufi Session Retreat, Sitting meditation, Zikr, Dances, Southwest
Sufi Community, PO Box 373, Silver City, NM 88062, Contact: John Foldan
(505) 388-4536, john@...
<mailto:john@...>

OCT 1, Sunday mornings from 10 to 11:30AM Gay-Lesbian-Bi-Trans meditation
group, which meets at Wingspan, 425 E. 7th St., Tucson, AZ

OCT 1, Sundays 6:30 ­ 8:00 PM, Singing Bird Sangha, Thich Nhat Hanh, Pima
Friends Meetinghouse, 931 N. 5th Street, Tucson, AZ
First and third Tuesdays 6:30-7:30 PM 2415 E. 6th St, Tucson

OCT 1, 6-7 PM Sundays, Meditation and Chanting at Tucson Yoga Downtown. 148
S. Fourth Ave. Tucson, AZ 882-0597 or www.tucsonyoga.com

OCT 1st to 8th Zen Retreat with Genpo Roshi at Kanzeon Zen Center for
Bodhidharma Big Mind 1268 East South Temple-Salt Lake City, UT 84102 :
office@... <mailto:office@...>  Toll Free: 866-759-6137 Phone:
801-328-8414
<http://www.bigmind.org/> € <http://www.kzci.org>

OCT 2, 7 PM Tucson BPF meetings 1st and 3rd Mondays at Martin's house, 701
E. Mabel, Tucson. (520) 320-5883. bpf_Tucson@yahoogroups.com
<mailto:bpf_Tucson@yahoogroups.com>
HTTP://groups.yahoo.com/groups/bpf_Tucson/cal
<HTTP://groups.yahoo.com/groups/bpf_Tucson/cal>

OCT 2, Yom Kippur

OCT 3-December ‹ Jason Siff, will be Teachers-in-residence at Santa Fe
Vipassana Sangha, <http://www.santafevipassana.org
<http://www.santafevipassana.org> >

OCT. 3, 7:00 - 8:15 PM, most Tuesdays an "Ongoing Class on Zen", with Dan
Dorsey at Zen Desert Sangha (ZDS), 3226 N. Martin Avenue; Tucson, AZ. with
optional sitting at 6:30 PM, and continuing. Info: call Dan at 624-8030, or
email to: <dorsey@...> <http://www.zendesertsangha.org/>

OCT 4, Wednesdays 6:30 pm, Red Tara practice, Flagstaff, AZ, L'hundrub Ling,
Flagstaff, AZ (510) 315-1960 <ironknot@...>

OCT 4, Wednesdays at 6:30 pm Bhagavad-gita class Rama Bhakti devi dasi
Chaitanya Cultural Center & Govindas, 711 E Blacklidge Drive, Tucson, AZ
520.623.3507
ramabhakti@...
<mailto:ramabhakti@...>

OCT 4-8 a Contemplative Intensive Retreat (CIR) at The Picture Rocks Retreat
Center led by PAT HAWK ROSHI. Contact Carmen at Picture Rocks (520) 744-3400
to register for this retreat. http://www.zendesertsangha.org/

Oct. 4-7, 11-12 & Nov. 9-11, 15-1 Visiting teacher Jason Siff will be in
residence at Albuquerque Vipassana Sangha. Terry Thompson is coordinating
reached at tgt44@comcast. net, 268-2843 € www.abqsangha.org
<http://www.abqsangha.org>

OCT 5, Tucson Buddhist Meetup Group First Thursday @ 7:00 PM at the Epic
Cafe 745 N 4th Av  Tucson, AZ  520-624-6844  *
http://buddhism.meetup.com/10/ <http://buddhism.meetup.com/10/>

OCT 5 - 8, VIPASSANA/METTA MEDITATION RETREAT WITH LLOYD BURTON & TERRY RAY,
FREEDOM, JOY & THE FIVE RECOLLECTIONS. Online registration through the
Shambhala Mountain Center (SMC) Web site at:
<http://www.shambhalamountain.org/program_detail.php?retreat=608>
contact SMC at: 1.888.788.7221 or 888.STUPA.21. <www.insightcolorado.org>
Questions about the retreat, please contact the retreat manager, David Kane,
at <imc_retreats@...> or 303-642-3353.

OCT 6th Full Moon

OCT 6th: Sunset (7:12 PM) Planet Coexist's Full Moon Gathering at the
Terrasante Community, near Three Points west of Tucson, AZ. Contact our
office at 520-790-1757 or email us at together@...
<mailto:together@...>  € http://www.planetcoexist.com
<http://www.planetcoexist.com>   Directions at:
http://planetcoexist.com/sips%20of%20earth/tanqueverde%20gatherings/terrasan
te.html
<http://planetcoexist.com/sips%20of%20earth/tanqueverde%20gatherings/terrasa
nte.html>

OCT 6, 5:30 to 6:30 Fridays, Tibetan Buddhist Meditation Hour, Dharma Kirti
College UA Pierce McCormick Building, 1401 E First St, Tucson, AZ
www.dharmakirticollege.org <http://www.dharmakirticollege.org>

OCT 6 at 7 pm, FIRST Fridays, Sedona Dances of Universal Peace at the
Village of Oak Creek. For further information, please contact Kate McGovern,
928-284-9292.

OCT 7-9: Amitabha Million Mantra Accumulation
Saturday 9 am to Monday 5 pm, but accumulation may begin now and continue
through October 9, Traga Rinpoche and Gape Lama. questions@... or
call 928-925-1237.
www.garchen.net.

OCT 7, Sukkoth

OCT 7, Socrates Saturday Morning Forum 1st, 2nd, & 5th Saturdays at Ward 6
Midtown Council Office (3202 E. First St, Tucson, AZ 370-6338 or
philwhite857@... <mailto:philwhite857@...>

OCT 8, 6 PM second Sundays, Tucson Peace Center board meeting.  All peace
people welcome. At Prescott College, 2233 E. Speedway Blvd., Tucson, AZ

OCT 8, 6 7:15 PM Children's Dharma Class, Ages 5 to 10, normally 2nd Sunday
of each month. 931 N. 5th Ave., (Pima Friend's Meeting House, Tucson).
Activities will include Jataka tales, art projects, sharing and mindful
snacking.  For more information call Katherine at (520) 290-1722.

OCT 8th, 9am Phoenix Celebration of World Angel Day. "Healing Mind, Body and
Spirit" A day with Sunny Dawn Johnston and the Angels *Featured Musician
Debi Glo* at the beautiful Doubletree Paradise Valley Resort in Scottsdale.
5401 N. Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale, AZ 85250. CONTACT: 602-375-6788
WEBSITE: www.sunlightalliance.com/WorldAngelDay.php

OCT 9, Columbus Day, Native American Independence Day.

OCT 11 - 12 7:30 pm to 8:30 pm SWAMI SRIDHARANANDA COMING TO PHOENIX
Ramakrishna Ashrama at 1138 E. Henry Street, Tempe, AZ 85281. contact Alan
at 480-970-5324

OCT 12-15 Sesshin at the Prajna Zendo, 5A Camino Potrillo, Lamy, New Mexico
87540 [505-699-1464] < info@...> < http://www.prajnazendo.org/>

OCT 13 & 14. Path of Body: Embodiment & Meditation with Susan Aposhyan
Boulder Shambhala Center, 1345 Spruce Street, Boulder CO 80302
[303-444-0190] <http://www.boulder.shambhala.org/index.html>

OCT 13-15, Meditation retreat led by Eric Kolvig. Durango Dharma Center,
Durango, CO <http://www.durangosangha.org/index.htm>

OCT 13-15 ‹ Non-residential retreat with Jason Siff. Santa Fe Vipassana
Sangha P.O. Box 4363, Santa Fe, NM 87502 (505) 989-7610
info@... Contact Diana Lightmoon, 466-2217.

OCT 13 MENSA 2nd Friday monthly meetings, Mama¹s Pizza 4500 E. Speedway
Blvd. Tucson, AZ 615-3996

OCT 14 ­ 22nd, 10-day GWV Wilderness Jhana retreat in Gila Box Wilderness
Area, led by Jeff Brooks (Jhananda) for the Great Western Vehicle has been
MOVED to Virginia by popular demand: Contact: Jhananda at
Jhananda@... <mailto:Jhananda@...>

OCT 14, 7:30-9:30 Phoenix Metro area Dances of Universal Peace 2nd and last
Saturdays at the SouthWest Institute of Healing Arts, Tempe, 110 E. Apache
Blvd (East of Rural) John Hinton (602)841-2843, or om4u@...
<mailto:om4u@...>

OCT 14, 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. ³Dharma for Dummies² A Short Course in Basic
Buddhism at Shambhala Phoenix Meditation Group in the Santa Fe Plaza on the
corner of 24th and Flower Streets between Osborn and Thomas in Phoenix, 3150
N. 24th Street, Suite C202, Phoenix, AZ  85016. contact Lisa Greenacre at
480.459.4232 or Christina Sears at 602.481.7979.Visit our website at
www.shambhalaphoenix.org, e-mail shambhalaphoenix@...

OCT 15, 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. ³Taming the Mind² Buddhist Thought,
Meditation & Contemplative Practice at Shambhala Phoenix Meditation Group in
the Santa Fe Plaza on the corner of 24th and Flower Streets between Osborn
and Thomas in Phoenix, 3150 N. 24th Street, Suite C202, Phoenix, AZ  85016.
contact Lisa Greenacre at 480.459.4232 or Christina Sears at
602.481.7979.Visit our website at www.shambhalaphoenix.org, e-mail
shambhalaphoenix@...

OCT 16, 7:30-9:30 Tempe, AZ, Dances of Universal Peace 3rd Saturdays at the
Bodyworks Studio, 1801 S. Jentilly Ln., Suite B8, Tempe Terry Matthews
(480)998-9331 or (602)368-6784 or Terryamat@...
<mailto:Terryamat@...>

OCT 20-25, 6 - Day Mindfulness Meditation Intensive Retreat
led by Shinzen Young for the Tucson Community Meditation Center, at C.O.D.
Ranch, Oracle, AZ, 37 miles NE of Tucson.  Check out their website at
www.codranch.com

OCT 21: Zazenkai, with Pat Hawk Roshi, at Zen Desert Sangha, 3226 N. Martin,
Tucson, AZ. Inquiries: Shelly Dorsey - sdorsey50@...
<mailto:sdorsey50@...>
http://www.zendesertsangha.org <http://www.zendesertsangha.org>

OCT 21, New Moon meditation at the Yoga Connection, 4893 E. Speedway Blvd.,
Tucson, AZ 323-1222

OCT 21, New Moon, Orionids meteor shower

OCT 21st-November 19th Month Long Intensive with Dennis Genpo Merzel, Roshi&
Diane Musho Hamilton, Sensei for Bodhidharma Big Mind 1268 East South
Temple-Salt Lake City, UT 84102 : office@... <mailto:office@...>
Toll Free: 866-759-6137 Phone: 801-328-8414 € <http://www.bigmind.org/> €
<http://www.kzci.org>

OCT 22, at 2:00 PM (4th Sunday of each month) Antigone's Buddhist reading
group at Antigone's bookstore at, 411 N. 4th Ave. Tucson, AZ. They can be
reached at (520) 792-3715 to find out the book they are currently working
with or www.antigonebooks.com  <http://www.antigonebooks.com>

OCT 22, 6:15 to 7:15 p.m. 4th Sundays Children's Dharma Class, for older
kids, ages 10-14 info. 931 N. 5th Ave., (Pima Friend's Meeting House,
Tucson). For more information call Katherine at (520) 290-1722.

OCT 20 ­ 22, Autumn Sufi Presence Unfolding with Asha at The Grove Studio,
119 Grove Avenue, Prescott, AZ. Call Majid at 928-778-2543 before 8 pm, or
email Suzanna at pdreg@...
www.prescottdances.org

OCT 23, Sun enters Scorpio

OCT 24, United Nations Day

OCT 27-31 Meditation retreat led by Eric Kolvig at the Lila Kate Wheeler
Spiritual Renewal Center ABQ Vipassana Sangha, P.O. Box 4363, Santa Fe, NM
87502, 505.989.7610 <info@...>

OCT 27 - 29, Breathe Life into Learning: YogaKids Tools for Schools with
Marsha & Don Wenig at Shambhala Mountain Center | 4921 County Rd 68-C, Red
Feather Lakes, Colorado 80545  USA | Tel: 1-888-STUPA-21 (788-7221)
<info@...> <http://shambhalamountain.org/>

OCT 28, 6:00PM - 9:00PM Annual ZDS Gala Dinner! Catered by Sous Chef.
http://www.zendesertsangha.org/

OCT 28, 7 - 9 Pm Cottonwood Dances of Universal Peace, 4th Saturdays, at the
Old Town Center for the Arts, 633 N. 5th St., Studio B (just off Main St.)
Cottonwood AZ. Info. about Dances of Universal Peace,
http://www.moonsinger.com/DUP.htm
<http://www.prescottdances.org>

OCT 28, 7:30-9:30 Phoenix Metro area Dances of Universal Peace 2nd and last
Saturdays at the SouthWest Institute of Healing Arts, Tempe, 110 E. Apache
Blvd (East of Rural) John Hinton (602)841-2843, or om4u@...
<mailto:om4u@...>

OCT 28, Cornville, AZ, Dances of Universal Peace ­ Last Saturdays at The
Earthship. Cathryn Swann (928) 634-1696
conscious@... <mailto:conscious@...>

OCT 29, Day-Light Savings Time ends

OCT 31, Halloween

NOV 1, All Saints Day, Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead)

NOV 4, 9am-5pm. Festival of Goodness Boulder Shambhala Center, 1345 Spruce
Street, Boulder CO 80302 [303-444-0190]
<http://www.boulder.shambhala.org/index.html>

NOV 7-8: Mahamudra Teachings Garchen Rinpoche will give two days of
teachings on Drigung Kyobpa Jigten Sumgon's Introduction to Mahamudra at the
Garchen Institute, Post Office Box 4318, Chino Valley, Arizona, 86323-4318
email questions@... or call 928-925-1237 <www.garchen.net>

NOV 8: Dharma Talk, by Pat Hawk Roshi. Discussion following, at Zen Desert
Sangha, 3226 N. Martin, Tucson, AZ. http://www.zendesertsangha.org
<http://www.zendesertsangha.org>

NOV 9-13: Vajrakilaya Empowerment and Drubchen
Empowerment at the Garchen Institute, Post Office Box 4318, Chino Valley,
Arizona, 86323-4318 email questions@... or call 928-925-1237
<www.garchen.net>

NOV 13-20, Longchenpa's The Practice of the Way of Abiding
with Kilung Rinpoche, at Tara Mandala, P.O. Box 3040, Pagosa Springs, CO,
81147, (970) 264-6177 or 970-731-3711 <www.taramandala.org>
I<nfo@...>

NOV 22 - 30, Vajrakilya Drubchen with H.E. Gangteng Tulku Rinpoche in
Crestone, Colorado, PO Box 87, 2282 A. Happy Day Overlook, Crestone, CO
81131 [719.256.5224] tel € <info@...>
<http://www.yeshekhorlo.org/contactus.html>

DEC 7-14: Yamantaka Drubchen Peaceful & Manjushri Empowerment at the Garchen
Institute, Post Office Box 4318, Chino Valley, Arizona, 86323-4318 email
questions@... or call 928-925-1237 <www.garchen.net>

DEC 9-16 Marcia Rose Mabel Dodge Luhan House Mabel Dodge Luhan House, ABQ
Vipassana Sangha P.O. Box 4363, Santa Fe, NM 87502, 505.989.7610
<info@...>

DEC 15 - 23, Ruling Your World: The Path of Compassion Winter Dathün
Meditation Retreat with Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche presiding, and Richard
Reoch: at Shambhala Mountain Center | 4921 County Rd 68-C, Red Feather
Lakes, Colorado  80545  USA | Tel: 1-888-STUPA-21 (788-7221)
<info@...> <http://shambhalamountain.org/>

DEC 16: Discussion, with Pat Hawk Roshi, at Zen Desert Sangha, 3226 N.
Martin, Tucson, AZ. http://www.zendesertsangha.org
<http://www.zendesertsangha.org>

DEC 16th - 23rd, Vajrasattva Retreat, at Avalokiteshvara Buddhist Center:
1081 Marion St. Denver, CO 80218 Meditate Denver Colorado, Buddhist Temple
Denver Tel: (303)813-9551 e-mail: <abc@... >  <
http://www.meditationincolorado.org/>

DEC 18-20, Introduction to Mahamudra: The Co-Emergent Unification, With H.E.
Garchen Rinpoche, Drikung Kagyu Buddhist Center of Tucson, contact: Pati
Stein at Drikung Namgyal Ling, PO Box 44176, Tucson, Arizona 85733
[520.465.1882] <inquiries@...>
http://www.drikungkagyutucson.org/

DEC 26- Jan 3, Adzom Paylo Rinpoche at Tara Mandala, at Tara Mandala, P.O.
Box 3040, Pagosa Springs, CO, 81147, (970) 264-6177 or 970-731-3711
<www.taramandala.org> I<nfo@...>

DEC 29, 2006-January 1, 2007 Meditation retreat led by Eric Kolvig. New
Year's Durango Dharma Center, Durango
<http://www.durangosangha.org/index.htm>

DEC -30-Jan 1* Shaila Catherine Albuquerque Vipassana Sangha P.O. Box 4363,
Santa Fe, NM 87502, 505.989.7610 <info@...>

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
                                             Please Note
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
Jhanananda will be traveling throughout the Southwest this summer, so if you
are interested in meeting him, just drop us a line at the GWV at
info@...
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%


+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
++++++++++++++++++++++ EDITORIAL +++++++++++++++++++++

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Jhanananda-s_Journal/message/58
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

This Issue
Please post this request at your dharma and yoga centers:

Subjects needed for meditation research

The Great Western Vehicle is conducting research into the phenomena of
meditative absorption.  If you believe that you may be experiencing any kind
of phenomena that is associated with the practice of meditation, such as
meditative absorption, then we would like to receive your case history.

After some time of gathering case histories we hope to select a group of
subjects who fit certain criteria who will allow us to test them while they
are in meditation.  However, wiliness to be tested is not a criterion for
filling out our case history questionnaire.

From an exhaustive cross-cultural study of the literature of gnosis we have
found that meditative absorption has certain common characteristics that
nearly every subject manifests, regardless of their culture or religion.  If
you manifest any one of the following characteristics while in meditation,
then it is very possible that you are indeed experiencing meditative
absorption, and we would therefore like to receive your case history.

Some of the characteristics of meditative absorption are as follows:

1) Tactile sensations that are associated with the chakras, such as a
tingling or a pressure at the chest, throat, forehead or crown of head.

2) Tactile sensations in the hands or feet that could be perceived as heat,
or tingling or a pressure in the hands and/or feet.

3) Sounds that may emerge only during meditation, or at first only during
meditation.  Those sounds could be a rushing sound like the wind, a water
fall, or the rain; a chirping sound like cicadas or crickets; a ringing
sound, like a bell, or a high pitched electronic sound; or, the sudden onset
of tinnitus after the practice of meditation, and exacerbated by the
practice of meditation.

4) Sweet smells and/or tastes, such as incense or honey, that only arise in
association with meditation.

5) Luminance or an increase of light or visual images in association with
the practice of meditation.

6) Any sense of vertigo or the feeling of flight from the practice of
meditation.

7) Increased lucidity during the sleep cycle or the occurrences of
Out-of-Body experiences (OOBs).

If you have any of these symptoms from your meditation practice, then please
consider filling out the GWV Meditation Questionnaire at this URL:
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/casehistories/questionnaire.htm
<http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/casehistories/questionnaire.htm>

To find out more about Meditative Absorption (fana, jhana, samadhi,
shamatha) please read the following essay:

A Proposed Unifying Theory for the Experience of Gnosis
<http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/transitionalabsorption.htm> or
Meditative Absorption (fana, jhana, samadhi, shamatha)
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/transitionalabsorption.htm
<http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/transitionalabsorption.htm>


A service of GWV Meditation Research
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/meditation_research/


If it is not bliss (piiti), joy (sukha) and ecstasy (jhana) then it is not
jhana, which is Noble Meditative Absorption (sama-samadhi).


Your comments and opinions are most welcome, and please do let us know if
you wish your comments to be publicized in this journal.

May you dwell in the joyful home of the way
(Di.t.thadhammasukhavihaaraa)

Jeffrey S, Brooks
the Great Western Vehicle € Mahapacchimayana
<http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/index.html>
PO Box 41795
Tucson, AZ 85717-1795
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/index.html
<http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/index.html>

Find out what the Buddha really taught
http://www.seeforyourself.org <http://www.seeforyourself.org>

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

The intention of this newsletter is to provide timely information to the
Southwestern community of contemplatives. This newsletter offers a monthly
calendar of meditation retreats and other related activities.  You are
welcome to forward, reproduce or copy in anyway or part this newsletter for
helping others to lead a contemplative life. We only ask that you give
credit to the newsletter and its publisher.

This newsletter is a service of Jhanananda (Jeffrey S. Brooks) of the Great
Western Vehicle € Mahapacchimayana  The editor/publisher alone takes
responsibility for this newsletter and its content. Please direct all
comments or submissions to the editor: Jhanananda (Jeffrey S. Brooks) at:
Jhanananda@...
<mailto:Jhanananda@...>

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
Newsletter Services of the GWV
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Ecstatic Buddhism
A newsletter for the ecstatic contemplative and the Ecstatic Buddhist
website:      http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Ecstatic_Buddhism/
<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Ecstatic_Buddhism/>
Subscribe:  Ecstatic_Buddhism-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Southwest Insight E'letter
A monthly newsletter for contemplatives in the Southwestern USA
website:     http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SWI_E_letter/
Subscribe:  SWI_E_letter-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

SUCCOR, the Journal of the GWV and the Ecstatic Contemplative
website:     http://groups.yahoo.com/group/GWV_Info/
Subscribe:  GWV_Info-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Tucson Dharma News
An event calendar for contemplatives in Tucson, AZ. USA
website:      http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Tucson_Dharma_News/
Subscribe: Tucson_Dharma_News-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Wilderness_Retreats
For those who like the idea of meditating in the wilderness
website:      http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Wilderness_Retreats/
<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Wilderness_Retreats/>
Subscribe: Wilderness_Retreats-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%


Great Western Vehicle Ordination Program
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/gwvordinationprogram.htm
<http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/gwvordinationprogram.htm>

If you find the services of the Great Western Vehicle € Mahapacchimayanaof
value then please consider supporting the Great Western Vehicle
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/support.html
<http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/support.html>


May you become enlightened in this very life-time,

Jeff Brooks
Jhanananda
the Great Western Vehicle
PO Box 41795
Tucson, AZ 85717-1795
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/index.html
<http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/index.html>

SEPTEMBER 1, 2006


^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^
^:^:^ THE SOUTHWEST INSIGHT E'LETTER ^:^:^
^:^:^                        Vol. 06.09
       ^:^:^
^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^

A monthly newsletter for contemplatives in the
Southwestern USA

              a service of the Great Western Vehicle
                       • Mahapacchimayana •
                   a 4th wheel Buddhist tradition
       http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/index.html


!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Jhana Meditation Sitting Groups
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Latukikopama Sutta, MN 66
"...he enters and abides in the fourth absorption
(jhana): which is purity of equanimity and
mindfulness, with neither pleasure nor pain. This is
called renunciation-pleasure, seclusion-pleasure,
calm-pleasure, self-awakening-pleasure. And of this
pleasure I say that it is to be cultivated, to be
developed, to be pursued, it is not to be feared.
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/sutta/majjhima/mn066.html



There are meditation groups sensitive to and support
of the cultivation of meditative absorption and the
other fruits of the contemplative life. Email us for
the nearest location of one, or if you wish to start
one, just let us know at: info@...

Boulder, CO Jhana, Satipatthana Meditation and Sutta
Discussion Group Sundays 7-9 PM at Mandala Yoga &
Meditation, 2516 Broadway, Boulder, CO.
Contact: Michael Hawkins adreampuppet@...

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SEE FOR YOURSELF
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Find out what the Buddha really said
http://www.seeforyourself.org

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Buddhist Meetup
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

First Thursdays most Buddhist Meetup Groups meet.  To
find the meeting in your area click on this link
http://buddhism.meetup.com/

%%%%%%% A SW CONTEMPLATIVE’S CALENDAR %%%%%%

%%%%%%%%%% FALL %%%%%%%%
%%%%% SEPTEMBER – OCTOBER %%%%%%%

August 31, 6:30-7:10 pm Albuquerque Vipassana Sangha,
sit at the wat, Following the sit our sangha member
Suzanne Kryder will give a short talk and lead
discussion on mindfulness in the work place. The wat
is located at the corner of Copper & Madison NE.
Before our sit, starting at 5 pm everyone is warmly
invited to share conversation and Italian food at Il
Vicino's, 3403 Central NE (next to Guild Theater).

SEPT 1- SEPT 27 — Lila Kate Wheeler, will be
Teachers-in-residence at Santa Fe Vipassana Sangha,
<http://www.santafevipassana.org>

SEPT 1 - 7,  The Great Heart of Compassion Meeting of
the Ways Retreat Voice of the Turtle Retreat Center,
Silver City, NM ~ Info.
<http://www.moonsinger.com/dup-sufi-retreats.htm>
<http://www.moonsinger.com/DUP.htm>

SEPT 1 - 3, Chushu (Autumn Moon) Kyudo Gathering with
Kanjuro Shibata XX, Sensei at Shambhala Mountain
Center | 4921 County Rd 68-C, Red Feather Lakes,
Colorado  80545  USA | Tel: 1-888-STUPA-21 (788-7221)
<info@...>
<http://shambhalamountain.org/>

SEPT 1, 5:30 to 6:30 Fridays, Tibetan Buddhist
Meditation Hour, Dharma Kirti College UA Pierce
McCormick Building, 1401 E First St, Tucson, AZ
www.dharmakirticollege.org

SEPT 1 at 7 pm, FIRST Fridays, Sedona Dances of
Universal Peace at the Village of Oak Creek. For
further information, please contact Kate McGovern,
928-284-9292.

SEPT 2, Socrates Saturday Morning Forum 1st, 2nd, &
5th Saturdays at Ward 6 Midtown Council Office (3202
E. First St, Tucson, AZ 370-6338 or
philwhite857@...

SEPT 2- 3, Insight Meditation Community of Boulder,
Colorado monthly retreat will take place at Wat
Buddhawararam, at 4801 Julian Street, Denver. The
teacher will be Venerable Ajahn Chalee assisted by Ben
Heffer. Part-time participation is fine. We begin at
9AM Saturday and will end at 1PM on Sunday. Contact
Buddhist Community Services at (720) 855-6942, or Ben
Heffer or 970-963-2428.

SEPT 3, Sunday mornings from 10 to 11:30AM
Gay-Lesbian-Bi-Trans meditation group, which meets at
Wingspan, 425 E. 7th St., Tucson, AZ

SEPT 3, Sundays 6:30 – 8:00 PM, Singing Bird Sangha,
Thich Nhat Hanh, Pima Friends Meetinghouse, 931 N. 5th
Street, Tucson, AZ
First and third Tuesdays 6:30-7:30 PM 2415 E. 6th St,
Tucson

SEPT 3, 6-7 PM Sundays, Meditation and Chanting at
Tucson Yoga Downtown. 148 S. Fourth Ave. Tucson, AZ
882-0597 or www.tucsonyoga.com

SEPT 4, 7 PM Tucson BPF meetings 1st and 3rd Mondays
at Martin's house, 701 E. Mabel, Tucson. (520)
320-5883. bpf_Tucson@yahoogroups.com
HTTP://groups.yahoo.com/groups/bpf_Tucson/cal

SEPT 4, Labor Day

SEPT 6, Wednesdays 6:30 pm, Red Tara practice,
Flagstaff, AZ, L'hundrub Ling, Flagstaff, AZ (510)
315-1960 <ironknot@...>

SEPT 6, Wednesdays at 6:30 pm Bhagavad-gita class Rama
Bhakti devi dasi Chaitanya Cultural Center & Govindas,
711 E Blacklidge Drive, Tucson, AZ 520.623.3507
ramabhakti@...

SEPT 6, 6-7:30pm Wednesday nights, Ruth Dantzer will
be leading a 5-week meditation class; August 9th,
16th, 30th and Sept. 6th and 13th at the Julian Chapel
at Grace Saint Paul's Church at 2331 E. Adams Street
for more information call us at 520-795-6585

SEPT 7-11 Prayer Wheel Consecration, Katok Getse
Rinpoche at Iron Knot Ranch, Duncan, AZ, (510)
315-1960 <ironknot@...> <www.ironknot.org>

SEPT 7, Tucson Buddhist Meetup Group First Thursday @
7:00 PM at the Epic Cafe 745 N 4th Av  Tucson, AZ
520-624-6844  * http://buddhism.meetup.com/10/

SEPT 7th Full Moon

SEPT 7th: Sunset (7:12 PM) Planet Coexist's Full Moon
Gathering at the Terrasante Community, near Three
Points west of Tucson, AZ. Contact our office at
520-790-1757 or email us at together@...
• http://www.planetcoexist.com  Directions at:
http://planetcoexist.com/sips%20of%20earth/tanqueverde%20gatherings/terrasante.h\
tml

SEPT 8 MENSA 2nd Friday monthly meetings, Mama’s Pizza
4500 E. Speedway Blvd. Tucson, AZ 615-3996

SEPT 8, 7:30-9:30 Phoenix Metro area Dances of
Universal Peace 2nd and last Saturdays at the
SouthWest Institute of Healing Arts, Tempe, 110 E.
Apache Blvd (East of Rural) John Hinton (602)841-2843,
or om4u@...

SEPT 9th, Albuquerque Vipassana Sangha, Dessert party
and silent auction fundraiser, 7-10pm, 518 Richmond
SE, Abq (Nob Hill area).  Great opportunity to
socialize & pick up something special from the auction
while benefiting the sangha, all in one. For more
info, visit our website & cruise down the main page:
www.abqsangha.org.
(see
http://www.cs.unm.edu/~richards/sangha/silent_auction.doc).


SEPT 10, 6 PM second Sundays, Tucson Peace Center
board meeting.  All peace people welcome. At Prescott
College, 2233 E. Speedway Blvd., Tucson, AZ

SEPT 10, Grandparent’s Day

Sep 13-15 T’hroma empowerment and teachings from the
Dudjom cycle, Katok Getse Rinpoche at Iron Knot Ranch,
Duncan, AZ, (510) 315-1960 <ironknot@...>
<www.ironknot.org>

SEPT 13th, 6:30pm - 9:30pm, Wonders of the Natural
Mind with Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, Boulder Shambhala
Center, 1345 Spruce Street, Boulder CO 80302
[303-444-0190]
<http://www.boulder.shambhala.org/index.html>

SEPT 15-20, 2nd Annual Amitayus Long-Life Retreat,
With Drupon Rinpoche, Drikung Kagyu Buddhist Center of
Tucson, contact: Pati Stein at Drikung Namgyal Ling,
PO Box 44176, Tucson, Arizona 85733 [520.465.1882]
<inquiries@...>
http://www.drikungkagyutucson.org/

SEPT 16, 7:30-9:30 Tempe, AZ, Dances of Universal
Peace 3rd Saturdays at the Bodyworks Studio, 1801 S.
Jentilly Ln., Suite B8, Tempe Terry Matthews
(480)998-9331 or (602)368-6784 or
Terryamat@...

SEPT 17, Compassion in the Rockies: His Holiness the
Dalai Lama at Shambhala Mountain Center | 4921 County
Rd 68-C, Red Feather Lakes, Colorado  80545  USA |
Tel: 1-888-STUPA-21 (788-7221)
<info@...>
<http://shambhalamountain.org/>

SEPT 17, 6 7:15 PM Children's Dharma Class, Ages 5 to
10, normally 2nd Sunday of each month. 931 N. 5th
Ave., (Pima Friend's Meeting House, Tucson).
Activities will include Jataka tales, art projects,
sharing and mindful snacking.  For more information
call Katherine at (520) 290-1722.

SEPT 17 Meeting of the Ways, Sufism, Judaism,
Buddhism, Sweat Lodge, Dance, Zikr, Southwest Sufi
Community, PO Box 373, Silver City, NM 88062, Contact:
Basira Nickle, (505) 538-5034,
basira@...

SEPT 19 Tuesday 6:30pm to 7:15 Silent Meditation
Dharma Talk: Natalie Goldberg, Santa Fe Vipassana
Sangha P.O. Box 4363, Santa Fe, NM 87502 505.989.7610.
info@...

SEPT 21 - 25, Canyonlands Dances of Universal Peace
Retreat  Canyonlands National Park ~ Needles District
Information & Registration
<http://www.moonsinger.com/dup-sufi-retreats.htm>
<http://www.moonsinger.com/DUP.htm>

SEPT 21 – 24, Fall Equinox Women’s Celebration at
Angel Valley, Sedona, AZ. Participate in an Inipi
Sweat Lodge Ceremony, Shamanic Journeying, An Incan
Fire Ceremony. www.wisewomanways.net
Robin at (561) 389-8954

SEPT 22 - 24, Yoga for Our Time: Yoga & Meditation
Retreat with Wendy Bramlett at Shambhala Mountain
Center | 4921 County Rd 68-C, Red Feather Lakes,
Colorado  80545  USA | Tel: 1-888-STUPA-21 (788-7221)
<info@...>
<http://shambhalamountain.org/>

SEPT 22 - 24, From Trauma to Spiritual Awakening &
Flow with Peter Levine, PhD at Shambhala Mountain
Center | 4921 County Rd 68-C, Red Feather Lakes,
Colorado  80545  USA | Tel: 1-888-STUPA-21 (788-7221)
<info@...>
<http://shambhalamountain.org/>

SEPT 22, New Moon meditation at the Yoga Connection,
4893 E. Speedway Blvd., Tucson, AZ 323-1222

SEPT 22-24: Sesshin, with Pat Hawk Roshi, at Zen
Desert Sangha, 3226 N. Martin, Tucson, AZ.
http://www.zendesertsangha.org

SEPT 22, Sun enters Libra, Solar Eclipse, New Moon,
Sun Enters Libra, Autumn Equinox

SEPT 22, at 2:00 PM (4th Sunday of each month)
Antigone's Buddhist reading group at Antigone's
bookstore at, 411 N. 4th Ave. Tucson, AZ. They can be
reached at (520) 792-3715 to find out the book they
are currently working with or www.antigonebooks.com

SEPT 22, 6:15 to 7:15 p.m. 4th Sundays Children's
Dharma Class, for older kids, ages 10-14 info. 931 N.
5th Ave., (Pima Friend's Meeting House, Tucson). For
more information call Katherine at (520) 290-1722.

SEPT 22, American Indian Day

SEPT 23, Rosh Hashanah begins

SEPT. 26, 7:00 - 8:15 PM, begins an "Ongoing Class on
Zen", with Dan Dorsey at Zen Desert Sangha (ZDS), N.
Martin Avenue; Tucson, AZ. with optional sitting at
6:30 PM, and continuing most Tuesdays. Info: call Dan
at 624-8030, or email to: <dorsey@...>
<http://www.zendesertsangha.org/>

SEPT 28, 7 - 9 Pm Cottonwood Dances of Universal
Peace, 4th Saturdays, at the Old Town Center for the
Arts, 633 N. 5th St., Studio B (just off Main St.)
Cottonwood AZ. Info. about Dances of Universal Peace,
http://www.moonsinger.com/DUP.htm
<http://www.prescottdances.org>

SEPT 28, 7:30-9:30 Phoenix Metro area Dances of
Universal Peace 2nd and last Saturdays at the
SouthWest Institute of Healing Arts, Tempe, 110 E.
Apache Blvd (East of Rural) John Hinton (602)841-2843,
or om4u@...

SEPT 28, Cornville, AZ, Dances of Universal Peace –
Last Saturdays at The Earthship. Cathryn Swann (928)
634-1696
conscious@...

SEPT 29-Oct 8, Meditation retreat led by Shinzen Young
at Sunrise Ranch Conference & Retreat Center  Sierra
Retreats in Sunrise Ranch Conference Center  5569 N.
County Rd. 29  Loveland, Colorado. Phone: 970-679-4200
Fax: 970-679-4247 Email:
<sunrise_conferences@...>
Conference scheduling: Kiri Saftler 970-679-4216

SEPT. 30, 9:30am-4:30pm Retreat & Renewal: A Day of
Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction with Janet
Solyntjes, MA Boulder Shambhala Center, 1345 Spruce
Street, Boulder CO 80302 [303-444-0190]
<http://www.boulder.shambhala.org/index.html>

SEPT. 30; 6:00 PM - 8:30 (?) PM; Potluck and Poetry,
at Zen Desert Sangha (ZDS), N. Martin Avenue; Tucson,
AZ.
http://www.zendesertsangha.org/

OCT 1-6 Sufi Session Retreat, Sitting meditation,
Zikr, Dances, Southwest Sufi Community, PO Box 373,
Silver City, NM 88062, Contact: John Foldan (505)
388-4536, john@...

OCT 2, Yom Kippur

OCT 3-December — Jason Siff, will be
Teachers-in-residence at Santa Fe Vipassana Sangha,
<http://www.santafevipassana.org>

OCT 5 - 8, VIPASSANA/METTA MEDITATION RETREAT WITH
LLOYD BURTON & TERRY RAY, FREEDOM, JOY & THE FIVE
RECOLLECTIONS. Online registration through the
Shambhala Mountain Center (SMC) Web site at:
http://www.shambhalamountain.org/program_detail.php?retreat=608
contact SMC at: 1.888.788.7221 or 888.STUPA.21.
www.insightcolorado.org
Questions about the retreat, please contact the
retreat manager, David
Kane, at imc_retreats@...
or 303-642-3353.

OCT 6th Full Moon

OCT 7, Sukkoth

OCT 8th, 9am Phoenix Celebration of World Angel Day.
"Healing Mind, Body and Spirit" A day with Sunny Dawn
Johnston and the Angels *Featured Musician Debi Glo*
at the beautiful Doubletree Paradise Valley Resort in
Scottsdale. 5401 N. Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale, AZ
85250. CONTACT: 602-375-6788
WEBSITE: www.sunlightalliance.com/WorldAngelDay.php

OCT 9, Columbus Day, Native American Independence Day.

OCT 12-15 Sesshin at the Prajna Zendo, 5A Camino
Potrillo, Lamy, New Mexico 87540 [505-699-1464] <
info@...> < http://www.prajnazendo.org/>

OCT 13 & 14. Path of Body: Embodiment & Meditation
with Susan Aposhyan Boulder Shambhala Center, 1345
Spruce Street, Boulder CO 80302 [303-444-0190]
<http://www.boulder.shambhala.org/index.html>

OCT 13-15, Meditation retreat led by Eric Kolvig.
Durango Dharma Center, Durango
<http://www.durangosangha.org/index.htm>

OCT 14 – 22nd, 10-day Wilderness Jhana retreat in Gila
Box Wilderness Area, led by Jeff Brooks (Jhananda) for
the Great Western Vehicle: Contact: Jhananda at
Jhananda@...

OCT 20-25, 6 - Day Mindfulness Meditation Intensive
Retreat
led by Shinzen Young for the Tucson Community
Meditation Center, at C.O.D. Ranch, Oracle, AZ, 37
miles NE of Tucson.  Check out their website at
www.codranch.com

OCT 21: Zazenkai, with Pat Hawk Roshi, at Zen Desert
Sangha, 3226 N. Martin, Tucson, AZ.
http://www.zendesertsangha.org

OCT 21, New Moon

OCT 21, Orionids Meteor Shower

OCT 23, Sun enters Scorpio

OCT 24, United Nations Day

OCT 27-31 Meditation retreat led by Eric Kolvig at the
Lila Kate Wheeler Spiritual Renewal Center ABQ
Vipassana Sangha, P.O. Box 4363, Santa Fe, NM 87502,
505.989.7610 <info@...>

OCT 27 - 29, Breathe Life into Learning: YogaKids
Tools for Schools with Marsha & Don Wenig at Shambhala
Mountain Center | 4921 County Rd 68-C, Red Feather
Lakes, Colorado  80545  USA | Tel: 1-888-STUPA-21
(788-7221) <info@...>
<http://shambhalamountain.org/>

OCT 29, Day-Light Savings Time ends

OCT 31, Halloween

NOV 1, All Saints Day, Dia de los Muertos (Day of the
Dead)

NOV 4, 9am-5pm. Festival of Goodness Boulder Shambhala
Center, 1345 Spruce Street, Boulder CO 80302
[303-444-0190]
<http://www.boulder.shambhala.org/index.html>

NOV 7-8: Mahamudra Teachings Garchen Rinpoche will
give two days of teachings on Drigung Kyobpa Jigten
Sumgon's Introduction to Mahamudra at the Garchen
Institute, Post Office Box 4318, Chino Valley,
Arizona, 86323-4318 email questions@... or
call 928-925-1237 <www.garchen.net>

NOV 8: Dharma Talk, by Pat Hawk Roshi. Discussion
following, at Zen Desert Sangha, 3226 N. Martin,
Tucson, AZ. http://www.zendesertsangha.org

NOV 9-13: Vajrakilaya Empowerment and Drubchen
Empowerment at the Garchen Institute, Post Office Box
4318, Chino Valley, Arizona, 86323-4318 email
questions@... or call 928-925-1237
<www.garchen.net>

NOV 13-20, Longchenpa's The Practice of the Way of
Abiding
with Kilung Rinpoche, at Tara Mandala, P.O. Box 3040,
Pagosa Springs, CO, 81147, (970) 264-6177 or
970-731-3711 <www.taramandala.org>
I<nfo@...>

NOV 22 - 30, Vajrakilya Drubchen with H.E. Gangteng
Tulku Rinpoche in Crestone, Colorado, PO Box 87, 2282
A. Happy Day Overlook, Crestone, CO 81131
[719.256.5224] tel • <info@...>
<http://www.yeshekhorlo.org/contactus.html>

DEC 7-14: Yamantaka Drubchen Peaceful & Manjushri
Empowerment at the Garchen Institute, Post Office Box
4318, Chino Valley, Arizona, 86323-4318 email
questions@... or call 928-925-1237
<www.garchen.net>

DEC 9-16 Marcia Rose Mabel Dodge Luhan House Mabel
Dodge Luhan House, ABQ Vipassana Sangha P.O. Box 4363,
Santa Fe, NM 87502, 505.989.7610
<info@...>

DEC 15 - 23, Ruling Your World: The Path of Compassion
Winter Dathün Meditation Retreat with Sakyong Mipham
Rinpoche presiding, and Richard Reoch: at Shambhala
Mountain Center | 4921 County Rd 68-C, Red Feather
Lakes, Colorado  80545  USA | Tel: 1-888-STUPA-21
(788-7221) <info@...>
<http://shambhalamountain.org/>

DEC 16: Discussion, with Pat Hawk Roshi, at Zen Desert
Sangha, 3226 N. Martin, Tucson, AZ.
http://www.zendesertsangha.org

DEC 16th - 23rd, Vajrasattva Retreat, at
Avalokiteshvara Buddhist Center: 1081 Marion St.
Denver, CO 80218 Meditate Denver Colorado, Buddhist
Temple Denver Tel: (303)813-9551 e-mail:
<abc@... >  <
http://www.meditationincolorado.org/>

DEC 18-20, Introduction to Mahamudra: The Co-Emergent
Unification, With H.E. Garchen Rinpoche, Drikung Kagyu
Buddhist Center of Tucson, contact: Pati Stein at
Drikung Namgyal Ling, PO Box 44176, Tucson, Arizona
85733 [520.465.1882]
<inquiries@...>
http://www.drikungkagyutucson.org/

DEC 26- Jan 3, Adzom Paylo Rinpoche at Tara Mandala,
at Tara Mandala, P.O. Box 3040, Pagosa Springs, CO,
81147, (970) 264-6177 or 970-731-3711
<www.taramandala.org> I<nfo@...>

DEC 29, 2006-January 1, 2007 Meditation retreat led by
Eric Kolvig. New Year's Durango Dharma Center, Durango
<http://www.durangosangha.org/index.htm>

DEC -30-Jan 1* Shaila Catherine Albuquerque Vipassana
Sangha P.O. Box 4363, Santa Fe, NM 87502, 505.989.7610
<info@...>

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
                                              Please
Note
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
Jhanananda will be traveling throughout the Southwest
this summer, so if you are interested in meeting him,
just drop us a line at the GWV at
info@...
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%


+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
++++++++++++++++++++++ EDITORIAL +++++++++++++++++++++

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Jhanananda-s_Journal/message/57
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

This Issue
The Joy of Meditation,
The Contemplative Practices (Magga) of Ecstatic
Buddhism
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/maga.htm

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

A Practice Regimen (Magga) That Can Lead To
Enlightenment (Phala) In This Very Lifetime
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/practiceregimen.htm


Understanding Right Meditation (samma-samadhi)
Concentration leads to Absorption, which leads to
Enlightenment (May 9, 2004)
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/concentration.htm

The Degree of “Grip” upon the Meditation Object
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/grip.htm

Random Reflections Upon Field Meditation During a Solo
Wilderness Retreat, 2005
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/fieldmeditation.htm

On the Recollection of Former Lives
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/recollection.htm

Posture for the Skillful Practice of Meditation
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/posture.htm

Lying Down Meditation (May 26, 2004)
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/lyingdownmeditation.htm


Walking Meditation (February 23, 2005)
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/standing.htm

The use of the Visual Meditation Object, Kasina (April
5, 2004)
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/kasina.htm

Using the Moon as a visual meditation object, Kasina
(August 11, 2004)
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/kasinamoon.htm

Eyes Open Verses Closed During Meditation
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/eyes.htm

Sex and the Ecstasies (Kundalini/Jhana), updated
(November 9, 2004)
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/sex.htm

Food and a Contemplative Life (June 11, 2004)
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/food.htm

Commitment as a Refuge, Dark Night of the Soul in
Buddhism (January 1, 2003)
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/commitment.htm


If it is not bliss (piiti), joy (sukha) and ecstasy
(jhana) then it is not jhana, which is Noble
Meditative Absorption (sama-samadhi).

Your comments and opinions are most welcome, and
please do let us know if you wish your comments to be
publicized in this journal.

May you dwell in the joyful home of the way
(Di.t.thadhammasukhavihaaraa)

Jeffrey S, Brooks
the Great Western Vehicle • Mahapacchimayana
PO Box 41795
Tucson, AZ 85717-1795
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/index.html

Find out what the Buddha really taught
http://www.seeforyourself.org

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

The intention of this newsletter is to provide timely
information to the Southwestern community of
contemplatives. This newsletter offers a monthly
calendar of meditation retreats and other related
activities.  You are welcome to forward, reproduce or
copy in anyway or part this newsletter for helping
others to lead a contemplative life. We only ask that
you give credit to the newsletter and its publisher.

This newsletter is a service of Jhanananda (Jeffrey S.
Brooks) of the Great Western Vehicle •
Mahapacchimayana  The editor/publisher alone takes
responsibility for this newsletter and its content.
Please direct all comments or submissions to the
editor: Jhanananda (Jeffrey S. Brooks) at:
Jhanananda@...

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
Newsletter Services of the GWV
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Ecstatic Buddhism
A newsletter for the ecstatic contemplative and the
Ecstatic Buddhist
website:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Ecstatic_Buddhism/
Subscribe:
Ecstatic_Buddhism-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Southwest Insight E'letter
A monthly newsletter for contemplatives in the
Southwestern USA
website:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SWI_E_letter/
Subscribe:  SWI_E_letter-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

SUCCOR, the Journal of the GWV and the Ecstatic
Contemplative
website:      http://groups.yahoo.com/group/GWV_Info/
Subscribe:  GWV_Info-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Tucson Dharma News
An event calendar for contemplatives in Tucson, AZ.
USA
website:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Tucson_Dharma_News/
Subscribe:
Tucson_Dharma_News-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Wilderness_Retreats
For those who like the idea of meditating in the
wilderness
website:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Wilderness_Retreats/
Subscribe:
Wilderness_Retreats-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%


Great Western Vehicle Ordination Program
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/gwvordinationprogram.htm


If you find the services of the Great Western Vehicle
• Mahapacchimayanaof value then please consider
supporting the Great Western Vehicle
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/support.html


May you become enlightened in this very life-time,

Jeff Brooks
Jhanananda
the Great Western Vehicle
PO Box 41795
Tucson, AZ 85717-1795
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/index.html


__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam
protection around
http://mail.yahoo.com

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
http://mail.yahoo.com

AUGUST 1, 2006


^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^
^:^:^ THE SOUTHWEST INSIGHT E'LETTER ^:^:^
^:^:^                        Vol. 06.08
       ^:^:^
^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^

A monthly newsletter for contemplatives in the
Southwestern USA

              a service of the Great Western Vehicle
                       • Mahapacchimayana •
                   a 4th wheel Buddhist tradition
       http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/index.html


!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Jhana Meditation Sitting Groups
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Interior Castle, St. Teresa of Avila,
Pg 93) “As I write this, by the way, I can’t help but
wonder what’s going on inside my own head.  Those
noises I told you about in the beginning are getting
so loud that it’s almost impossible for me to obey the
order to write this. It sounds like there are a
multitude of rushing rivers inside my head, their
waters cascading downward, surrounded by many little
birds and other whistling sounds.  This is all
unfolding not in the ears but the upper part of the
head, where they say the higher part of the soul
resides.  I have spent long periods in these regions.
The spirit seems to push its way upward with great
power and speed…all of this turmoil doe not hinder my
prayer or interfere with what I am trying to say.
Instead, my soul is whole within its quietude, its
love, its longing, and its clarity of consciousness.”
translation and introduction by Mirabai Star.
Riverhead Books, Published by the Berkley Publishing
Group a division of Penguin Group USA Inc. 375 Hudson
Street, New York NY 10014, 2003

There are meditation groups sensitive to and support
of the cultivation of meditative absorption and the
other fruits of the contemplative life. Email us for
the nearest location of one, or if you wish to start
one, just let us know at: info@...

Boulder, CO Jhana, Satipatthana Meditation and Sutta
Discussion Group Sundays 7-9 PM at Mandala Yoga &
Meditation, 2516 Broadway, Boulder, CO.
Contact: Michael Hawkins adreampuppet@...

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SEE FOR YOURSELF
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Find out what the Buddha really said
http://www.seeforyourself.org

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Buddhist Meetup
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

First Thursdays most Buddhist Meetup Groups meet.  To
find the meeting in your area click on this link
http://buddhism.meetup.com/

%%%%%%% A SW CONTEMPLATIVE’S CALENDAR %%%%%%

%%%%%%%%%% AUGUST – SEPTEMBER %%%%%%%%

AUG 2, Wednesdays at 6:30 pm Bhagavad-gita class Rama
Bhakti devi dasi Chaitanya Cultural Center & Govindas,
711 E Blacklidge Drive, Tucson, AZ 520.623.3507
ramabhakti@...

AUG 3, Tucson Buddhist Meetup Group First Thursday @
7:00 PM at the Epic Cafe 745 N 4th Av  Tucson, AZ
520-624-6844  * http://buddhism.meetup.com/10/

AUG 4, 5:30 to 6:30 Fridays, Tibetan Buddhist
Meditation Hour, Dharma Kirti College UA Pierce
McCormick Building, 1401 E First St, Tucson, AZ
www.dharmakirticollege.org

AUG 4, Friday evenings at 8 pm on PBS, Buddhist
teacher Pema Chodron, author of When Things Fall Apart
and many other books, will be interviewed by Bill
Moyers as part of his "Faith & Reason" series. Check
the listings of the Public Station(s) in your local
area, as it might be different your area.

AUG 4 at 7 pm, Friday, Sedona Dances of Universal
Peace at the Village of Oak Creek. For further
information, please contact Kate McGovern,
928-284-9292.

AUG 5, Socrates Saturday Morning Forum 1st, 2nd, & 5th
Saturdays at Ward 6 Midtown Council Office (3202 E.
First St, Tucson, AZ 370-6338 or
philwhite857@...

AUG 5, 7:30-9:30 Phoenix Metro area Dances of
Universal Peace 2nd and last Saturdays at the
SouthWest Institute of Healing Arts, Tempe, 110 E.
Apache Blvd (East of Rural) John Hinton (602)841-2843,
or om4u@...

AUG 6, Sunday mornings from 10 to 11:30AM
Gay-Lesbian-Bi-Trans meditation group, which meets at
Wingspan, 425 E. 7th St., Tucson, AZ

AUG 6, Sundays 6:30 – 8:00 PM, Singing Bird Sangha,
Thich Nhat Hanh, Pima Friends Meetinghouse, 931 N. 5th
Street, Tucson, AZ
First and third Tuesdays 6:30-7:30 PM 2415 E. 6th St,
Tucson

AUG 6, 6-7 PM Sundays, Meditation and Chanting at
Tucson Yoga Downtown. 148 S. Fourth Ave. Tucson, AZ
882-0597 or www.tucsonyoga.com

AUG 6-12 Southwest Sufi Camp, Southwest Sufi
Community, PO Box 373, Silver City, NM 88062, Contact:
John Foldan (505) 388-4536,
john@...

AUG 7, 7 PM Tucson BPF meetings 1st and 3rd Mondays at
Martin's house, 701 E. Mabel, Tucson. (520) 320-5883.
bpf_Tucson@yahoogroups.com
HTTP://groups.yahoo.com/groups/bpf_Tucson/cal

AUG 9th 6-7:30pm Ruth Dantzer will be leading a 5-week
meditation class on Wednesday nights; August 9th,
16th, 30th and Sept. 6th and 13th at the Julian Chapel
at Grace Saint Paul's Church at 2331 E. Adams Street
for more information call us at 520-795-6585

AUG 9th Full Moon

AUG 9th: Sunset (7:12 PM) Planet Coexist's Full Moon
Gathering at the Terrasante Community, near Three
Points west of Tucson, AZ. Contact our office at
520-790-1757 or email us at together@...
• http://www.planetcoexist.com  Directions at:
http://planetcoexist.com/sips%20of%20earth/tanqueverde%20gatherings/terrasante.h\
tml

AUG 11 MENSA 2nd Friday monthly meetings, Mama’s Pizza
4500 E. Speedway Blvd. Tucson, AZ 615-3996

AUG 13, 6 PM second Sundays, Tucson Peace Center board
meeting.  All peace people welcome. At Prescott
College, 2233 E. Speedway Blvd., Tucson, AZ

AUG 13, 6:00 PM to 7:15 PM Children's Dharma Class,
Ages 5 to 10, 2nd Sunday of each month. 931 N. 5th
Ave., (Pima Friend's Meeting House, Tucson).
Activities will include Jataka tales, art projects,
sharing and mindful snacking.  For more information
call Katherine at (520) 290-1722.

AUG 18-Sep 27 — Lila Kate Wheeler, will be
Teachers-in-residence at Santa Fe Vipassana Sangha,
<http://www.santafevipassana.org>

AUG 18 - 26 (9 days) High Sierra Vipassana Retreat in
Sequoia National Park, California - Moderately
Strenuous. Taught by Mark Coleman. Follows the same
scenic and sparsely visited loop as the July retreat.
Please contact Susie Harrington to apply for this
retreat. Info: Terry Gustafson, 7125 W 27th Ave, Wheat
Ridge, CO 80033, (303) 239-9917, terry@... or
http://www.rainbow2.com/

AUG 18-20, The Essence of Big Mind w/Genpo Roshi-Upaya
Zen Center, Upaya Zen Center, 1404 Cerro Gordo Road,
Santa Fe, NM 87501, (505)986-8518 <www.upaya.org>
<http://www.kzci.org/>
  AUG 19, Gandhi Study Group, 3rd Saturdays Tucson, AZ,
contact: <pucaz.chair@...>

AUG 19, 7:30-9:30 Tempe, AZ, Dances of Universal Peace
3rd Saturdays at the Bodyworks Studio, 1801 S.
Jentilly Ln., Suite B8, Tempe Terry Matthews
(480)998-9331 or (602)368-6784 or
Terryamat@...

AUG 22, Sun enters Virgo

AUG 23, New Moon meditation at the Yoga Connection,
4893 E. Speedway Blvd., Tucson, AZ 323-1222

AUG 26 Women’s equality day.

AUG 26, 7 - 9 Pm Cottonwood Dances of Universal Peace,
4th Saturdays, at the Old Town Center for the Arts,
633 N. 5th St., Studio B (just off Main St.)
Cottonwood AZ. Info. about Dances of Universal Peace,
http://www.moonsinger.com/DUP.htm
<http://www.prescottdances.org>

AUG 26, 7:30-9:30 Phoenix Metro area Dances of
Universal Peace 2nd and last Saturdays at the
SouthWest Institute of Healing Arts, Tempe, 110 E.
Apache Blvd (East of Rural) John Hinton (602)841-2843,
or om4u@...

AUG 26, Cornville, AZ, Dances of Universal Peace –
Last Saturdays at The Earthship. Cathryn Swann (928)
634-1696
conscious@...

AUG. 26: Discussion, with Pat Hawk Roshi, at Zen
Desert Sangha, 3226 N. Martin, Tucson, AZ.
http://www.zendesertsangha.org

AUG 26-27: Saturday - Sunday 9 am - 5 pm, The Four
Thoughts That Turn the Mind to Dharma, Traga Rinpoche.
Garchen Institute, Post Office Box 4318, Chino Valley,
Arizona, 86323-4318 email questions@... or
call 928-925-1237 <www.garchen.net>

AUG 27, at 2:00 PM (4th Sunday of each month)
Antigone's Buddhist reading group at Antigone's
bookstore at, 411 N. 4th Ave. Tucson, AZ. They can be
reached at (520) 792-3715 to find out the book they
are currently working with or www.antigonebooks.com

AUG 27, 6:15 to 7:15 p.m. 4th Sundays Children's
Dharma Class, for older kids, ages 10-14 info. 931 N.
5th Ave., (Pima Friend's Meeting House, Tucson). For
more information call Katherine at (520) 290-1722.

%%%%%%%%%% FALL %%%%%%%%
SEP 1 - 7,  The Great Heart of Compassion Meeting of
the Ways Retreat Voice of the Turtle Retreat Center,
Silver City, NM ~ Info.
<http://www.moonsinger.com/dup-sufi-retreats.htm>
<http://www.moonsinger.com/DUP.htm>

SEP 17 Meeting of the Ways, Sufism, Judaism, Buddhism,
Sweat Lodge, Dance, Zikr, Southwest Sufi Community, PO
Box 373, Silver City, NM 88062, Contact: Basira
Nickle, (505) 538-5034,
basira@...

SEP 21 - 25, Canyonlands Dances of Universal Peace
Retreat  Canyonlands National Park ~ Needles District
Information & Registration
<http://www.moonsinger.com/dup-sufi-retreats.htm>
<http://www.moonsinger.com/DUP.htm>

SEP 22-24: Sesshin, with Pat Hawk Roshi, at Zen Desert
Sangha, 3226 N. Martin, Tucson, AZ.
http://www.zendesertsangha.org

OCT 1-6 Sufi Session Retreat, Sitting meditation,
Zikr, Dances, Southwest Sufi Community, PO Box 373,
Silver City, NM 88062, Contact: John Foldan (505)
388-4536, john@...

OCT 2-December — Jason Siff, will be
Teachers-in-residence at Santa Fe Vipassana Sangha,
<http://www.santafevipassana.org>

OCT 14 – 22nd, 10-day Wilderness Jhana retreat in Gila
Box Wilderness Area, led by Jeff Brooks (Jhananda) for
the Great Western Vehicle: Contact: Jhananda at
Jhananda@...

OCT 21: Zazenkai, with Pat Hawk Roshi, at Zen Desert
Sangha, 3226 N. Martin, Tucson, AZ.
http://www.zendesertsangha.org

NOV 7-8: Mahamudra Teachings Garchen Rinpoche will
give two days of teachings on Drigung Kyobpa Jigten
Sumgon's Introduction to Mahamudra at the Garchen
Institute, Post Office Box 4318, Chino Valley,
Arizona, 86323-4318 email questions@... or
call 928-925-1237 <www.garchen.net>

NOV 9-13: Vajrakilaya Empowerment and Drubchen
Empowerment at the Garchen Institute, Post Office Box
4318, Chino Valley, Arizona, 86323-4318 email
questions@... or call 928-925-1237
<www.garchen.net>

NOV 8: Dharma Talk, by Pat Hawk Roshi. Discussion
following, at Zen Desert Sangha, 3226 N. Martin,
Tucson, AZ. http://www.zendesertsangha.org

DEC 7-14: Yamantaka Drubchen Peaceful & Manjushri
Empowerment at the Garchen Institute, Post Office Box
4318, Chino Valley, Arizona, 86323-4318 email
questions@... or call 928-925-1237
<www.garchen.net>

DEC 16: Discussion, with Pat Hawk Roshi, at Zen Desert
Sangha, 3226 N. Martin, Tucson, AZ.
http://www.zendesertsangha.org

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
                                              Please
Note
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
Jhanananda will be traveling throughout the Southwest
this summer, so if you are interested in meeting him,
just drop us a line at the GWV at
info@...
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%


+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
++++++++++++++++++++++ EDITORIAL +++++++++++++++++++++

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Jhanananda-s_Journal/?yguid=212244712

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

This Issue
The Fruits of the Contemplative Life
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

An Experiential Look at the Phenomena of Meditative
Absorption
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/experientialjhana.htm

Clairaudience or the Divine Ear and meditation induced
tinnitus (May 9, 2004)
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/clairaudience.htm

The Fruits (Phala) of the Contemplative Life
(September 13, 2004)
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/fruit.htm

The characteristic manifestations of absorption,
Jhana-Nimitta (October 1, 2004)
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/jhananimitta.htm

Charismatic Movement, Kriyas (April 23, 2004)
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/kriyas.htm

The Proto-Contemplative Life, Lucid Dreams and
Out-of-Body Travel (August 1, 2004)
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/protocontemplative.htm


Rapture in Buddhism, Manomaya, the "mind-made body."
The Buddha’s Discourses on the Astral Body and
Out-of-Body (OOB) experiences (updated November 09,
2004)
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/manomaya.htm

Remaining Conscious During the Sleep Cycle
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/concentration.htm

Recognizing the Absorption States (jhana) (October 16,
2004)
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/recognizingabsorption.htm


Absorption States (Jhanas) Within A Theistic Context
(April 17, 2004)
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/theisticjhana.htm

Absorption States (Jhanas) Within A Non-dualist
Context (April 28, 2004)
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/nondualistjhana.htm



If it is not bliss (piiti), joy (sukha) and ecstasy
(jhana) then it is not jhana, which is Noble
Meditative Absorption (sama-samadhi).

Your comments and opinions are most welcome, and
please do let us know if you wish your comments to be
publicized in this journal.

May you dwell in the joyful home of the way
(Di.t.thadhammasukhavihaaraa)

Jeffrey S, Brooks
the Great Western Vehicle • Mahapacchimayana
PO Box 41795
Tucson, AZ 85717-1795
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/index.html

Find out what the Buddha really taught
http://www.seeforyourself.org

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

The intention of this newsletter is to provide timely
information to the Southwestern community of
contemplatives. This newsletter offers a monthly
calendar of meditation retreats and other related
activities.  You are welcome to forward, reproduce or
copy in anyway or part this newsletter for helping
others to lead a contemplative life. I only ask that
you give credit to the newsletter and publisher.

This newsletter is a service of Jhanananda (Jeffrey S.
Brooks) of the Great Western Vehicle •
Mahapacchimayana  The editor/publisher alone takes
responsibility for this newsletter and its content.
Please direct all comments or submissions to the
editor: Jhanananda (Jeffrey S. Brooks) at:
Jhanananda@...

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
Newsletter Services of the GWV
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Ecstatic Buddhism
A newsletter for the ecstatic contemplative and the
Ecstatic Buddhist
website:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Ecstatic_Buddhism/
Subscribe:
Ecstatic_Buddhism-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Southwest Insight E'letter
A monthly newsletter for contemplatives in the
Southwestern USA
website:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SWI_E_letter/
Subscribe:  SWI_E_letter-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

SUCCOR, the Journal of the GWV and the Ecstatic
Contemplative
website:      http://groups.yahoo.com/group/GWV_Info/
Subscribe:  GWV_Info-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Tucson Dharma News
An event calendar for contemplatives in Tucson, AZ.
USA
website:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Tucson_Dharma_News/
Subscribe:
Tucson_Dharma_News-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Wilderness_Retreats
For those who like the idea of meditating in the
wilderness
website:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Wilderness_Retreats/
Subscribe:
Wilderness_Retreats-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%


Great Western Vehicle Ordination Program
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/gwvordinationprogram.htm


If you find the services of the Great Western Vehicle
• Mahapacchimayanaof value then please consider
supporting the Great Western Vehicle
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/support.html


May you become enlightened in this very life-time,

Jeff Brooks
Jhanananda
the Great Western Vehicle
PO Box 41795
Tucson, AZ 85717-1795
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/index.html

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
http://mail.yahoo.com

JULY 1, 2006


^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^
^:^:^ THE SOUTHWEST INSIGHT E'LETTER ^:^:^
^:^:^                        Vol. 06.07                      ^:^:^
^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^

a service of the Great Western Vehicle
           € Mahapacchimayana €
    a 4th wheel Buddhist tradition
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/index.html


!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Jhana Meditation Sitting Groups !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Interior Castle, St. Teresa of Avila,
Pg 93) ³As I write this, by the way, I can¹t help but wonder what¹s going on
inside my own head.  Those noises I told you about in the beginning are
getting so loud that it¹s almost impossible for me to obey the order to
write this. It sounds like there are a multitude of rushing rivers inside my
head, their waters cascading downward, surrounded by many little birds and
other whistling sounds.  This is all unfolding not in the ears but the upper
part of the head, where they say the higher part of the soul resides.  I
have spent long periods in these regions.  The spirit seems to push its way
upward with great power and speedŠall of this turmoil doe not hinder my
prayer or interfere with what I am trying to say.  Instead, my soul is whole
within its quietude, its love, its longing, and its clarity of
consciousness.²
translation and introduction by Mirabai Star. Riverhead Books, Published by
the Berkley Publishing Group a division of Penguin Group USA Inc. 375 Hudson
Street, New York NY 10014, 2003

There are meditation groups sensitive to and support of the cultivation of
meditative absorption and the other fruits of the contemplative life. Email
us for the nearest location of one, or if you wish to start one, just let us
know at: info@...

Boulder, CO Jhana, Satipatthana Meditation and Sutta Discussion Group
Sundays 7-9 PM at Mandala Yoga & Meditation, 2516 Broadway, Boulder, CO.
Contact: Michael Hawkins adreampuppet@...

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SEE FOR YOURSELF
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Find out what the Buddha really said
http://www.seeforyourself.org

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Buddhist Meetup !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

First Thursdays most Buddhist Meetup Groups meet.  To find the meeting in
your area click on this link http://buddhism.meetup.com/

%%%%%%% AN SW CONTEMPLATIVE¹S CALENDAR %%%%%%

%%%%%%%%%% JULY ­ AUGUST %%%%%%%%

JULY -Aug 17 ‹ DaeJa Napier, will be Teachers-in-residence at Santa Fe
Vipassana Sangha, <http://www.santafevipassana.org>

JULY 1 - 4 2006 World / Annual / National - Rainbow Family Gathering,
Colorado, Rainbow Family of the Living Light, Peaceful Freedom Assembly,
Central United States in the State of Colorado location TBA.
http://welcomehere.org/cgi-bin/calendar.pl

JULY 1, Socrates Saturday Morning Forum 1st, 2nd, & 5th Saturdays at Ward 6
Midtown Council Office (3202 E. First St, Tucson, AZ 370-6338 or
philwhite857@...

JULY 2, Sunday mornings from 10 to 11:30AM Gay-Lesbian-Bi-Trans meditation
group, which meets at Wingspan, 425 E. 7th St., Tucson, AZ

JULY 2, Sundays 6:30 ­ 8:00 PM, Singing Bird Sangha, Thich Nhat Hanh, Pima
Friends Meetinghouse, 931 N. 5th Street, Tucson, AZ
First and third Tuesdays 6:30-7:30 PM 2415 E. 6th St, Tucson

JULY 2, 6-7 PM Sundays, Meditation and Chanting at Tucson Yoga Downtown. 148
S. Fourth Ave. Tucson, AZ 882-0597 or www.tucsonyoga.com

JULY 3, 7 PM Tucson BPF meetings 1st and 3rd Mondays at Martin's house, 701
E. Mabel, Tucson. (520) 320-5883. bpf_Tucson@yahoogroups.com
HTTP://groups.yahoo.com/groups/bpf_Tucson/cal

JULY 5, Wednesdays at 6:30 pm Bhagavad-gita class Rama Bhakti devi dasi
Chaitanya Cultural Center & Govindas, 711 E Blacklidge Drive, Tucson, AZ
520.623.3507
ramabhakti@...

JULY 6, Tucson Buddhist Meetup Group First Thursday @ 7:00 PM at the Epic
Cafe 745 N 4th Av  Tucson, AZ  520-624-6844  *
http://buddhism.meetup.com/10/

JULY 7, 5:30 to 6:30 Fridays, Tibetan Buddhist Meditation Hour, Dharma Kirit
College UA Pierce McCormick Building, 1401 E First St, Tucson, AZ
www.dharmakirticollege.org

JULY 7 at 7 pm, Friday, Sedona Dances of Universal Peace at the Village of
Oak Creek. For further information, please contact Kate McGovern,
928-284-9292.

JULY 8, 7:30-9:30 Phoenix Metro area Dances of Universal Peace 2nd and last
Saturdays at the SouthWest Institute of Healing Arts, Tempe, 110 E. Apache
Blvd (East of Rural) John Hinton (602)841-2843, or om4u@...

JULY 9, 6 PM second Sundays, Tucson Peace Center board meeting.  All peace
people welcome. At Prescott College, 2233 E. Speedway Blvd., Tucson, AZ

JULY 9, 6:00 PM to 7:15 PM Children's Dharma Class, Ages 5 to 10, 2nd Sunday
of each month. 931 N. 5th Ave., (Pima Friend's Meeting House, Tucson).
Activities will include Jataka tales, art projects, sharing and mindful
snacking.  For more information call Katherine at (520) 290-1722.

JULY 10th Full Moon

JULY 10th: Sunset (7:12 PM) Planet Coexist's Full Moon Gathering at the
Terrasante Community, near Three Points west of Tucson, AZ. Contact our
office at 520-790-1757 or email us at together@... €
http://www.planetcoexist.com  Directions at:
http://planetcoexist.com/sips%20of%20earth/tanqueverde%20gatherings/terrasan
te.html

JULY 13-16, 2006 the CESNUR (Center for Studies on New Religions),
Conference on Religion, Globalization, and Conflict: International
Perspectives at San Diego State University, San Diego, California. USA. On
the 16th Jhanananda will deliver the paper ³The Witch-hunt Continues, the
Oppression of the Ecstatic Contemplative²
<http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/criticism/witch-hunt.htm>
Organized by CESNUR (Center for Studies on New Religions), Torino, Italy and
the Department of Religious Studies and the Society for the Academic Study
of Religion at San Diego State University, in co-operation with ISAR
(Institute for the Study of American Religion), Santa Barbara, California
Contact: <cesnur_to@...>
http://www.cesnur.org/2006/sd_cfp.htm
< http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/events/CESNUR2006.html>

JULY 14 MENSA 2nd Friday monthly meetings, Mama¹s Pizza 4500 E. Speedway
Blvd. Tucson, AZ 615-3996

JULY 15 - 30: Summer Teachings, Traga Rinpoche and Gape Lama. Garchen
Institute, Post Office Box 4318, Chino Valley, Arizona, 86323-4318 email
questions@... or call 928-925-1237 <www.garchen.net>

JULY 15, Gandhi Study Group, 3rd Saturdays Tucson, AZ, contact:
<pucaz.chair@...>

JULY 15, 7:30-9:30 Tempe, AZ, Dances of Universal Peace 3rd Saturdays at the
Bodyworks Studio, 1801 S. Jentilly Ln., Suite B8, Tempe Terry Matthews
(480)998-9331 or (602)368-6784 or Terryamat@...

JULY 17, 7 PM Tucson BPF meeting at Martin's house, 701 E. Mabel, Tucson.
1st and 3rd Mondays (520) 320-5883. bpf_Tucson@yahoogroups.com
HTTP://groups.yahoo.com/groups/bpf_Tucson/cal

JULY 22, 7 - 9 Pm Cottonwood Dances of Universal Peace, 4th Saturdays, at
the Old Town Center for the Arts, 633 N. 5th St., Studio B (just off Main
St.) Cottonwood AZ. Info. about Dances of Universal Peace,
http://www.moonsinger.com/DUP.htm
<http://www.prescottdances.org>

JULY 23, at 2:00 PM (4th Sunday of each month) Antigone's Buddhist reading
group at Antigone's bookstore at, 411 N. 4th Ave. Tucson, AZ. They can be
reached at (520) 792-3715 to find out the book they are currently working
with or www.antigonebooks.com

JULY 23, 6:15 to 7:15 p.m. 4th Sundays Children's Dharma Class, for older
kids, ages 10-14 info. 931 N. 5th Ave., (Pima Friend's Meeting House,
Tucson). For more information call Katherine at (520) 290-1722.

JULY 23 - 30 (9 days) High Sierra Vipassana Retreat - Moderately Strenuous.
Sequoia National Park, California. Time for solo practice and silent
backpackiing meditation on a 26 mile loop on the Great Western Divide
southeast of Mineral King. Taught by Eric Kolvig. Info: Terry Gustafson,
7125 W 27th Ave, Wheat Ridge, CO 80033, (303) 239-9917, terry@...
or http://www.rainbow2.com/

JULY 24, New Moon meditation at the Yoga Connection, 4893 E. Speedway Blvd.,
Tucson, AZ 323-1222

JULY 29, 7:30-9:30 Phoenix Metro area Dances of Universal Peace 2nd and last
Saturdays at the SouthWest Institute of Healing Arts, Tempe, 110 E. Apache
Blvd (East of Rural) John Hinton (602)841-2843, or om4u@...

JULY 29, Cornville, AZ, Dances of Universal Peace ­ Last Saturdays at The
Earthship. Cathryn Swann (928) 634-1696
conscious@...

AUG 6-12 Southwest Sufi Camp, Southwest Sufi Community, PO Box 373, Silver
City, NM 88062, Contact: John Foldan (505) 388-4536,
john@...

AUG 9th Star in the East, Ruth Dantzer will be leading a 5-week meditation
class 6-7:30pm on Wednesday nights; for August 9th, 16th, 30th and Sept. 6th
and 13th at the Julian Chapel at Grace Saint Paul's Church at 2331 E. Adams
Street for more information call us at 520-795-6585

AUG 18-Sep 27 ‹ Lila Kate Wheeler, will be Teachers-in-residence at Santa Fe
Vipassana Sangha, <http://www.santafevipassana.org>

AUG 18 - 26 (9 days) High Sierra Vipassana Retreat in Sequoia National Park,
California - Moderately Strenuous. Taught by Mark Coleman. Follows the same
scenic and sparsely visited loop as the July retreat. Please contact Susie
Harrington to apply for this retreat. Info: Terry Gustafson, 7125 W 27th
Ave, Wheat Ridge, CO 80033, (303) 239-9917, terry@... or
http://www.rainbow2.com/

AUG 9th Ruth Dantzer will be leading a 5-week meditation class 6-7:30pm on
Wednesday nights; August 9th, 16th, 30th and Sept. 6th and 13th at the
Julian Chapel at Grace Saint Paul's Church at 2331 E. Adams Street for more
information call us at 520-795-6585

AUG. 26: Discussion, with Pat Hawk Roshi, at Zen Desert Sangha, 3226 N.
Martin, Tucson, AZ. http://www.zendesertsangha.org

AUG 26-27: Saturday - Sunday 9 am - 5 pm, The Four Thoughts That Turn the
Mind to Dharma, Traga Rinpoche. Garchen Institute, Post Office Box 4318,
Chino Valley, Arizona, 86323-4318 email questions@... or call
928-925-1237 <www.garchen.net>

%%%%%%%%%% FALL %%%%%%%%
SEP 17 Meeting of the Ways, Sufism, Judaism, Buddhism, Sweat Lodge, Dance,
Zikr, Southwest Sufi Community, PO Box 373, Silver City, NM 88062, Contact:
Basira Nickle, (505) 538-5034, basira@...

SEP 22-24: Sesshin, with Pat Hawk Roshi, at Zen Desert Sangha, 3226 N.
Martin, Tucson, AZ. http://www.zendesertsangha.org

OCT 1-6 Sufi Session Retreat, Sitting meditation, Zikr, Dances, Southwest
Sufi Community, PO Box 373, Silver City, NM 88062, Contact: John Foldan
(505) 388-4536, john@...

OCT 2-December ‹ Jason Siff, will be Teachers-in-residence at Santa Fe
Vipassana Sangha, <http://www.santafevipassana.org>

OCT 14 ­ 22nd, 10-day Wilderness Jhana retreat in Gila Box Wilderness Area,
led by Jeff Brooks (Jhananda) for the Great Western Vehicle: Contact:
Jhananda at Jhananda@...

OCT 21: Zazenkai, with Pat Hawk Roshi, at Zen Desert Sangha, 3226 N. Martin,
Tucson, AZ. http://www.zendesertsangha.org

NOV 7-8: Mahamudra Teachings Garchen Rinpoche will give two days of
teachings on Drigung Kyobpa Jigten Sumgon's Introduction to Mahamudra at the
Garchen Institute, Post Office Box 4318, Chino Valley, Arizona, 86323-4318
email questions@... or call 928-925-1237 <www.garchen.net>

NOV 9-13: Vajrakilaya Empowerment and Drubchen
Empowerment at the Garchen Institute, Post Office Box 4318, Chino Valley,
Arizona, 86323-4318 email questions@... or call 928-925-1237
<www.garchen.net>

NOV 8: Dharma Talk, by Pat Hawk Roshi. Discussion following, at Zen Desert
Sangha, 3226 N. Martin, Tucson, AZ. http://www.zendesertsangha.org

DEC 7-14: Yamantaka Drubchen Peaceful & Manjushri Empowerment at the Garchen
Institute, Post Office Box 4318, Chino Valley, Arizona, 86323-4318 email
questions@... or call 928-925-1237 <www.garchen.net>

DEC 16: Discussion, with Pat Hawk Roshi, at Zen Desert Sangha, 3226 N.
Martin, Tucson, AZ. http://www.zendesertsangha.org

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
                                              Please Note
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
Jhanananda will be traveling throughout the Southwest this summer, so if you
are interested in meeting him, just drop us a line at the GWV at
info@...
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%


+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
++++++++++++++++++++++ EDITORIAL +++++++++++++++++++++

Dear friends, After spending almost 2 weeks at Diamond Mountain University
in the Chiricahua Mountains in southeastern Arizona, where I was graciously
hosted, I drove to the Bowie Hot Wells for a soak to treat the back injury,
then I drove through Duncan, AZ, which is a very nice town on the Gila
River, I left Arizona May 16.

I decided to take the little 2-lane state highway through the Gila
Wilderness instead of the 4-lane interstate.  I stopped for a break midday
in the mountains just outside of Silver City. I parked the van under the
shade of a large old juniper tree, and worked on responding to email,

After about an hour or so break I headed on to Silver City, which is on the
edge of the Gila Wilderness, where I found an internet café to buy a cup of
non-caffeine tea and post and download email. I left around 5 PM and drove
into the Gila Wilderness.  I stopped to spend the night just before the
Mimbres Valley.  I found a jeep trail that took me off the county road far
enough for a peaceful night surrounded by pines and junipers.

The next morning I drove on through the wilderness passing many cool green
Arizona sycamores and walnuts along the way. On my way out of the Gila
Wilderness I saw a great deal of Apache Plume, which is a bush that I
collected the seed of a few years ago for a seed collector.  The bushes were
just bursting with their fuzzy white fairy duster-like seeds.

I stopped in the small town of Kingston, where the creek supports a rich
growth of Cottonwoods Arizona sycamores and walnuts.  I stopped to speak to
the proprietors of the Black Range lodge, who teach straw bale and Cob
construction methods.  I asked if they were interested in running a workshop
at Diamond Mountain University in the Chiricahua Mountains, but they said
they were much too busy for that.

I then continued on to Truth or Consequences.  Before entering the town I
stopped at a county park along the bank of the Rio Grande and took a dip in
the dark, cool water to freshen up. After a short break I continued onto T
or C to visit Allan, a supporter of the GWV.  He is a very kind retired man
who has an extensive organic garden. He has jhana, but no one is interested
in what goes on in his subjective experience, so he lives very reclusively
on the edge of T or C. He graciously hosted me for the night at his house
and we had many fine conversations about jhana. After spending the night, he
helped me find an internet café in T or C, where he bought me a cup of tea
and I caught up again on email.

Truth or Consequences actually got their name from the 50s TV show. The TV
show offered to give any town that was willing to change their name to
"Truth or Consequences" some money. Back then I do not know what the name of
the town was, but I am sure it was a lot smaller and poorer than it is now,
so the money I am sure was needed. The name "Truth or Consequences" is very
Southwestern anyway, with names like: "Horse Fly," "Snow Flake," "Flag
Staff," "Skull Valley," and "Tombstone."

I am not familiar with a Native American tribe having lived there, but I am
sure there was one or more that frequented the spot for its hot springs,
because archeology reveals hot springs were special places to many
pre-Colombian Native American peoples.

The early Spanish explorers and colonists of what they called ³New Spain²
traveled up the corridor of the Rio Grande, and most probably stopped about
every 25 miles along the way to refresh the horses and people.  The hot
springs and the river at Truth or Consequences would have been definite
attractions.

After catching up on email in T or C I drove north on I-25 through
Albuquerque and Santa Fe to the small town of Las Vegas, NM, where I stopped
at a free public hot spring by the side of a small county road.  The hot
springs are owned by the World University, which is across the river from
the hot springs.

At the springs I met some Native American gentlemen who come to the springs
every afternoon to clean them up.  They directed me to the universities
meditation hall, since I told them I teach meditation.  After a good long
soak and excellent conversation I drove the short distance to the meditation
hall and found it quite a beautiful modern sculpture with clear Puebloan
influences in its choice of local stone as a building material, but with
many five foot long prisms built into the roof and walls, so that the inside
was filled with rainbows.  Inside I found a stack of sabutans, so I
collected one and placed it on of the rainbows on the floor and meditated
for a while.

After meditation I drove back into Las Vegas, and drove around town for
quite some time trying to find an open internet café, or a open WIFI node,
but I did not have any luck, so I drove on north on Highway 25 until the
mountainous juniper and piñon pine forests gave way to the vast golden grass
covered Great Plains, where near sunset I pulled far enough off the highway
for peace and quite and a great view of the plains to parked for the night.
It is quite remarkable to see the plane of the earth just go off into
infinity without a mountain to punctuate the view.

After meditation and sunrise the next morning I drove further north on I-25
to the picturesque town of Trinidad, CO, where I found an open WIFI port.  I
sat on a park bench in the shade on a brick street to respond to my daily
email.

After driving for quite some time, I had the choice to either; push on
through Denver, and arrive late in the evening in Boulder a few days early;
or camp for the night far enough south of Denver where a campsite could be
found. I decided to look for a camp spot for the night in the mountains near
Pueblo.

I tried finding a camping spot in my usual way.  I am used to just taking a
rural road in Arizona or New Mexico and fairly quickly finding a place to
rest.  However, it appears that all of the available land along the "front
range" has been bought up, because everywhere I turned there was a fence and
a "No Trespassing" sign. So, today I felt a little like a whale hopeless
caught in the net of human civilization.

After about 5 hours of wondering around the Colorado front range I finally
found a meadow in the San Rafael National Forest with a creek running down
the middle of it and surrounded by Aspen trees, and it did not cost me a
camping fee nor did I have to share it with a park full of RVs with their
generators running until late.

It was such a sweet camping spot I decided to stay a few days in that little
meadow.  After a few days I continued on to Boulder where I gave a public
talk on jhana at a yoga studio on Sunday night.  Friends of jhana hosted me
there for two nights, then we caravanned up into the nearby mountains to a
little mining town called "Gold Hill" where a kind resident hosted me to
lead a 10-day jhana retreat.  About 5 people attended that retreat.

After the retreat I was hosted for another 2 weeks by the organizer of the
retreat who is an ardent meditator and has considerable jhana.  We meditated
together at least 3 times a day for the next two weeks.  I used that time to
edit and convert the recorded dialogs from that retreat.  They are now
posted to the GWV website at this URL:
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/dhammatalks/index.htm
or they can be purchased on CD by contacting Michael Hawkins at P.O. Box
696, Boulder, CO  80306-0696 <adreampuppet@...>

I left Boulder about a week ago and spent the first night camped above
10,000 feet in the Rocky Mountain National Forest, where I saw glaciers,
deer, elk and moose just grazing leisurely outside the van window.  If all
the national forests did not have hunting, and were as restrictive to human
access as the Rocky Mountain National Forest, we would most probably see
creatures as fearless of humans as these, but then camping was too
inaccessible there without backpacking to some distance, so I only spent one
night there and continued on.

The next night I found a campsite in the Arapaho National Forest on my way
to the Rainbow Gathering, where I hope to find a group of people who want to
meditate rigorously and develop jhana.  Here I found a small, remote meadow
surrounded by Aspens.  I camped for about a week taking hikes in between
charge cycles for the laptop.

On one of my many hikes I found a large buff colored mushroom about 8 inches
in diameter.  I got down on my hands and knees and peered under it cap to
see if it had gills or the sponge-like surface of a spongefore. It had pores
not gills, which was a good sign.  I examined it closely to remember its
features.  It had a thick stalk with a rough, rasp-like surface, called
scabers, and it grew under aspens.

When I got back to camp I looked up the characteristics of the mushroom in
the Audubon Field Guide and found the closest match was an Aspen Scaber Salk
mushroom, which is a prized Bolete edible mushroom.  Last fall I collected
King Bolete mushrooms in the Eastern Sierras and found that it is fairly
easy to collect a very large quantity of mushrooms in a fairly short period
of time.  I sun dried them and now eat King Bolete mushrooms in soup every
morning.

I am only just learning about foraging wild mushrooms, but it seems to be a
pretty successful venture so far.  I use the Audubon Society's field guide
for mushrooms as my guide.  It seems quite good, but it recommends making a
spore print and gives the description of the spore print for each mushroom,
but it neglected to say how to make a spore print.

I have a dharma friend in Tucson who is a mycologist, however, she does not
do email and I do not have a phone.  I¹ll have to wait until I next get back
to Tucson to ask her about the methodology of making a spore print.  After
spending days examining the field guide, I finally decided that it was safe
to eat the mushroom.  In that time I found 3 others of the same species.
Two of them were too old and bug eaten to harvest, but two of them were just
the right age.  I collected them, sliced them thinly and sautéed the smaller
of the two and first ate just a nibble of the mushroom raw to see what it
tasted like, which was like a raw mushroom.  Then after sautéing in the
whole sliced mushroom I ate just one slice and waited an hour to see how I
felt.  After an hour I felt fine, so I ate the rest of the mushroom over
some curried basmati rice.  It was delicious.

My purpose during this week was to compose an essay to read at the CESNUR
conference on new religions at UCSD on July 16th.  Since the conference is
specifically on the topic of religious oppression, I decided to tell the
story of how I have been so irrationally treated by the Buddhist community
over my dialog, research and development of jhana.

The Witch-hunt, The Oppression of the Ecstatic Contemplative
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/criticism/witch-hunt.htm

The essay required that I revisit many of the essays that I have composed in
the last few years; the many letters I have received that expose the
demonizing of jhana and meditative absorption; and the canonical references
that I have collected.  It was very fruitful work, as it seems very useful
to understand how the teachings of the various mystics have been
appropriated, subverted, obfuscated and mystified by the priesthood of
almost every religion.

I have noticed lately that the orthodoxy of Theravadan Buddhism, including
IMS, and even Shinzen Young, who was the first to demonize me over the
issue, are now starting to talk about jhana, but it is all appropriation and
obfuscation.  After all they are not willing to take responsibility for how
they have spent decades invalidating others for the attainment of meditative
absorption.

On June 19th I finally cooked one of the mushrooms and ate a small portion
of it.  After an hour I did not notice any discomfort, so I ate a larger
portion and waited another hour.  Then with not discomfort I decided to just
eat the rest of the mushroom.  I found I later had some small indigestion
and realized that I should have just eaten half the mushroom instead of the
whole thing.  Un-cook the mushroom was quite large at about 8² in diameter,
but cooked it did not look like much.

I left the campsite on the 21st of June and headed on my way to the Rainbow
Gathering where I hope to find a group of people who want to meditate
rigorously and develop jhana. The Gathering is in the Rout National Forest
near the Big Red Meadow.  The meadow, Big Red, is quite awesome.  It has
many little red flowers growing on it that turns it red.  There is also the
Snake River winding through it.

When I got to one of the last turns in the directions to the gathering I
found the Forest Service had erected a road block and were arresting people,
and just creating a lot of mayhem. Not wanting to be a part of the conflict
I drove on and camped in a remote location for a few days.

When I returned I found the roadblock gone and the Rainbow Gathering in
disarray. Unfortunately the National Forest Service had decided to
filibuster the Rainbow Gathering this year.  They arrested several hundred
people and turned the whole place into a war zone.  So, I just left and
started working my way slowly toward San Diego to deliver a paper on how
people have been demonized for charismatic phenomena, such as ringing in the
ears occurring in their meditations.  I plan to spend a week camped
somewhere near Flag Staff, AZ to avoid the heat and soak in some peace and
quiet before the conference.

I drove south on highway 40 back to Kremmling, where I arrived at the public
library in time to exchange email with my server.  Then, I drove on to see
if I could find Radium Hot Spring.  I could not find it before sunset, so I
found a campsite above the Colorado River for the night.  About 5 minutes
after I had arrived a BLM ranger came and after a short conversation he gave
me the directions to the hot spring.

I responded to GWV email and dialogs from a cliff above the Colorado River
near the Radium hot spring that night. It is about 14 mile west of the town
of Kremmling, CO.

The next morning I took a long hike and found the hot spring.  After a long
soak I headed south.

That night I camped at about 14,000 feet on Mount Sberman in central
Colorado.  There were glaciers just outside the window of the van.  On the
way here I found an open WIFI signal in one of the many little towns I
passed through and exchanged files with my mail server.

The next day I took a few hikes and found bristle cone pines with their
characteristic small purple cones with bristles on them.  The valley floor
had a stream meandering through it with many beaver damns along the way.

I left Mount Sberman around noon and made it to a pass just before the San
Leandro Valley, where I found a place to camp in a grove of aspens.

The next morning I noticed storm clouds forming, so I broke camp, packed the
van and headed south through the San Leandro Valley to the Rio Grande
National Forest, where a large storm was making havoc.  I did not want to
drive through the mountains during a storm, so I drove into the National
Forest and found a campsite at a high meadow, just as the storm broke.  It
rained most of the day.

The rain stopped toward the end of the day.  I took the sunshine as a sign
that I could get a break from the cramped quarters of the van and took a
hike.  About half way a fog moved in.  I kept hiking, but the trail
eventually disappeared, and with the fog, I had quite some trouble
relocating my campsite and the van.

The next morning I left camp and continued driving toward Flagstaff.  I took
highway 160 through the Navajo reservation, which took me past monument
valley.  Just before turning south on highway 89 the van blew a tire.  After
changing it I noticed that the tire was unevenly warn, which is an
indication of a front-end alignment problem.

I camped that night on the north side of the San Francisco Peaks, which are
sacred the Hopi.  They believe their Kachinas return to the San Francisco
Peaks every year after they have helped the Hopi with their winter
ceremonies.

################################
I am presently out of money and the van is not running very well, but it is
getting me around for short hauls.  I am trying to get to a conference put
on by the Center for Studies on New Religions (CESNUR) of Torino, Italy.
The conference this year is at San Diego State University, San Diego,
California, USA.  I believe it is important for me to attend this conference
and deliver a paper on July 16th.  The paper topic is ³The Witch-hunt
Continues, the Oppression of the Ecstatic Contemplative²
<http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/criticism/witch-hunt.htm>
The point of the conference is an International Perspective on
Globalization, and Conflict in religion.  Thus, I believe the issues of the
oppression of the ecstatic and charismatic contemplative and the Ecstatic
Buddhist should be represented at this very important international
conference.

If you are interested in supporting the very important delivery of this
paper, the work of the Great Western Vehicle, and an emerging community of
Western ecstatic contemplatives, and Ecstatic Buddhists, then please do make
a contribution today.  The URL below will direct you how to make a
contribution to this work:

################################
Supporting the Great Western http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/support.html
################################

If it is not bliss (piiti), joy (sukha) and ecstasy (jhana) then it is not
jhana, which is Noble Meditative Absorption (sama-samadhi).

Jeffrey S, Brooks
the Great Western Vehicle € Mahapacchimayana
PO Box 41795
Tucson, AZ 85717-1795
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/index.html

Find out what the Buddha really taught
http://www.seeforyourself.org

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
This Issue
The Demonizing of Jhana
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

The Witch-hunt Continues, The Oppression of the Ecstatic Contemplative,
Brooks, Jeffrey S., Great Western Vehicle, 06-19-06
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/criticism/witch-hunt.htm

The Suppression of Jhana by the "Sangha", Brooks, Jeffrey S., Great Western
Vehicle, July, 7, 2005
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/criticism/jhanasupression.htm

The Demonizing of Ecstatic Meditation (Jhana) , Brooks, Jeffrey S., Great
Western Vehicle,
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/criticism/demonizing.htm

The Boycotting of Jhana by IMS and Spirit Rock revealed in Correspondence
with Marcia Rose, Guiding Teacher, Taos Mtn. Sangha & The Mtn. Hermitage,
Brooks, Jeffrey S., Great Western Vehicle, February, 2003
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/criticism/marciarose.htm

The Boycotting of Jhana by IMS and Spirit Rock revealed in Correspondence
with Eric Kolvig, an Insight Meditation Society teacher, , Brooks, Jeffrey
S., Great Western Vehicle, 07/2005
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/criticism/erickolvig.htm

Evidence of Shinzen Young oppressing people for the attainment of meditative
absorption, Brooks, Jeffrey S., Great Western Vehicle,
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/criticism/shinzen.htm

Tucson Community Meditation Center (TCMC) oppressing people for the
attainment of meditative absorption, Brooks, Jeffrey S., Great Western
Vehicle,
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/criticism/tcmc.htm

The Suppression of Jhana at a Goenka Retreat, Brooks, Jeffrey S., Great
Western Vehicle, (August, 2001)
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/criticism/goenka.htm

The Boycotting of a GWV Jhana Retreat at Bell Springs Hermitage by the monks
of Abhayagiri Buddhist Monastery (14 Apr 2004)
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/criticism/BellSprings.htm

Exposing translator bias in the translation of the Pali Canon and other
Asian literature, Brooks, Jeffrey S., Great Western Vehicle, updated
11-10-04
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/criticism/translation.htm

The Cha'an, Son and Zen Concept of Makyo the "ghost" or "devil's cave",
Brooks, Jeffrey S., Great Western Vehicle,
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/criticism/makyo.htm

Correspondence with Mark Vetanen Jan 22, 2004, revealing the negative Zen
attitude toward jhana as "bliss ninny"
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/criticism/Vetanen01-22-04.htm

The orthodox views of some Theravadan monks revealed in Correspondence with
Richard Estes (aka Bhikkhu Dhammarato) in the guise of Phramaha Somsak
7/21/05
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/criticism/mahasomsak.htm

The suppression of Jhana by European Vajrayana teachers revealed in
Correspondence with Ingmar Pema Dechen 6/3/03
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/criticism/Ingmar.htm

Correspondence with Sudhamma 04-19-04, revealing the lack of jhana among the
orthodoxy, Great Western Vehicle,
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/criticism/Sudhamma.htm

Correspondence with Sudhamma 8 Jun 2004, revealing the resistance to jhana
and the ability to oppress those ideas by the Theravadan Orthodoxy, Great
Western Vehicle,
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/criticism/Sudhamma06-08-04.htm

Correspondence with Bhikkhu Samahita 04-04, revealing the attempt to subvert
jhana in the non-canonical belief in "supramundane" verses "mundane" jhana
by the orthodoxy, Great Western Vehicle,
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/criticism/Samahita.htm

Herman Hofman on the poor treatment of ecstatic meditators on Yahoo Groups,
Great Western Vehicle, 10 Apr 2004
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/criticism/hermanhofman.htm

The dirty little secret of Asian Buddhism by Mark Vetanen, Great Western
Vehicle, 25 Apr 2004
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/criticism/dirtylittlesecret.htm

Correspondence with Mark Vetanen 27 Apr 2004, revealing the oppression of a
Western interpretation of the Dhamma by the Zen Orthodoxy, Great Western
Vehicle,
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/criticism/Vetanen.htm

Correspondence with Bhikkhu Sujato revealing the conflict over jhana within
the Theravadan Orthodoxy, Great Western Vehicle, Wed, 27 Jul 2005
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/criticism/sujato.htm

Long term meditator but no hint of Jhanna! And anti Jhanna philosophy of
some Buddhist schools. By Stephen Hendry, Great Western Vehicle, 29 Jul 2005
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/criticism/stephenh.htm

Original Buddhism And Brahminic Interference by Dr. K. Jamanadas
http://www.dalitstan.org/books/obbi.html

Jnanavira, Dharmachari. Homosexuality in the Japanese Buddhist Tradition.
Western Buddhist Review, Volume 3. Journal of the Western Buddhist Order, 12
Oct, 2005 revealing pedophilia and misogyny in Japanese Buddhism.
http://www.westernbuddhistreview.com/vol3/homosexuality.html

SCANDAL HAUNTS TEMPLE MURDERS, A textbook example of the warping effect that
$10 billion of China White heroin had upon major media, law enforcement, and
judicial processes in Arizona. B.Q. 4-20-96 by Brian Downing Quig, also
reveals ties between organized crime and the Buddhist orthodoxy of Asia
http://www.apfn.net/dcia/temple.html

More information on Goenka¹s cult-like activities within VRI
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/defendersofthedharma/message/704

A view into the Goenka cult by a long-term member
http://de.geocities.com/pamojja/htm/vipassana.htm



Your comments and opinions are most welcome, and please do let us know if
you wish your comments to be publicized in this journal.

May you dwell in the joyful home of the way
(Di.t.thadhammasukhavihaaraa)

Jeffrey S, Brooks
the Great Western Vehicle € Mahapacchimayana
PO Box 41795
Tucson, AZ 85717-1795
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/index.html

Find out what the Buddha really taught
http://www.seeforyourself.org

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

The intention of this newsletter is to provide timely information to the
Southwestern community of contemplatives. This newsletter offers a monthly
calendar of meditation retreats and other related activities.  You are
welcome to forward, reproduce or copy in anyway or part this newsletter for
helping others to lead a contemplative life. I only ask that you give credit
to the newsletter and publisher.

This newsletter is a service of Jhanananda (Jeffrey S. Brooks) of the Great
Western Vehicle € Mahapacchimayana  The editor/publisher alone takes
responsibility for this newsletter and its content. Please direct all
comments or submissions to the editor: Jhanananda (Jeffrey S. Brooks) at:
Jhanananda@...

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
Newsletter Services of the GWV
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Southwest Insight E'letter
A monthly newsletter for contemplatives in the Southwestern USA
website:      http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SWI_E_letter/
Subscribe:  SWI_E_letter-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

SUCCOR, the Journal of the GWV and the Ecstatic Contemplative
website:      http://groups.yahoo.com/group/GWV_Info/
Subscribe:  GWV_Info-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Tucson Dharma News
An event calendar for contemplatives in Tucson, AZ. USA
website:      http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Tucson_Dharma_News/
Subscribe:  Tucson_Dharma_News-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Wilderness_Retreats
For those who like the idea of meditating in the wilderness
website:      http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Wilderness_Retreats/
Subscribe:  Wilderness_Retreats-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%


Great Western Vehicle Ordination Program
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/gwvordinationprogram.htm

If you find the services of the Great Western Vehicle € Mahapacchimayanaof
value then please consider supporting the Great Western Vehicle
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/support.html


May you become enlightened in this very life-time,

Jeff Brooks
Jhanananda
the Great Western Vehicle
PO Box 41795
Tucson, AZ 85717-1795
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/index.html

JUNE 1, 2006


^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^
^:^:^ THE SOUTHWEST INSIGHT E'LETTER ^:^:^
^:^:^                        Vol. 06.06                      ^:^:^
^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^

a service of the Great Western Vehicle
€ Mahapacchimayana €
a 4th wheel Buddhist tradition
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/index.html


!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Jhana Meditation Sitting Groups !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Maha-satipatthana Sutta (DN 22.21)
"And what is noble contemplation (sama-samadhi)? There is a case where an
aspirant who is withdrawn from sensory experience, withdrawn from unskillful
mental states -- enters & remains in the first meditative absorption
(jhana)"...
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/mahasatipatthanasutta.htm

There are Jhana sensitive meditation groups starting in your area.
Email us for the nearest location.

Boulder, CO Jhana, Satipatthana Meditation and Sutta Discussion Group
Sundays 7-9 PM at Mandala Yoga & Meditation, 2516 Broadway, Boulder, CO.
Contact: Michael Hawkins adreampuppet@...

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Find out what the Buddha really taught
http://www.seeforyourself.org
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Buddhist Meetup !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

First Thursdays most Buddhist Meetup Groups meet.  To find the meeting in
your area click on this link http://buddhism.meetup.com/

%%%%%%% A CONTEMPLATIVE¹S CALENDAR %%%%%%

%%%%%%%%%% JUNE ­ JULY %%%%%%%%

JUNE ‹ Stephen and Martine Batchelor, will be Teachers-in-residence at Santa
Fe Vipassana Sangha, <http://www.santafevipassana.org>

JUNE 1, Tucson Buddhist Meetup Group First Thursday @ 7:00 PM at the Epic
Cafe 745 N 4th Av  Tucson, AZ  520-624-6844  *
http://buddhism.meetup.com/10/

JUNE 2, 5:30 to 6:30 Fridays, Tibetan Buddhist Meditation Hour, Dharma Kirit
College UA Pierce McCormick Building, 1401 E First St, Tucson, AZ
www.dharmakirticollege.org

JUNE 2, Shavout

June 2 at 7 pm, Friday, Sedona Dances of Universal Peace at the Village of
Oak Creek. For further information, please contact Kate McGovern,
928-284-9292.

JUNE 3, Socrates Saturday Morning Forum 1st, 2nd, & 5th Saturdays at Ward 6
Midtown Council Office (3202 E. First St, Tucson, AZ 370-6338 or
philwhite857@...

JUNE 4 Whit Sunday, Pentecost

JUNE 4, Sunday mornings from 10 to 11:30AM Gay-Lesbian-Bi-Trans meditation
group, which meets at Wingspan, 425 E. 7th St., Tucson, AZ

JUNE 4, Sundays 6:30 ­ 8:00 PM, Singing Bird Sangha, Thich Nhat Hanh, Pima
Friends Meetinghouse, 931 N. 5th Street, Tucson, AZ
First and third Tuesdays 6:30-7:30 PM 2415 E. 6th St, Tucson

JUNE 4, 6-7 PM Sundays, Meditation and Chanting at Tucson Yoga Downtown. 148
S. Fourth Ave. Tucson, AZ 882-0597 or www.tucsonyoga.com

JUNE 5, 7 PM Tucson BPF meetings 1st and 3rd Mondays at Martin's house, 701
E. Mabel, Tucson. (520) 320-5883. bpf_Tucson@yahoogroups.com
HTTP://groups.yahoo.com/groups/bpf_Tucson/cal

JUNE 7, Wednesdays at 6:30 pm Bhagavad-gita class Rama Bhakti devi dasi
Chaitanya Cultural Center & Govindas, 711 E Blacklidge Drive, Tucson, AZ
520.623.3507
ramabhakti@...

JUNE 9 MENSA 2nd Friday monthly meetings, Mama¹s Pizza 4500 E. Speedway
Blvd. Tucson, AZ 615-3996

JUNE 10, 7:30-9:30 Phoenix Metro area Dances of Universal Peace 2nd and last
Saturdays at the SouthWest Institute of Healing Arts, Tempe, 110 E. Apache
Blvd (East of Rural) John Hinton (602)841-2843, or om4u@...

JUNE 11th Full Moon

JUNE 11th: Sunset (7:12 PM) Planet Coexist's Full Moon Gathering at the
Terrasante Community, near Three Points west of Tucson, AZ. Contact our
office at 520-790-1757 or email us at together@... €
http://www.planetcoexist.com  Directions at:
http://planetcoexist.com/sips%20of%20earth/tanqueverde%20gatherings/terrasan
te.html

JUNE 11, 9 - 11 am, Anniversary of the Consecration of The Garchen Institute
Temple and Drubwang Konchok Norbu Rinpoche's Liberation, Garchen Institute
Lamas. Garchen Institute, Post Office Box 4318, Chino Valley, Arizona,
86323-4318 email questions@... or call 928-925-1237
<www.garchen.net>

JUNE 11, 6 PM second Sundays, Tucson Peace Center board meeting.  All peace
people welcome. At Prescott College, 2233 E. Speedway Blvd., Tucson, AZ

JUNE 11, 6:15 to 7:15 p.m. Children's Dharma Class, Ages 5 to 10, 2nd Sunday
of each month. 931 N. 5th Ave., (Pima Friend's Meeting House, Tucson).
Activities will include Jataka tales, art projects, sharing and mindful
snacking.  For more information call Katherine at (520) 290-1722.

JUNE 13th at 6:30 pm, Tuesday, Ranganiketan: The Manipuri Cultural Arts
Troupe at the Modern Languages Building ­ University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ
For information and Tickets please call 520-792-0630 (Govinda¹s)

JUNE 13th at 7:00 pm, Sacred Ecology Solstice Retreat - Silver City, NM
SOUTHWEST SUFI COMMUNITY, VOICE OF THE TURTLE RETREAT CENTER, SILVER CITY,
NEW MEXICO contact: Basira Nickle, 2106 N. Juniper, Silver City NM 88061 €
basiranickle@...
http://silvercitysuficircle.net/pages/events.html

JUNE 14: Dharma Talk, by Pat Hawk Roshi. Discussion following, at Zen Desert
Sangha, 3226 N. Martin, Tucson, AZ. http://www.zendesertsangha.org

JUNE 17, Gandhi Study Group, 3rd Saturdays at the Main Tucson City Library
in Downtown area of Tucson, AZ, <pucaz.chair@...>

JUNE 17, Prescott, AZ Dances of Universal Peace 3rd Saturdays at the
Prescott College Chapel. Kris Rogers (928) 778-1606 or P.O. Box 480,
Prescott, AZ tigermoon@... or www.prescottdances.org

JUNE 17, 7:30-9:30 Tempe, AZ, Dances of Universal Peace 3rd Saturdays at the
Bodyworks Studio, 1801 S. Jentilly Ln., Suite B8, Tempe Terry Matthews
(480)998-9331 or (602)368-6784 or Terryamat@...

JUNE 18, Father¹s Day

JUNE 19, 7 PM Tucson BPF meeting at Martin's house, 701 E. Mabel, Tucson.
1st and 3rd Mondays (520) 320-5883. bpf_Tucson@yahoogroups.com
HTTP://groups.yahoo.com/groups/bpf_Tucson/cal

JUNE 19th -24, Big Mind Western Zen Retreat at the Edge in Fruitland, Utah
sessions under the direction of Genpo Roshi, Kanzeon Zen Center
International, 1268 East South Temple-Salt Lake City, UT 84102, eMail:
office@..., Phone: 801-328-8414 website: www.bigmind.org

JUNE 21, Summer Solstice, Sun enters Cancer

JUNE 23 - 25: Saturday - Monday 9 am - 5 pm, Nyungne Teachings and Practice,
Traga Rinpoche. Garchen Institute, Post Office Box 4318, Chino Valley,
Arizona, 86323-4318 email questions@... or call 928-925-1237
<www.garchen.net>

JUNE 24, 7:30-9:30 Phoenix Metro area Dances of Universal Peace 2nd and last
Saturdays at the SouthWest Institute of Healing Arts, Tempe, 110 E. Apache
Blvd (East of Rural) John Hinton (602)841-2843, or om4u@...

JUNE 24, Cornville, AZ, Dances of Universal Peace ­ Last Saturdays at The
Earthship. Cathryn Swann (928) 634-1696
conscious@...

JUNE 25, New Moon meditation at the Yoga Connection, 4893 E. Speedway Blvd.,
Tucson, AZ 323-1222

JUNE 25, at 2:00 PM (4th Sunday of each month) Antigone's Buddhist reading
group at Antigone's bookstore at, 411 N. 4th Ave. Tucson, AZ. They can be
reached at (520) 792-3715 to find out the book they are currently working
with or www.antigonebooks.com

JUNE 25, 6:15 to 7:15 p.m. 4th Sundays Children's Dharma Class, for older
kids, ages 10-14 info. 931 N. 5th Ave., (Pima Friend's Meeting House,
Tucson). For more information call Katherine at (520) 290-1722.

JULY -Aug 17 ‹ DaeJa Napier, will be Teachers-in-residence at Santa Fe
Vipassana Sangha, <http://www.santafevipassana.org>

JULY 1 - 4 2006 World / Annual / National - Rainbow Family Gathering,
Colorado, Rainbow Family of the Living Light, Peaceful Freedom Assembly,
Central United States in the State of Colorado location TBA.
http://welcomehere.org/cgi-bin/calendar.pl

JULY 15 - 30: Summer Teachings, Traga Rinpoche and Gape Lama. Garchen
Institute, Post Office Box 4318, Chino Valley, Arizona, 86323-4318 email
questions@... or call 928-925-1237 <www.garchen.net>

JULY 22 - 30 (9 days) High Sierra Vipassana Retreat - Moderately Strenuous.
Sequoia National Park, California. Time for solo practice and silent
backpackiing meditation on a 26 mile loop on the Great Western Divide
southeast of Mineral King. Taught by Eric Kolvig. Info: Terry Gustafson,
7125 W 27th Ave, Wheat Ridge, CO 80033, (303) 239-9917, terry@...
or http://www.rainbow2.com/

AUG 6-12 Southwest Sufi Camp, Southwest Sufi Community, PO Box 373, Silver
City, NM 88062, Contact: John Foldan (505) 388-4536,
john@...

AUG 18-Sep 27 ‹ Lila Kate Wheeler, will be Teachers-in-residence at Santa Fe
Vipassana Sangha, <http://www.santafevipassana.org>

AUG 18 - 26 (9 days) High Sierra Vipassana Retreat in Sequoia National Park,
California - Moderately Strenuous. Taught by Mark Coleman. Follows the same
scenic and sparsely visited loop as the July retreat. Please contact Susie
Harrington to apply for this retreat. Info: Terry Gustafson, 7125 W 27th
Ave, Wheat Ridge, CO 80033, (303) 239-9917, terry@... or
http://www.rainbow2.com/

AUG 9th Ruth Dantzer will be leading a 5-week meditation class 6-7:30pm on
Wednesday nights; August 9th, 16th, 30th and Sept. 6th and 13th at the
Julian Chapel at Grace Saint Paul's Church at 2331 E. Adams Street for more
information call us at 520-795-6585

AUG. 26: Discussion, with Pat Hawk Roshi, at Zen Desert Sangha, 3226 N.
Martin, Tucson, AZ. http://www.zendesertsangha.org

AUG 26-27: Saturday - Sunday 9 am - 5 pm, The Four Thoughts That Turn the
Mind to Dharma, Traga Rinpoche. Garchen Institute, Post Office Box 4318,
Chino Valley, Arizona, 86323-4318 email questions@... or call
928-925-1237 <www.garchen.net>

%%%%%%%%%% FALL %%%%%%%%
SEP 17 Meeting of the Ways, Sufism, Judaism, Buddhism, Sweat Lodge, Dance,
Zikr, Southwest Sufi Community, PO Box 373, Silver City, NM 88062, Contact:
Basira Nickle, (505) 538-5034, basira@...

SEP. 22-24: Sesshin, with Pat Hawk Roshi, at Zen Desert Sangha, 3226 N.
Martin, Tucson, AZ. http://www.zendesertsangha.org

OCT 1-6 Sufi Session Retreat, Sitting meditation, Zikr, Dances, Southwest
Sufi Community, PO Box 373, Silver City, NM 88062, Contact: John Foldan
(505) 388-4536, john@...

OCT 2-December ‹ Jason Siff, will be Teachers-in-residence at Santa Fe
Vipassana Sangha, <http://www.santafevipassana.org>

OCT 14 ­ 22nd, 10-day Wilderness Jhana retreat in Gila Box Wilderness Area,
led by Jeff Brooks (Jhananda) for the Great Western Vehicle: Contact:
Jhananda at Jhananda@...

OCT. 21: Zazenkai, with Pat Hawk Roshi, at Zen Desert Sangha, 3226 N.
Martin, Tucson, AZ. http://www.zendesertsangha.org

NOV. 8: Dharma Talk, by Pat Hawk Roshi. Discussion following, at Zen Desert
Sangha, 3226 N. Martin, Tucson, AZ. http://www.zendesertsangha.org

DEC. 16: Discussion, with Pat Hawk Roshi, at Zen Desert Sangha, 3226 N.
Martin, Tucson, AZ. http://www.zendesertsangha.org


  +++++++++++++++ EDITORIAL +++++++++++++++++

Understanding Kundalini and other charismatic energy theories

Hello friends, some body recently asked about the relationship of Kundalini
to jhana, and whether the Buddha expressed a methodology for "awakening" the
kundalini.  We should say first that the kundalini is simply an aspect of
meditative absorption (jhana/samadhi).  In my experience they are not two
separate things or processes.

The term 'kundalini' appears to postdate both Siddhartha Gotama and
Patanjali, because nether of them used that term, however, they did use a
related term.  They both used the related terms 'viriya' and 'vîrya'
respectively. Linguists say the Pali and Sanskrit terms 'viriya' and 'vîrya'
are related to our term 'virility' and is most often translated as 'energy.'
Many translators of the Yoga sutras interpret this term as 'kundalini.'
According to the Buddha 'viriya' was so much a component to enlightenment
that he called it "sambojjhanaga," which is commonly translated as "Factor
of Enlightenment."

From personal experience, as well as from examining the many case histories
here, with meditative absorption we find that the classic rising of energy
up the spine is a byproduct of meditative absorption (jhana/samadhi).  I
have thus found that the chakras "open" on their own as I enter the 3rd
stage of meditative absorption and the kundalini just rises on its own once
I enter the 4th stage of meditative absorption. Thus I have found it is
completely unnecessary to "open" the chakras and "raise" the kundalini, as
if they were separate functions from meditative absorption (jhana/samadhi).
In fact to think one can do those things through willing them through
practicing a cognitive meditation practice is completely erroneous thinking
and only reveals a complete lack of understanding of the process of
spiritual awakening.

Someone requested that I elaborate on the following quote from an essay I
posted once:

"When one has had nonstop Kundalini (Kanikapiti piiti) for hours,
there will be nothing left. This is what the Sufis so aptly called "fana,"
which means annihilation."

The above quote comes from an essay that I wrote and posted on the JSG in
the first summer of that list's existence.  At that time I had attended a
10-day meditation retreat in New Mexico, where I had entered into the fourth
stage of meditative absorption during the morning meditation session.  I had
sustained the depth of absorption continuously for about an hour.  Around
the end of that hour a rush of kundalini in its intense mode occurred and I
decided to see just how far it would take me and how long it would remain
up.  The force of the wave front of kundalini energy pushed my awareness
into a non-material domain in which I felt my awareness expand to infinite
dimensions (5th samadhi).  I allowed the energy to keep going and it
eventually collapsed every layer of the psyche such that I was sure the body
was dead and the ego identity was no longer existent, however, "I" found
awareness remained.  When the energy finally abated I found my awareness
domain once again inside the body, which I had thought was dead.  When I
looked at the clock I found about 3 hours had passed from the beginning of
that meditation session to the end.

Let me say first that I have found kundalini seems to have two basic modes.
The first and most common mode is a fairly gentle power source that
generally works to improve one's health and gives one inspiration and
strength to endure the rigors of a contemplative life.  This slow or gentle
mode of kundalini is the general mode that most people report having trouble
with on the various kundalini lists.  From reading their descriptions I find
they have trouble most commonly because they have not learned skillfulness
in meditation and the contemplative life.  I have found this mode of
kundalini is a kind of cruse mode that can remain active for months, years
and decades as long was one learns to live a skillful contemplative life.

The fast or powerful mode of kundalini is usually rather short lived and
comes extremely intensely.  There is a contemplative in Bishop who I saw pop
his kundalini up like toast.  When he did that I saw that he had learned to
cause his kundalini to give a little burp of fast mode. He told me had had
been doing this little parlor trick for decades.  He has been a devotee of
Yogananda for over 30 years, and for that whole time he has been kundalini
"active" mostly in the slow, or cruse mode.

When I told him that I had taken a ride on the kundalini in its intense mode
all of the way to its end several times, and at this meditation retreat I
did so and also there wanted to see just how long it would stay up, which
was about 2 hours, then his mouth fell open in surprise and he said, "You
rode that hurricane all of the way to the end for two hours?  I have only
been able to endure a few minutes."  He was surprised because he knows just
how intense the full jolt of kundalini is.  I found the experience to be
nothing more than complete annihilation of the self.  I'll see if I can
track down the essay some time.

During that kundalini event I had very intense kriyas during the whole 2
hour event.  Those intense kriyas left the muscles along the back so warn
out that for the next few days the back ached as though I had put it to
intense work.

aparihániya-dhamma: 'conditions of welfare'
The growth of the bhikkhus is to be expected, not their decline, bhikkhus,
so long as they cultivate the seven factors of enlightenment, that is:
mindfulness (sati), investigation into the way (dhamma-vicaya), energy
(viriya), bliss (piiti), tranquility (passaddhi), meditative absorption
(samadhi), and equanimity (upekkha). So long, bhikkhus, as these seven
conditions leading to welfare endure among the bhikkhus, and the bhikkhus
are known for it, their growth is to be expected, not their decline.
MAHÂ-PARINIBBÂNA-SUTTANTA (DN 16)
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/pali/tipitaka/2Sutta-Pitaka/1Digha-Nikaya
/Digha2/16-mahaparinibbana-e2.htm

Your comments and opinions are most welcome, and please do let us know if
you wish your comments to be publicized in this journal.

May you dwell in the joyful home of the way
(Di.t.thadhammasukhavihaaraa)

Jeffrey S, Brooks
the Great Western Vehicle € Mahapacchimayana
PO Box 41795
Tucson, AZ 85717-1795
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/index.html

Find out what the Buddha really taught
http://www.seeforyourself.org

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

The intention of this newsletter is to provide timely information to the
Southwestern community of contemplatives. This newsletter offers a monthly
calendar of meditation retreats and other related activities.  You are
welcome to forward, reproduce or copy in anyway or part this newsletter for
helping others to lead a contemplative life. I only ask that you give credit
to the newsletter and publisher.

This newsletter is a service of Jhanananda (Jeffrey S. Brooks) of the Great
Western Vehicle € Mahapacchimayana  The editor/publisher alone takes
responsibility for this newsletter and its content. Please direct all
comments or submissions to the editor: Jhanananda (Jeffrey S. Brooks) at:
Jhanananda@...

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
Newsletter Services of the GWV
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
Southwest Insight E'letter
A monthly newsletter for contemplatives in the Southwestern USA
website:      http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SWI_E_letter/
Subscribe:  SWI_E_letter-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Tucson Dharma News
An event calendar for contemplatives in Tucson, AZ. USA
website:      http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Tucson_Dharma_News/
Subscribe:  Tucson_Dharma_News-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Wilderness_Retreats
For those who like the idea of meditating in the wilderness
website:      http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Wilderness_Retreats/
Subscribe:  Wilderness_Retreats-subscribe@yahoogroups.com


Great Western Vehicle Ordination Program
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/gwvordinationprogram.htm

If you find the services of the Great Western Vehicle € Mahapacchimayanaof
value then please consider supporting the Great Western Vehicle
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/support.html


May you become enlightened in this very life-time,

Jeff Brooks
Jhanananda
the Great Western Vehicle
PO Box 41795
Tucson, AZ 85717-1795
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/index.html

May 1, 2006


^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^
^:^:^ THE SOUTHWEST INSIGHT E'LETTER ^:^:^
^:^:^                        Vol. 06.05                      ^:^:^
^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^

a service of the Great Western Vehicle
€ Mahapacchimayana €
a 4th wheel Buddhist tradition
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/index.html


!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Jhana Meditation Sitting Groups !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Maha-satipatthana Sutta (DN 22.21)
"And what is noble contemplation (sama-samadhi)? There is a case where an
aspirant who is withdrawn from sensory experience, withdrawn from unskillful
mental states -- enters & remains in the first meditative absorption
(jhana)"...
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/mahasatipatthanasutta.htm

There are Jhana sensitive meditation groups starting in your area.
Email us for the nearest location.

Boulder, CO Jhana, Satipatthana Meditation and Sutta Discussion Group.
Contact: Michael Hawkins adreampuppet@...
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Find out what the Buddha really taught
http://www.seeforyourself.org
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Buddhist Meetup !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

First Thursdays most Buddhist Meetup Groups meet.  To find the meeting in
your area click on this link http://buddhism.meetup.com/

%%%%%%% A CONTEMPLATIVE¹S CALENDAR %%%%%%

%%%%%%%%%% MAY ­ JUNE %%%%%%%%

MAY ‹ Grove Burnett, will be Teachers-in-residence at Santa Fe Vipassana
Sangha, <http://www.santafevipassana.org>

MAY 1, May Day

MAY 1, 7 PM Tucson BPF meetings 1st and 3rd Mondays at Martin's house, 701
E. Mabel, Tucson. (520) 320-5883. bpf_Tucson@yahoogroups.com
HTTP://groups.yahoo.com/groups/bpf_Tucson/cal

MAY 3, Wednesdays at 6:30 pm Bhagavad-gita class Rama Bhakti devi dasi
Chaitanya Cultural Center & Govindas, 711 E Blacklidge Drive, Tucson, AZ
520.623.3507
ramabhakti@...

MAY 3-24, 6:30-8:30pm, Wednesdays,  Going to Places that Scare You, video
presentations by Pema Chodron. Tucson Shambhala Center, 3250 N. Tucson Blvd.
<http://www.tucsonshambhala.org>

MAY 3, 10, 17 and 24, The Christian Path to Nirvana, A 5 Week Meditation
course with Mercedes Bahleda and Will Duncan. Classes will be at the Saint
Phillips in the Hills Episcopal Church, 4440 N. Campbell Road. Sponsored by
the Tacheria Interfaith Spirtuality Center, more information, call
520-792-6585.

MAY 4, Tucson Buddhist Meetup Group First Thursday @ 7:00 PM at the Epic
Cafe 745 N 4th Av  Tucson, AZ  520-624-6844  *
http://buddhism.meetup.com/10/

MAY 5, Cinco de Mayo

MAY 5, 5:30 to 6:30 Fridays, Tibetan Buddhist Meditation Hour, Dharma Kirit
College UA Pierce McCormick Building, 1401 E First St, Tucson, AZ
www.dharmakirticollege.org

MAY 5, 7pm BE HERE WOW! Buddhist Peace Fellowship, will be hosting Vipassana
teacher Wes Nisker's performance of "The Crazy Wisdom Show: A Comic
Monologue with Original Songs" at the Grace St. Paul Parish Hall, 2331 E.
Adams St, Tucson, AZ. Reservations: BPF, 701 E. Mabel St, Tucson 85719. Tel:
(520)323-5047

MAY 6, 9:30am-5:00pm WHY AREN'T YOU SMILING?: A Buddhist Workshop for Cynics
in Recovery, taught by Spirit Rock teacher Wes Nisker and hosted by Buddhist
Peace Fellowship, Tucson chapter. Workshop will be held from at The Pima
Friends Meeting House, 931 N. 5th Avenue, Tucson.  information BPF, 701 E.
Mabel St, Tucson 85719. Tel: (520)323-5047

MAY 6-7: Shantideva's Bodhicaryavatara (The Way of the Bodhisattva): Chapter
10 on Dedication, Gape Lama, Garchen Institute, Post Office Box 4318, Chino
Valley, Arizona, 86323-4318 email questions@... or call
928-925-1237. www.garchen.net

MAY 6, Socrates Saturday Morning Forum 1st, 2nd, & 5th Saturdays at Ward 6
Midtown Council Office (3202 E. First St, Tucson, AZ 370-6338 or
philwhite857@...

MAY 6-7: Saturday & Sunday 9 am - 5 pm, Shantideva's Bodhicaryavatara (The
Way of the Bodhisattva): Chapter 10 on Dedication, Gape Lama. Garchen
Institute, Post Office Box 4318, Chino Valley, Arizona, 86323-4318 email
questions@... or call 928-925-1237 <www.garchen.net>

MAY 7, Sunday mornings from 10 to 11:30AM Gay-Lesbian-Bi-Trans meditation
group, which meets at Wingspan, 425 E. 7th St., Tucson, AZ

MAY 7, Sundays 6:30 ­ 8:00 PM, Singing Bird Sangha, Thich Nhat Hanh, Pima
Friends Meetinghouse, 931 N. 5th Street, Tucson, AZ
First and third Tuesdays 6:30-7:30 PM 2415 E. 6th St, Tucson

MAY 7, 6-7 PM Sundays, Meditation and Chanting at Tucson Yoga Downtown. 148
S. Fourth Ave. Tucson, AZ 882-0597 or www.tucsonyoga.com

MAY 9th to 14th Earth Dance which is in Tecate MX one hour south of San
Diego, www.earthdance8.org

MAY 12th Full Moon

MAY 12th: Sunset (7:12 PM) Planet Coexist's Full Moon Gathering at the
Terrasante Community, in the Tucson Mountains near Tucson, AZ. Contact our
office at 520-790-1757 or email us at together@... €
http://www.planetcoexist.com  Directions at:
http://planetcoexist.com/sips%20of%20earth/tanqueverde%20gatherings/terrasan
te.html

MAY 12-14: The Liberating Dharma: Love is the Essence: A Women's Retreat,
Lama Lopon Barbara Du Bois, Garchen Institute, Post Office Box 4318, Chino
Valley, Arizona, 86323-4318 email questions@...  or call
928-925-1237. www.garchen.net

MAY 12 MENSA 2nd Friday monthly meetings, Mama¹s Pizza 4500 E. Speedway
Blvd. Tucson, AZ 615-3996

MAY 13, 2-4 p.m. Saturday, Now's the time to let your light shine! Join with
the GLBT community, allies, & people of faith for an important citywide
ecumenical service. Spiritual leaders from many Christian churches will
celebrate & bless the GLBT community. At Grace St. Paul's Episcopal Church
2331 East Adams St, Tucson, AZ

MAY 13, 3 - 5 pm Ted'S frEE CoMMunity SiNG at the Ada Peirce McCormick
Building  Library* n.e. corner of Highland and 1st Street on the U of A
Campus, ITZABOUTIME. its@...

May 13 and 14, Mahamudra, Songs of Milarepa, presented by Choejor Rinpoche.
at Tucson Shambhala Center, 3250 N. Tucson Blvd.  Sat 10-12 and 2-5, Sun.
10-12 and 2-4. Potluck lunch on Sunday. info@...
www.tucsonshambhala.org <http://www.tucsonshambhala.org>

MAY 13, 7:30-9:30 Phoenix Metro area Dances of Universal Peace 2nd and last
Saturdays at the SouthWest Institute of Healing Arts, Tempe, 110 E. Apache
Blvd (East of Rural) John Hinton (602)841-2843, or om4u@...

MAY 14, Mother¹s Day

MAY 14, 6 PM second Sundays, Tucson Peace Center board meeting.  All peace
people welcome. At Prescott College, 2233 E. Speedway Blvd., Tucson, AZ

MAY 14, 6:15 to 7:15 p.m. Children's Dharma Class, Ages 5 to 10, 2nd Sunday
of each month. 931 N. 5th Ave., (Pima Friend's Meeting House, Tucson).
Activities will include Jataka tales, art projects, sharing and mindful
snacking.  For more information call Katherine at (520) 290-1722.

MAY 15, 7 PM Tucson BPF meeting at Martin's house, 701 E. Mabel, Tucson. 1st
and 3rd Mondays (520) 320-5883. bpf_Tucson@yahoogroups.com
HTTP://groups.yahoo.com/groups/bpf_Tucson/cal

MAY 19-21 Conference of the Birds, Southwest Sufi Community, PO Box 373,
Silver City, NM 88062, Contact: Basira Nickle, (505) 538-5034,
basira@...

May 20, Gandhi Study Group, Main Tucson City Library in Downtown area of
Tucson, AZ, <pucaz.chair@...>

MAY 20, Wah! And Sruti benefit dinner and 5:30 and concert at 6:30 for the
Hurricane victims at Anajli¹s 330 E. 7th St, Tucson, AZ

MAY 20: Zazenkai, with Pat Hawk Roshi, at Zen Desert Sangha, 3226 N. Martin,
Tucson, AZ. http://www.zendesertsangha.org

MAY 20-23: The Twelve Links of Interdependent Origination
Tulku Nyima Gyaltsen Rinpoche, Garchen Institute, Post Office Box 4318,
Chino Valley, Arizona, 86323-4318 email questions@...  or call
928-925-1237. www.garchen.net

MAY 20, Prescott, AZ Dances of Universal Peace 3rd Saturdays at the Prescott
College Chapel. Kris Rogers (928) 778-1606 or P.O. Box 480, Prescott, AZ
tigermoon@... or www.prescottdances.org

MAY 20, 7:30-9:30 Tempe, AZ, Dances of Universal Peace 3rd Saturdays at the
Bodyworks Studio, 1801 S. Jentilly Ln., Suite B8, Tempe Terry Matthews
(480)998-9331 or (602)368-6784 or Terryamat@...

MAY 20, Sun enters Gemini

MAY 22, Victoria Day

MAY 23-29th, 6-day Jhana retreat near Boulder, CO, led by Jeff Brooks
(Jhananda) for the Great Western Vehicle at Jeff & Susan Combelic¹s Kiva,
Goldhill, CO. Contact: Michael Hawkins, P.O. Box 696, Boulder, CO
80306-0696, (303) 442-3985, adreampuppet@...
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/events/boulderretreat2006.htm
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/events/boulderretreat2006.pdf

MAY 25, Ascension Day

MAY. 26 New Moon

MAY 26, New Moon meditation at the Yoga Connection, 4893 E. Speedway Blvd.,
Tucson, AZ 323-1222

MAY 26, 9:30 AM ­ 4:30 PM, Buddhist meditation in Theravada Tradition, led
by Venerable U Kelasa, at 7101 W. Picture Rocks Rd., Tucson, AZ 85743, PO
Box 569 Cortaro, AZ 85652, (520) 744-3400, FAX (520) 744-8021,
office@... or www.desertrenewal.org

MAY 27, 7:30-9:30 Phoenix Metro area Dances of Universal Peace 2nd and last
Saturdays at the SouthWest Institute of Healing Arts, Tempe, 110 E. Apache
Blvd (East of Rural) John Hinton (602)841-2843, or om4u@...

MAY 27, Cornville, AZ, Dances of Universal Peace ­ Last Saturdays at The
Earthship. Cathryn Swann (928) 634-1696
conscious@...

MAY 27-29: Guru Rinpoche Million Mantra Accumulation
Traga Rinpoche, Gape Lama, Bu Nima Lama, Lama Lopon Barbara Du Bois, Garchen
Institute, Post Office Box 4318, Chino Valley, Arizona, 86323-4318 email
questions@...  or call 928-925-1237. www.garchen.net

MAY 28, at 2:00 PM (4th Sunday of each month) Antigone's Buddhist reading
group at Antigone's bookstore at, 411 N. 4th Ave. Tucson, AZ. They can be
reached at (520) 792-3715 to find out the book they are currently working
with or www.antigonebooks.com

MAY 28, 6:15 to 7:15 p.m. 4th Sundays Children's Dharma Class, for older
kids, ages 10-14 info. 931 N. 5th Ave., (Pima Friend's Meeting House,
Tucson). For more information call Katherine at (520) 290-1722.

MAY 29, Memorial Day

MAY 29-June 4, the Migrant Trail ³We Walk for Life.² A 75 mile walk from
Sassabe to Tucson (520) 770-1373 or Migrant_trail@... or
www.nomoredeaths.org or www.derechoshumanosaz.net

MAY 30-June 4th, 6-day Wilderness Jhana retreat in the mountains near
Boulder, CO, led by Jeff Brooks (Jhananda) for the Great Western Vehicle:
Michael Hawkins, P.O. Box 696, Boulder, CO 80306-0696, (303) 442-3985,
adreampuppet@...
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/events/boulderretreat2006.htm
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/events/boulderretreat2006.pdf

%%%%%%%%%% SUMMER %%%%%%%%%%
June ‹ Stephen and Martine Batchelor, will be Teachers-in-residence at Santa
Fe Vipassana Sangha, <http://www.santafevipassana.org>

June 11: 9 - 11 am, Anniversary of the Consecration of The Garchen Institute
Temple and Drubwang Konchok Norbu Rinpoche's Liberation, Garchen Institute
Lamas. Garchen Institute, Post Office Box 4318, Chino Valley, Arizona,
86323-4318 email questions@... or call 928-925-1237
<www.garchen.net>

June 14: Dharma Talk, by Pat Hawk Roshi. Discussion following, at Zen Desert
Sangha, 3226 N. Martin, Tucson, AZ. http://www.zendesertsangha.org

June 23 - 25: Saturday - Monday 9 am - 5 pm, Nyungne Teachings and Practice,
Traga Rinpoche. Garchen Institute, Post Office Box 4318, Chino Valley,
Arizona, 86323-4318 email questions@... or call 928-925-1237
<www.garchen.net>

July 15 - 30: Summer Teachings, Traga Rinpoche and Gape Lama. Garchen
Institute, Post Office Box 4318, Chino Valley, Arizona, 86323-4318 email
questions@... or call 928-925-1237 <www.garchen.net>

JULY -Aug 17 ‹ DaeJa Napier, will be Teachers-in-residence at Santa Fe
Vipassana Sangha, <http://www.santafevipassana.org>

July 1 - 4 2006 World / Annual / National - Rainbow Family Gathering,
Colorado, Rainbow Family of the Living Light, Peaceful Freedom Assembly,
Central United States in the State of Colorado location TBA.
http://welcomehere.org/cgi-bin/calendar.pl

JULY 22 - 30 (9 days) High Sierra Vipassana Retreat - Moderately Strenuous.
Sequoia National Park, California. Time for solo practice and silent
backpackiing meditation on a 26 mile loop on the Great Western Divide
southeast of Mineral King. Taught by Eric Kolvig. Info: Terry Gustafson,
7125 W 27th Ave, Wheat Ridge, CO 80033, (303) 239-9917, terry@...
or http://www.rainbow2.com/

AUG 6-12 Southwest Sufi Camp, Southwest Sufi Community, PO Box 373, Silver
City, NM 88062, Contact: John Foldan (505) 388-4536,
john@...

AUG 18-Sep 27 ‹ Lila Kate Wheeler, will be Teachers-in-residence at Santa Fe
Vipassana Sangha, <http://www.santafevipassana.org>

AUG 18 - 26 (9 days) High Sierra Vipassana Retreat in Sequoia National Park,
California - Moderately Strenuous. Taught by Mark Coleman. Follows the same
scenic and sparsely visited loop as the July retreat. Please contact Susie
Harrington to apply for this retreat. Info: Terry Gustafson, 7125 W 27th
Ave, Wheat Ridge, CO 80033, (303) 239-9917, terry@... or
http://www.rainbow2.com/

AUG. 26: Discussion, with Pat Hawk Roshi, at Zen Desert Sangha, 3226 N.
Martin, Tucson, AZ. http://www.zendesertsangha.org

August 26-27: Saturday - Sunday 9 am - 5 pm, The Four Thoughts That Turn the
Mind to Dharma, Traga Rinpoche. Garchen Institute, Post Office Box 4318,
Chino Valley, Arizona, 86323-4318 email questions@... or call
928-925-1237 <www.garchen.net>

%%%%%%%%%% FALL %%%%%%%%
SEP 17 Meeting of the Ways, Sufism, Judaism, Buddhism, Sweat Lodge, Dance,
Zikr, Southwest Sufi Community, PO Box 373, Silver City, NM 88062, Contact:
Basira Nickle, (505) 538-5034, basira@...

SEP. 22-24: Sesshin, with Pat Hawk Roshi, at Zen Desert Sangha, 3226 N.
Martin, Tucson, AZ. http://www.zendesertsangha.org

SEP 30-OCT 8th, 9-day Wilderness Jhana retreat in Gila Box Wilderness Area,
led by Jeff Brooks (Jhananda) for the Great Western Vehicle: Contact:
Jhananda at Jhananda@...

OCT 1-6 Sufi Session Retreat, Sitting meditation, Zikr, Dances, Southwest
Sufi Community, PO Box 373, Silver City, NM 88062, Contact: John Foldan
(505) 388-4536, john@...

OCT 2-December ‹ Jason Siff, will be Teachers-in-residence at Santa Fe
Vipassana Sangha, <http://www.santafevipassana.org>

OCT. 21: Zazenkai, with Pat Hawk Roshi, at Zen Desert Sangha, 3226 N.
Martin, Tucson, AZ. http://www.zendesertsangha.org

NOV. 8: Dharma Talk, by Pat Hawk Roshi. Discussion following, at Zen Desert
Sangha, 3226 N. Martin, Tucson, AZ. http://www.zendesertsangha.org

DEC. 16: Discussion, with Pat Hawk Roshi, at Zen Desert Sangha, 3226 N.
Martin, Tucson, AZ. http://www.zendesertsangha.org


  +++++++++++++++ EDITORIAL +++++++++++++++++

Pedophilia in Buddhism

(Note: the original essay seemed to have the agenda of glossing over the
pederastic aspect of Japanese culture and Buddhism (note the title choice),
so the editor (Jhananda) added in ³(and pederast)² in many places)

From Homosexuality in the Buddhist Tradition (abridged)

By Dharmachari Jñanavira

Although present, Tantric sexual imagery which involved the unification of
male and female was of marginal influence in Japan. Far more pervasive in
male Buddhist institutions was the influence of homoerotic (and pederast)
and even homosexual imagery where beautiful acolytes were understood to
embody the feminine principle.  The degree to which Buddhism tolerated
same-sex (and pederast) sexual activity even among its ordained
practitioners is clear from the popular myth that the founder of the Shingon
school, Kooboo Daishi (Kuukai), introduced homosexual (and pederast) acts
upon his return from study in China in the early ninth century.  This myth
was so well known that even the Portuguese traveller, Gaspar Vilela had
heard it.  Writing in 1571, he complains of the addiction of the monks of
Mt. Hiei to `sodomy', and attributes its introduction to Japan to Kuukai,
the founder of Koyasan, the Shingon headquarters[6].  Jesuit records of the
Catholic mission to Japan are full of rants about the ubiquity of pederastic
passion among the Buddhist clergy.  What particularly riled the missionaries
was the widespread acceptance these practices met with among the general
populace.  Father Francis Cabral noted in a letter written in 1596 that
`abominations of the flesh' and `vicious habits' were `regarded in Japan as
quite honourable; men of standing entrust their sons to the bonzes to be
instructed in such things, and at the same time to serve their lust'[7].
Another Jesuit commented that `this evil' was `so public' that the people
`are neither depressed nor horrified'[8] suggesting that same- sex love
among the clergy was not considered remarkable.

The organisation of Buddhist monasteries into sexually-segregated
communities, often set in the remote countryside or mountains, encouraged
the development of a specific style of homoeroticism revolving around young
acolytes or chigo.  The youngest acolytes, called kasshiki could be as
little as five years old and were not required to shave their hair like
monks but wore it `shoulder length and modishly'[9].  They decorated their
faces with powder and `dressed in finely wrought silken robes and vividly
colored variegated under robes.'  Colcutt points out the problems caused by
boy-love in Zen monasteries of the Muromachi period (1333-1568), commenting
that `The presence of large numbers of children in the monastery could
adversely affect standards of discipline.'  The result was that `gorgeously
arrayed youths became the centre of admiration in lavish monastic ceremonies
that were far in spirit from the simple, direct search for self advocated by
the early Ch'an [Zen] masters'.  Monastic legislators fought the same losing
battle as the shogunate did with the kabuki theatres, when it attempted to
limit the ostentatious dress on stage.  Regulations repeatedly warn against
the use of certain fabrics and colours but they seem to have been
implemented with some reluctance, if at all.

The homoerotic (and pederast) environment of Buddhist monasteries actually
inspired a literary genre, Chigo monogatari (Tales about acolytes), which
took as its theme the love between acolytes (chigo) and their spiritual
guides.  These homoerotic (and pederast) relationships were `firmly grounded
in the familiar structures of monastic life'[10] and were meant to appeal to
their Buddhist audience.  A common theme of these tales is the
transformation of a Buddhist deity, usually Kannon (Sanskrit
Avalokite'svara), Jizoo (skt.  Ksitigarbha) or Monjushiri (Sanskrit
Ma~nju'srii)[11], into a beautiful young acolyte.  The acolyte then uses his
physical charms to endear himself to an older monk and thereby lead him to
Enlightenment.  In the fourteenth- century Chigo Kannon engi, Kannon takes
the form of a beautiful novice to become the lover of a monk who is longing
for companionship in his old age.  After a few years of close companionship,
however, the acolyte dies, leaving the monk desolate.  Kannon then appears
to the monk, reveals that he and the acolyte were one and the same and
delivers a discourse on impermanence.  Childs comments that:

The homosexual (and pederast) relationship between the monk and the novice
implied in this tale expresses both Kannon's compassion and his
accommodation to the needs of a situation.  Kannon has appeared to the old
man to teach him about human transience and the futility of earthly
pleasures.  This goal is accomplished, because, as the monk's lover, Kannon
has become fully integrated into his life.[12]

Guth (1987) has argued that the homoerotic (and pederast) appreciation of
beautiful young acolytes also came to influence the way these bodhisattvas
were depicted in statues and paintings, there being an increasing trend
which represented Kannon, Ma~nju'srii, Jizoo as well as historical
personages such as Kuukai and Shootoku Taishi (an imperial prince closely
connected with the introduction of Buddhism to Japan) as `divine boys',
closely modelled on the young and beautiful acolytes resident in the
monasteries.

Japanese Buddhism responded to the homoerotic (and pederast) environment
created by a large number of monks living together with youths and boys in a
very different way to Christianity which tended to respond to expressions of
homoeroticism within monastic communities with vehement paranoia,
characterising sodomy as the worst of sexual sins, even worse than
incest[13].  Consider, for example, the tone of this passage from Peter
Damian's Book of Gomorrah, written in 1049:

In our region a certain abominable and most shameful vice has
developed...The befouling cancer of sodomy is, in fact, spreading so through
the clergy or rather like a savage beast, is raging with such shameless
abandon through the flock of Christ that for many of them it would be more
salutary to be burdened with service to the world, than, under the pretext
of religion, to be enslaved so easily under the iron rule of satanic tyranny
.[14]

Buddhism's flexibility with regard to sexuality (homosexuality and
pedophilia), as in other aspects of human nature, derives from the doctrine
of hooben (Sanskrit upaaya) or `skilful means' wherein actions are not
judged in and of themselves but in terms of their motivation and outcome.
Hence, even sexual attraction, which in early Buddhism is considered a
defilement, can be used as a means to communicate the Buddhist truth or
Dharma.  Given Buddhism's prioritisation of intention and consequence over
the act itself it was possible for monks (for whom sexual engagement with
women was forbidden) to justify (or perhaps rationalize) their (homo)sexual
(and pederast) engagement with youths in terms of creating a deeper or more
lasting spiritual bond.

Other than acolytes in training to be monks, there were many other young
boys in Buddhist monasteries because they served as schools for the children
of the elite.  Frederic comments that: `These children were cherished by the
monks and priests, to whom they served as pages.  Their clothes were
sumptuous, they had their eyebrows shaved and were made up like women.  They
were the pride of the monasteries which often boasted of possessing the
prettiest and most talented pages in the district'[15].  However,
homoerotically admiring a beautiful page boy from a distance is rather
different from taking him off to one's bedroom.  To what extent, then, did
the `homoerotic' atmosphere I have suggested existed in male monastic
environments actually result in homosexual (and pederast) behaviour? Leupp
[16] reads the very large number of references in literary and artistic
sources which depict actual sexual relations between monks and acolytes as
reflecting their widespread practice.  As evidence, he cites a vow
containing five resolutions, which was made in 1237 at the Todaiji temple in
Nara by a 36-year-old monk:

Item: I will remain secluded at Kasaki Temple until reaching age forty-one.

Item: Having already fucked ninety-five males, I will not behave wantonly
with more than one hundred.

Item: I will not keep and cherish any boys except Ryuo-Maru.

Item: I will not keep older boys in my own bedroom.

Item: Among the older and middle boys, I will not keep and cherish any as
their nenja [adult role in pederastic relationship].

Unfortunately, Leupp does not contextualise the vow or discuss it in
relation to other vows kept on record by the temple.  However, even if
exceptional (95 sex partners by the age of 36 does seem quite a lot,
especially for a monk), the tone of the vow seems to be one of moderation
rather than renunciation.  For example, the monk still allows himself five
more lovers (before reaching number 100) and this is in addition to the
relationship which he still maintains with Ryuo-Maru.  He also adds a rider
after the vow: it applies to this life only and not to the next!

The famous Chigo no sooshi or Acolyte scroll is also often cited in this
context [17].  This is a series of five tales with illustrations produced
some time in the fourteenth century and kept in the Shingon Daigo-ji temple.
It depicts in graphic detail how a young acolyte had a servant prepare his
bottom with various unguents and lubricants so as to assist his aged abbot
in achieving penetration. I have seen a (censored) modern reproduction of
the whole of this scroll in the British Library with a translation into
modern Japanese and it seems to me more the product of a pornographic
imagination than a description of an actual occurrence.  At one stage, the
servant becomes so excited by his job that he pleads with the acolyte to let
him first have a go; a request to which the acolyte graciously agrees.  It
is unlikely that in a society like Japan, which is fiercely aware of status
differentials, that a higher status man would allow himself to be penetrated
by a man of lower status in such a manner.  However, this scroll is
preserved by a Buddhist institution as a `national treasure' and I find it
unlikely that the Vatican would find a place for a similar work in its
vaults.  This suggests that (homosexual and pederastic) sex did not occupy
the same place in the mind scape of Japanese Buddhists as it did in
Christian consciousness throughout the west.  The result was a different
kind of interiority, one which did not judge actions as inherently right or
wrong but insisted, instead, upon their situationality and intentionality.
This cultural gap is clearly illustrated by the many encounters in the
sixteenth century recorded between Jesuit missionaries and Japanese monks
who were criticised for their addiction to the `unmentionable vice'.  A
sexual ethic which demonized homosexuality (and pedophilia) as evil and
depraved per se was not intelligible in the terms available to Japanese of
the premodern period; as Faure comments `[homosexuality] (and pedophilia)
was not an object of social reprobation and repression as in Europe, where
it had been strongly condemned by the Church since Aquinas and was
punishable at the stake' [18].

The lighthearted manner in which sexual infractions of the Vinaya were
treated by some monks is evident in the surviving diaries of priests, the
most famous of which, translated into English as Essays in Idleness is
Kenkoo's Tsurezuregusa, written in the fourteenth century [19].  Kenkoo
routinely describes priestly goings on: partying, drunkenness, pursuit of
boys and women, without any moral evaluation.  He does not have a moralistic
agenda which utilises these stories to bring the protagonists to a bad end
and they stand in stark contrast to the French medieval fabliaux tales about
monastic sexual license which usually results in the priests being horribly
castrated [20].  Rather, he treats the priestly misbehaviour somewhat
humorously, as in the story of `The Acolyte at Omuro' [21]. Here, `a
ravishing acolyte' is invited out by a group of priests on a picnic.
Intending to impress him with their magical powers, they hide a basket of
food in the forest which they will then pretend to conjure up.
Unfortunately, a peasant watches the priests bury the food and steals the
hamper.  Upon their return, the priests, searching for the food in vain
`presently fell to quarrelling most unpleasantly, and returned in a rage to
the temple'.  Kenkoo's comment on this incident is simply that `any
excessively ingenious scheme is sure to end in a fiasco'.

Although the pursuit of beautiful youths may have been a common pastime for
some monks in medieval Japan, the love of boys was also given a more serious
metaphysical significance in some texts.  The Buddhist-inspired text which
provides the most developed metaphysical explanation for male-male love is
the seventeenth- century Shin'yuuki or Record of heartfelt friends [22].
Written as a catechism in which a master replies to an acolyte's questions
regarding `the way of youths,' the basic argument of this text is that a
youth's beauty is given metaphysical significance when he responds to the
love his beauty occassions in an adult man.  Unlike in Christianity, where
such lust would have been understood as a Satanic prompting, in Japan at
this time, that an older man should fall in love with a younger was
understood to be due to a positive karmic bond between the two.  The key
concept here is nasake, or `sympathy,' an important term in Japanese ethics
as well as aesthetics.  A youth who recognizes the sincerity of an older
man's feelings and who, out of sympathy, responds to him irrespective of the
man's status or of any benefit he might expect to gain from the liaison, is
considered exemplary.  The master argues that satisfaction of desire is
necessary for emotional health and that the problems experienced by giving
in to love are less severe than those which arise through resisting it.
This text illustrates the kind of pragmatism evident in other Japanese texts
dealing with love between men.  It assumes that in homosocial environments
older men will be attracted to younger men and that to deny or resist this
attraction is futile.

However, it must be remembered that the kind of homoerotic (and pederast)
liaisons this text recommends take place in very specific circumstances
between an adult man and an adolescent youth in the few years before he
reaches manhood.  Upon coming of age, any sexual element to the relationship
is let go and the bond continues as a close spiritual friendship which is
considered to continue beyond the confines of the present life.  The
metaphysical meaning of the relationship lies in both participants'
awareness of the temporality of the affair.  Since the youth's beauty lasts
only a few years before fading for ever, it is considered vain to establish
a relationship based only upon physical attraction.  Yet, the role in which
physical attraction plays in cementing the bond between the two friends is
not denied; it is, in fact, considered a perfectly natural occurrence.
Hence, Faure is right in pointing out that sexual (and pederast)
relationships between monk and acolyte were not simply about `sex' but
constituted a `discourse,' as he comments: `It is in Japanese Buddhism that
male love became most visible and came to designate an ideal of man (and not
simply a type of act)'[23].  This is very close to what Foucault, in
reference to similar same-sex transgenerational (and pederast) relationships
in ancient Greece, terms `technologies of the self' (techniques de soi)
which are those voluntary and deliberate practices according to which men
not only set themselves rules of conduct but also seek to transform
themselves, to change themselves in their singular being, and to make their
life into a work of art [une oeuvre] that carries certain aesthetic values
and meets certain stylistic criteria' [24].

At an ideological or aesthetic level, then, the relationship between monk
and acolyte was subject to a code of conduct or even an ascesis which
resists a reading of these relationship as simply (homo)sexual (and
pederastic).

As pointed out above, many sons of the samurai were educated in Buddhist
monasteries and Buddhist paradigms of intergenerational friendships, often
sexual in nature, influenced male-male relations in the homosocial world of
the samurai more generally.  This was especially true in the Tokugawa period
(1600-1857) when the samurai became concentrated in great castle towns like
Edo (present-day Tokyo) where there were comparatively few women.  That
there was a `positive moral value attached to male-male love relationships
among the samurai during this period' [25] is clear from the large amount of
literature dealing with these relationships.  Collections of short stories
such as Ihara Saikaku's Nanshoku ookagami (Great mirror of manly love) [26],
collections of verse and stories like Kitamura Kigin's Iwatsutsuji (Wild
azeleas) [27] and ethical guidebooks for the proper conduct of male love
such as Shin'yuuki (Record of heartfelt friends) [28] and Hagakure (In the
shade of leaves) [29], all give a clear picture of the practice of male love
as it was ideally conceived. [30]

Similar to the traditional formulation of male-male love in the monasteries
where a young acolyte was loved by his preceptor, the romantic picture of
male love given in these texts idealizes the love between a youth, termed
wakashu (a boy prior to his coming-of- age-ceremony who still has unshaven
forelocks) and an older lover or nenja (literally `he who remembers or
thinks' [about his lover]). The boys are represented as beautiful, graceful
and charming whereas the older lovers are fierce, loyal and courageous.  The
sexual aspect of the relationships is downplayed.  Rather, the educational
and nurturing aspects of the relationship are highlighted.  Schalow comments
`They were not primarily sexual relationships but included education, social
backing and emotional support.  Together they vowed to uphold samurai
ideals.  Samurai status was thus strengthened by a well-chosen match'. [31]
Same-sex love between samurai adults and youths was similar to that between
monks and acolytes in that the sexual aspect of the relationship was
considered to be a temporary phase in an on-going lifetime friendship
(indeed, the attraction between two lovers in the present life was often
understood to derive from the karmic effect of a past- life connection).
These relationships were not clandestine but openly acknowledged and subject
to a strict code of practice. Unlike in ancient Greece, which also supported
homoerotic (and pederast) friendships between older and younger men, the
sexual aspect of these friendships could be alluded to and did not bring
shame upon the younger (sexually passive) partner so long as such relations
came to an end with his coming of age.

The generally low position of women in Japanese society and the presence of
nativist, Buddhist and Confucian discourses all linking them to sex and
pollution meant that `there was never a trace in Japan of the exalted awe
and adoration accorded to women in the European tradition of chivalry and
courtly love' [48].  That women were held in low esteem seems to further
have encouraged the development of homoerotic (and pederast) traditions in
the monasteries where spiritual beings came increasingly to be represented
as divine boys. [49]  As Faure points out `in as much as women meant
defilement, by rejecting women--even if for young boys--monks thought that
they were rejecting defilement'. [50]  Monks could court chigo or young
acolytes without the dangers of pollution or childbirth, and in the absence
of a discourse which defined same-sex sexuality as effeminising, could
maintain their identity and integrity as men. By the time of increased
samurai ascendancy from the thirteenth century, there was already a
well-established homoerotic (and pederast) tradition in Japanese monasteries
in which boys, not women, were constructed as fitting objects for adult male
desire, a tradition which was well suited to the masculine ideals of an
increasingly militaristic society.  Blomberg notes that `[h]omosexual
(pederast) relationships between an older and a younger bushi [warrior] who
were attached to one another as knight and page, were virtually the rule in
feudal Japan' [51], attributing them to the `very close bonds...commonly
found in men's societies in many cultures'.[52]  Not unlike other warrior
societies, particularly ancient Greece, in Japan `[t]he love of women [was]
regarded as disgraceful and a sign of weakness, whereas the love of men
[was] virile and honourable'.[53]

Jnanavira, Dharmachari. "Homosexuality in the Japanese Buddhist Tradition."
Western Buddhist Review, Volume 3. Journal of the Western Buddhist Order (12
Oct, 2005).
http://www.westernbuddhistreview.com/vol3/homosexuality.html


Your comments and opinions are most welcome, and please do let us know if
you wish your comments to be publicized in this journal.

May you dwell in the joyful home of the way
(Di.t.thadhammasukhavihaaraa)

Jeffrey S, Brooks
the Great Western Vehicle € Mahapacchimayana
PO Box 41795
Tucson, AZ 85717-1795
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/index.html

Find out what the Buddha really taught
http://www.seeforyourself.org

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

The intention of this newsletter is to provide timely information to the
Southwestern community of contemplatives. This newsletter offers a monthly
calendar of meditation retreats and other related activities.  You are
welcome to forward, reproduce or copy in anyway or part this newsletter for
helping others to lead a contemplative life. I only ask that you give credit
to the newsletter and publisher.

This newsletter is a service of Jhanananda (Jeffrey S. Brooks) of the Great
Western Vehicle € Mahapacchimayana  The editor/publisher alone takes
responsibility for this newsletter and its content. Please direct all
comments or submissions to the editor: Jhanananda (Jeffrey S. Brooks) at:
Jhanananda@...

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
Newsletter Services of the GWV
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
Southwest Insight E'letter
A monthly newsletter for contemplatives in the Southwestern USA
website:      http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SWI_E_letter/
Subscribe:  SWI_E_letter-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Tucson Dharma News
An event calendar for contemplatives in Tucson, AZ. USA
website:      http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Tucson_Dharma_News/
Subscribe:  Tucson_Dharma_News-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Wilderness_Retreats
For those who like the idea of meditating in the wilderness
website:      http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Wilderness_Retreats/
Subscribe:  Wilderness_Retreats-subscribe@yahoogroups.com


Great Western Vehicle Ordination Program
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/gwvordinationprogram.htm

If you find the services of the Great Western Vehicle € Mahapacchimayanaof
value then please consider supporting the Great Western Vehicle
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/support.html


May you become enlightened in this very life-time,

Jeff Brooks
Jhanananda
the Great Western Vehicle
PO Box 41795
Tucson, AZ 85717-1795
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/index.html

Hello friends, thank-you all ever so much for your regular donations,
because without your contributions to this work, I am not sure if I could
have continued this long.

I am still in Tucson. The van lies dead by the side of the road, but at
least I am eating, because I just received food stamps.  The drive shaft on
the van needs to be replaced.  It will cost $250 for a replacement part. I
can do the work myself.

May 23-29 I am scheduled to lead a meditation retreat near Boulder, CO.

July 13-16 there is the CESNUR 2006 Conference on New Religions at UC San
Diego.  As you may know I have submitted an abstract for a paper ³The Witch
Hunt Continues, the Oppression of the Ecstatic Contemplative in Contemporary
U.S. American Culture,² which is on the discrimination of contemplatives
with attainment. The paper has been accepted. With that lecture I hope to
build a dialog for supporting people like you and I, and avoiding the level
of discrimination we experience when we reveal our contemplative life.

I am completing the first of several books on the subject of meditation and
its attainments is nearing completion.  While I had hoped to finish the
first of these books by the end of last summer, I feel confident that it
will be finished by the end of this summer.

Occasionally I still pass the odd kidney stone, such as a few days ago, but
I have learned how to treat them.  Basically a hot bath does wonders for the
passing of a kidney stone.

I recently started 3 more domains under the GWV website.  I hope that the
membership will support these additional, but related missions under the
umbrella the GWV.  And, I also hope these missions will meet with the
agreement of the new board of the GWV:

I recently posted the mission statement for the Bio-Fuels For Peace project.
Under this URL is now housed all of the bio fuels research that I have been
doing in the last year or so.
http://www.biofuelsforpeace.org/

The domain main not be active yet,
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/rightlivelihood/biofuelsforpeace.htm

The GWV Pali studies archive now has its own domain under the idea of "What
did the Buddha Really Teach? See for yourself."  It is available at this
URL:
http://www.seeforyourself.org

The last of the three is "Become Peace" which is a peace initiative that is
based upon meditation.  The premise for that mission is we cannot have world
peace by fighting for it, or protesting for it. How can we have world peace
if we are not peaceful inside?  We cannot.  Thus we must become peace
through leading a contemplative life.
http://www.becomepeace.org/

The GWV needs material support now for these projects.

1) replacement laptop power adaptor                      $50
2) drive shaft for van                                            $250
3) food, fuel and other expenses for the summer  $500
4) CESNUR conference fee                                   $150
5) Misc.                                                                 $50

Total                                                                  $1000

  To lead the upcoming retreat, attend this conference and deliver the paper
I will require financial support.   If you believe the issues of the
ecstatic and charismatic contemplative, and ending the marginalizing of the
ecstatic and charismatic contemplative, is important to you, then please
consider making a contribution to the GWV today.  The power adaptor for the
laptop just died again, so I do not know when I will next be on-line without
your help. Even $5 will go a long way to building the GWV into a fitting 4th
wheel contemplative tradition.
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/support.html

May we all become peace,

Bhikkhu Jhananda
(Jeffrey S, Brooks)
the Great Western Vehicle
PO Box 41795
Tucson, AZ 85717
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/index.html

April 1, 2006


^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^
^:^:^       THE SOUTHWEST INSIGHT E'LETTER      ^:^:^
^:^:^                        Vol. 06.04                       ^:^:^
^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^

a service of the Great Western Vehicle
€ Mahapacchimayana €
a 4th wheel Buddhist tradition
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/index.html


!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Jhana Meditation Sitting Groups !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Maha-satipatthana Sutta (DN 22.21)
"And what is skilful meditation (sama-samadhi)? There is a case where an
aspirant who is withdrawn from sensory experience, withdrawn from unskillful
mental states -- enters & remains in the first meditative absorption
(jhana)"...
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/mahasatipatthanasutta.htm

There are Jhana sensitive meditation groups starting in your area.
Email us for the nearest location.

Tucson, AZ Jhana, Satipatthana and Sutta Discussion Group.
8:30 AM to 10:00 AM on either Saturday or Sunday mornings
2506 E. Drachman, Tucson, 85716.
Contact: Mark Pirtle at mark@...  or (520) 250-9027

Boulder, CO Jhana, Satipatthana Meditation and Sutta Discussion Group.
Contact: Michael Hawkins adreampuppet@...
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Find out what the Buddha really taught
http://www.seeforyourself.org
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Buddhist Meetup !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

First Thursdays most Buddhist Meetup Groups meet.  To find the meeting in
your area click on this link http://buddhism.meetup.com/

%%%%%%% A CONTEMPLATIVE¹S CALENDAR %%%%%%

%%%%%%%%%% APRIL ­ MAY %%%%%%%%

March 31, 7 PM Buddhism in Science, Dr. Alan Wallace RM S220 UA Aerospace
and Mechanical Engineering 1130 N. Mountain Ave. Tucson, AZ
http://www.DharmakirtiCollege.org

March 31, APR 1, 6, & 7 Celestine Prophecy, the movie will show at the
Church of Tamara, 3002 E. Ft Lowell, Tucson, AZ325-0513

APR-MAY ‹ Grove Burnett, will be Teachers-in-residence at Santa Fe Vipassana
Sangha, <http://www.santafevipassana.org>

APR 1st All Fools Day and Bike SWAP meet on 4th Ave. 7 AM to 1 PM

APR 1st 11:30 to 3:30 at 17th Street Market, 840 E. 17th St. Tucson, AZ
624-8821

APR 1, Socrates Saturday Morning Forum 1st, 2nd, & 5th Saturdays at Ward 6
Midtown Council Office (3202 E. First St, Tucson, AZ 370-6338 or
philwhite857@...

APR 1st and 2nd, Retreat led by Dr. Alan Wallace "Balancing the Heart and
Mind" Dharmakirti College, Tucson, AZ admin@... €
http://www.DharmakirtiCollege.org

APR 2, Daylight savings time begins.

APR 2, Sunday mornings from 10 to 11:30AM Gay-Lesbian-Bi-Trans meditation
group which meets at Wingspan, 425 E. 7th St., Tucson, AZ

APR 2, Sundays 6:30 ­ 8:00 PM, Singing Bird Sangha, Thich Nhat Hanh, Pima
Friends Meetinghouse, 931 N. 5th Street, Tucson, AZ
First and third Tuesdays 6:30-7:30 PM 2415 E. 6th St, Tucson

APR 2, 6-7 PM Sundays, Meditation and Chanting at Tucson Yoga Downtown. 148
S. Fourth Ave. Tucson, AZ 882-0597 or www.tucsonyoga.com

APR 3, 7-9 PM Make this human life meaningful, Khentrul Rinpoche at the
Historic Y 738 N. Fifth, Tucson, AZ 742-7895

APR 3, New Moon meditation at the Yoga Connection, 4893 E. Speedway Blvd.,
Tucson, AZ 323-1222

APR 3, 6:30 PM Spiritual Psychiatry lecture by Dr. Eve Wood at the Tucson
Medical Center 5301 E. Grant Rd., Tucson, AZ 326-1894

APR 3, 7 PM Tucson BPF meetings 1st and 3rd Mondays at Martin's house, 701
E. Mabel, Tucson. (520) 320-5883. bpf_Tucson@yahoogroups.com
HTTP://groups.yahoo.com/groups/bpf_Tucson/cal

APR 3, 7:30 pm, DUO GUARDABARRANCO in concert, Glendale Community College,
Glendale, AZ. FREE TO THE PUBLIC, info: ITZABOUTIME its@...

APR 4, 10 a.m. - Noon Interfaith Prayer Service Immigrant Dignity and
Recognition on the Arizona State Capitol Senate Lawn, Hosted by Interfaith
Leaders of Arizona, 1700 West Washington, Phoenix, AZ

APR 4, Green Party meeting, Historic Y, 738 N. Fifth Ave, Tucsons, AZ in the
conference room.

APR 4, 7:30 pm, DUO GUARDABARRANCO in concert, Mountain Vista Recreation
Center Social Hall, 1495 E Rancho Vistoso Blvd. FREE TO THE PUBLIC, info:
ITZABOUTIME its@...

APR 4-8, - Toward a Science of Consciousness, Center for Consciousness
Studies, Tucson, AZ
http://www.consciousness.arizona.edu/Tucson2006.htm

APR 5, Wednesdays at 6:30 pm Bhagavad-gita class Rama Bhakti devi dasi
Chaitanya Cultural Center & Govindas, 711 E Blacklidge Drive, Tucson, AZ
520.623.3507
ramabhakti@...

APR 6, Buddhist Meditation at Tara Mahayana Meditation Center, 1701 E. Miles
St, Tucson, AZ 296-8626

APR 6, Tucson Buddhist Meetup Group First Thursday @ 7:00 PM at the Epic
Cafe 745 N 4th Av  Tucson, AZ  520-624-6844  *
http://buddhism.meetup.com/10/

April 7 The Dharma Debates, a high noon ³shootout² on the Mall outside the
University of Arizona Administration building.

April 7 5:30 to 6:30 Fridays, Tibetan Buddhist Meditation Hour, Dharma Kirit
College UA Pierce McCormick Building, 1401 E First St, Tucson, AZ
www.dharmakirticollege.org

April 7-9, Building a Solar Community in the Age of Aquarius, Double Tree
Inn, 445 N Alvernon Way, Tucson, AZ. 928 710-5833 *
www.tucsonheartscenter.com

APR 7,8,9, Triangle of Empowerment: Integrating Body, Mind and Spirit.
Andrew Weil ,M.D., Larry Dossey M.D., Gladys McGarey M.D., Rabbi Rami
Shapiro, Russill Paul and Michael Green and The Illumination Band. The Inner
Connection, Tucson, AZ € http://www.theinnerconnection.org/

APR 8, 3 - 5 pm Ted'S frEE CoMMunity SiNG at the Ada Peirce McCormick
Building  Library* n.e. corner of Highland and 1st Street on the U of A
Campus, ITZABOUTIME. its@...

APR 8, 7:30-9:30 Phoenix Metro area Dances of Universal Peace 2nd and last
Saturdays at the SouthWest Institute of Healing Arts, Tempe, 110 E. Apache
Blvd (East of Rural) John Hinton (602)841-2843, or om4u@...

APR 8-9 9am-5pm Seven-Point Mind Training led by Khenpo Sherab Ozer Rinpoche
at the Historic Y Building  738 N. 5th Ave call 520-465-1882
www.drikungkagyutucson.org

APR 9, Palm Sunday

APR 9, 6:15 to 7:15 p.m. Children's Dharma Class, Ages 5 to 10, 2nd Sunday
of each month. 931 N. 5th Ave., (Pima Friend's Meeting House, Tucson).
Activities will include Jataka tales, art projects, sharing and mindful
snacking.  For more information call Katherine at (520) 290-1722.

APR 13th Full Moon, Passover

APR 13th: Sunset (6:31 PM) Planet Coexist's Full Moon Gathering at Tanque
Verde Falls near Tucson, AZ. Contact our office at 520-790-1757 or email us
at http://www.planetcoexist.com

APR 13-17: Chenrezig Drubchen, Traga Rinpoche, Gape Lama, Abao Lama, Bu Nima
Lama, Garchen Institute, Post Office Box 4318, Chino Valley, Arizona,
86323-4318 U.S.A.
http://garchen.net/events.html#chenrezig

APR 14 Good Friday, Pan American Day

APR 14 MENSA monthly meetings, Mama¹s Pizza 4500 E. Speedway Blvd. Tucson,
AZ 615-3996

APR 14-15, 7-9:30 PM Spiritual Partners 4, "The Mystic Embrace," Geshe
Michael Roach and Christie McNally, Two nights of free talks
at the Historic Y, 738 N. 5th Ave, Tucson, AZ, Call (520) 232-2024
http://www.diamondmtn.org/events

APR 15, Prescott, AZ Dances of Universal Peace 3rd Saturdays at the Prescott
College Chapel. Kris Rogers (928) 778-1606 or P.O. Box 480, Prescott, AZ
tigermoon@... or www.prescottdances.org

APR 15, 7:30-9:30 Tempe, AZ, Dances of Universal Peace 3rd Saturdays at the
Bodyworks Studio, 1801 S. Jentilly Ln., Suite B8, Tempe Terry Matthews
(480)998-9331 or (602)368-6784 or Terryamat@...

APR 16, Easter Sunday

APR 16, 7-10 PM "Sounds of Enlightenment: A Music and Dharma Concert," at
Anjali, 330 E. 7th Street, Tucson, AZ. Call (520) 232-2024
http://www.diamondmtn.org/events

APR 16-19, "Tibetan Heart Yoga Series IV," Geshe Michael Roach and Christie
McNally, at Anjali, 330 E. 7th Street, Tucson, AZ. Call (520) 232-2024
http://www.diamondmtn.org/events

APR 16 : 9am-noon, 2-5pm Medicine Buddha Empowerment & Practice Instruction
led by Khenpo Sherab Ozer Rinpoche at the Historic Y Building  738 N. 5th
Ave call 520-465-1882 www.drikungkagyutucson.org

APR 17, 6 PM Border Justice Passover Seder, no more deaths, Hillel
Foundation, 1245 E 2nd st. RSVP borderseder@... or call Grace
777-7190.

APR 17, 7 PM Tucson BPF meeting at Martin's house, 701 E. Mabel, Tucson. 1st
and 3rd Mondays (520) 320-5883. bpf_Tucson@yahoogroups.com
HTTP://groups.yahoo.com/groups/bpf_Tucson/cal

APR 19, Sun enters Taurus

APR 19-22, 7 PM, Receive the Divine Mother¹s blessings Four Points Sheraton,
1900 E. Speedway at Campbell. 760-0364, www.karunamayi.org

APR 21 Lyrids meteor shower

APR 21-23 Mahamudra Practice Retreat led by Khenpo Sherab Ozer Rinpoche,
TBA, call 520-465-1882 www.drikungkagyutucson.org

APR 21-23, Dance Leader Training, Southwest Sufi Community, PO Box 373,
Silver City, NM 88062, contact: rabiya@... (505) 534-0431, Darvesha,
darvesh@...

APR. 22, Earth Day

APR. 22, Discussion, with Pat Hawk Roshi, at Zen Desert Sangha, 3226 N.
Martin, Tucson, AZ. http://www.zendesertsangha.org

APR 23, at 2:00 PM (4th Sunday of each month) Antigone's Buddhist reading
group at Antigone's bookstore at, 411 N. 4th Ave. Tucson, AZ. They can be
reached at (520) 792-3715 to find out the book they are currently working
with or www.antigonebooks.com

APR 23, 6:15 to 7:15 p.m. 4th Sundays Children's Dharma Class, for older
kids, ages 10-14 info. 931 N. 5th Ave., (Pima Friend's Meeting House,
Tucson). For more information call Katherine at (520) 290-1722.

APR 23rd to 30th, Pima and Yaqui sponsored Casa Grande Sundance, Casa
Grande, AZ

APR. 26, Secretary¹s Day

APR. 27 New Moon

APR. 28-30: Sesshin, with Pat Hawk Roshi, at Zen Desert Sangha, 3226 N.
Martin, Tucson, AZ. http://www.zendesertsangha.org

APR 29, 7:30-9:30 Phoenix Metro area Dances of Universal Peace 2nd and last
Saturdays at the SouthWest Institute of Healing Arts, Tempe, 110 E. Apache
Blvd (East of Rural) John Hinton (602)841-2843, or om4u@...

APR 29, Cornville, AZ, Dances of Universal Peace ­ Last Saturdays at The
Earthship. Cathryn Swann (928) 634-1696
conscious@...

MAY 5, 7pm BE HERE WOW! Buddhist Peace Fellowship, will be hosting Vipassana
teacher Wes Nisker's performance of "The Crazy Wisdom Show: A Comic
Monologue with Original Songs" at the Grace St. Paul Parish Hall, 2331 E.
Adams St, Tucson, AZ. Reservations: BPF, 701 E. Mabel St, Tucson 85719. Tel:
(520)323-5047

MAY 6-7: Shantideva's Bodhicaryavatara (The Way of the Bodhisattva): Chapter
10 on Dedication, Gape Lama, Garchen Institute, Post Office Box 4318, Chino
Valley, Arizona, 86323-4318 email questions@... or call
928-925-1237. www.garchen.net

MAY 9th to 14th Earth Dance which is in Tecate MX one hour south of San
Diego, www.earthdance8.org

MAY 12-14: The Liberating Dharma: Love is the Essence: A Women's Retreat,
Lama Lopon Barbara Du Bois, Garchen Institute, Post Office Box 4318, Chino
Valley, Arizona, 86323-4318 email questions@...  or call
928-925-1237. www.garchen.net

MAY 19-21 Conference of the Birds, Southwest Sufi Community, PO Box 373,
Silver City, NM 88062, Contact: Basira Nickle, (505) 538-5034,
basira@...

MAY 20: Zazenkai, with Pat Hawk Roshi, at Zen Desert Sangha, 3226 N. Martin,
Tucson, AZ. http://www.zendesertsangha.org

MAY 20-23: The Twelve Links of Interdependent Origination
Tulku Nyima Gyaltsen Rinpoche, Garchen Institute, Post Office Box 4318,
Chino Valley, Arizona, 86323-4318 email questions@...  or call
928-925-1237. www.garchen.net

MAY 23-29th, 6-day Jhana retreat near Boulder, CO, led by Jeff Brooks
(Jhananda) for the Great Western Vehicle at Jeff & Susan Combelic¹s Kiva,
Goldhill, CO. Contact: Michael Hawkins, P.O. Box 696, Boulder, CO
80306-0696, (303) 442-3985, adreampuppet@...
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/events/boulderretreat2006.htm
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/events/boulderretreat2006.pdf

MAY 26, 9:30 AM ­ 4:30 PM, Buddhist meditation in Theravada Tradition, led
by Venerable U Kelasa, at 7101 W. Picture Rocks Rd., Tucson, AZ 85743, PO
Box 569 Cortaro, AZ 85652, (520) 744-3400, FAX (520) 744-8021,
office@... or www.desertrenewal.org

MAY 27-29: Guru Rinpoche Million Mantra Accumulation
Traga Rinpoche, Gape Lama, Bu Nima Lama, Lama Lopon Barbara Du Bois, Garchen
Institute, Post Office Box 4318, Chino Valley, Arizona, 86323-4318 email
questions@...  or call 928-925-1237. www.garchen.net

MAY 29-June 4, the Migrant Trail ³We Walk for Life.² A 75 mile walk from
Sassabe to Tucson (520) 770-1373 or Migrant_trail@... or
www.nomoredeaths.org or www.derechoshumanosaz.net

June ‹ Stephen and Martine Batchelor, will be Teachers-in-residence at Santa
Fe Vipassana Sangha, <http://www.santafevipassana.org>

June 14: Dharma Talk, by Pat Hawk Roshi. Discussion following, at Zen Desert
Sangha, 3226 N. Martin, Tucson, AZ. http://www.zendesertsangha.org

July-Aug 17 ‹ DaeJa Napier, will be Teachers-in-residence at Santa Fe
Vipassana Sangha, <http://www.santafevipassana.org>

Aug 6-12 Southwest Sufi Camp, Southwest Sufi Community, PO Box 373, Silver
City, NM 88062, Contact: John Foldan (505) 388-4536,
john@...

Aug 18-Sep 27 ‹ Lila Kate Wheeler, will be Teachers-in-residence at Santa Fe
Vipassana Sangha, <http://www.santafevipassana.org>

Aug. 26: Discussion, with Pat Hawk Roshi, at Zen Desert Sangha, 3226 N.
Martin, Tucson, AZ. http://www.zendesertsangha.org

Sept 17 Meeting of the Ways, Sufism, Judaism, Buddhism, Sweat Lodge, Dance,
Zikr, Southwest Sufi Community, PO Box 373, Silver City, NM 88062, Contact:
Basira Nickle, (505) 538-5034, basira@...

Sept. 22-24: Sesshin, with Pat Hawk Roshi, at Zen Desert Sangha, 3226 N.
Martin, Tucson, AZ. http://www.zendesertsangha.org

Oct 1-6 Sufi Session Retreat, Sitting meditation, Zikr, Dances, Southwest
Sufi Community, PO Box 373, Silver City, NM 88062, Contact: John Foldan
(505) 388-4536, john@...

Oct 2-December ‹ Jason Siff, will be Teachers-in-residence at Santa Fe
Vipassana Sangha, <http://www.santafevipassana.org>

Oct. 21: Zazenkai, with Pat Hawk Roshi, at Zen Desert Sangha, 3226 N.
Martin, Tucson, AZ. http://www.zendesertsangha.org

Nov. 8: Dharma Talk, by Pat Hawk Roshi. Discussion following, at Zen Desert
Sangha, 3226 N. Martin, Tucson, AZ. http://www.zendesertsangha.org

Dec. 16: Discussion, with Pat Hawk Roshi, at Zen Desert Sangha, 3226 N.
Martin, Tucson, AZ. http://www.zendesertsangha.org


  +++++++++++++++ EDITORIAL +++++++++++++++++

Homosexuality in the Buddhist Tradition (abridged)

By Dharmachari Jñanavira

Introduction
The idea for this essay arose out of material I had gathered for my Ph.D.
thesis on the representations of homosexuality in Buddhist popular culture.
In order to contextualise modern understandings of homosexual desire as
experienced between men and between women, I found it was necessary to go
increasingly further back into Japanese history so that I might better
understand the foundations, or what Michel Foucault terms the `archaeology,'
which supports modern understandings and representations of homosexuality.
In so doing it became clear that `sex' was not only a culture-bound concept
but that the meaning and parameters of this term also changed enormously
over time even within the same culture.  As Foucault has argued `it is
precisely [the] idea of sex in itself that we cannot accept without
examination'[1].  It also became clear that, if I was to understand Japanese
`homosexuality' in both its present and historical contexts, I needed to
bring under examination a whole host of concepts that implicitly structured
the way I `think' sex.

The very long and complex history of homosexual relations within Japanese
Buddhist institutions has only now come to light in the English-speaking
world with the recent translation of a few key documents and a number of
commentaries on them (these are referenced throughout the pages below).  I
was struck, as I hope the reader of this essay will be, by how normative
sexual interactions between men in Buddhist institutions in Japan became,
and how these relationships were accepted by the wider society with
equanimity. Indeed, as I show, homoerotic relationships that had developed
in Buddhist institutions actually served as the basis for wider same- sex
sexual relationships between men throughout Japanese society from the
thirteenth to the end of the nineteenth century.

My point in making this research available in this journal is not to argue
that such relationships should become normative today, for the present
configuration of sexuality within modern western culture makes this
inconceivable.  Rather, I would like to draw attention to the social forces
that make sexual friendships between older and younger men `ideal' forms of
relationship in some societies and yet define such relationships as abusive
or perverse in others.  In making sense of this problem, I have found the
insightful work of Michel Foucault and his various postmodern and feminist
heirs to be most useful.  These thinkers have done much to show how the
notion of `sex' in general, and more specifically, how the idea that
individuals inhabit or express themselves through distinct `sexualities' is
a modern innovation confined largely to those cultures with their roots in
northern Europe.  I found that Foucault's ideas, which so far have only
really been tested in research done in western societies, were also useful
when applied to Japan, a country whose understandings of sexuality have been
informed by Buddhist ideas and practices.

I am increasingly convinced that `sex' is invariably tied in to
understandings of gender and that what is considered appropriate sexual
behaviour for male bodies and female bodies is dependent, in most part, upon
cultural constructions of `masculinity' and `femininity' which vary widely
over time and across cultures. For various reasons, in Japan the Buddhist
priesthood and the samurai military caste constructed a vision of the female
body in such a way as to minimize its attractiveness.  Conversely, the
youthful male body was constructed as optimally desirable and a fitting
object of attraction for adult men.  For men, same-sex sexual options were
not distinguished as different orders of sexual interaction (homosexual as
opposed to heterosexual) definitive of specific types of people (homosexuals
as opposed to heterosexuals) but were instead understood as simply a certain
style, one among many, through which sexual pleasure could be enjoyed.  The
youthful male body was constructed and displayed as a fitting object of
aesthetic and sensual appreciation for other men throughout Japanese
history, beginning in Buddhist institutions from the ninth century and
reaching its apogee in the samurai towns of the seventeenth and eighteenth
centuries.

Because of the strong reactions that discussion of homosexuality can produce
in Anglo-American cultures[2], I have tried to make this an academic
argument, referencing all my sources and acknowledging my own speculations
as such.  I hope that the material outlined here can encourage people to
think about the issues surrounding homosexuality, same-sex friendship and
the practice of Buddhism in new ways.

Buddhism and sex in Japan
From the earliest times until today, indigenous Japanese religion, known as
Shinto, has maintained a sex-positive ideology, particularly with regard to
the role of sex in procreation.  Even now, it is possible to see in village
festivals processions which feature enormous carved wooden phalli which are
taken out of the local shrine and paraded around the fields so as to bless
them and make them fecund.  Unlike in Christian creation myths where the
advent of awareness of sexual dimorphism is seen to mark a deterioration in
the human condition (resulting in expulsion from Eden), in Japanese
mythology the divine ancestors Izanagi and Izanami are shown to be curious
and experimental about sex.  The male Izanagi, tells his female companion
that he would like to take his `excessive part' and insert it into `the part
where you are lacking.' From this divine union springs the Japanese race.
Although Shinto is largely without a developed theological system, when sex
is theorized, it is usually understood to be a good thing, a `Way' or doo,
originating with the divine ancestors.  As one seventeenth-century
theologian explains:

From the beginning of the two support oomikami, Izanagi no mikoto and
Izanami no mikoto, down to the birds and the beasts who receive no
instruction, the intercourse of male and female is a way, like nature, that
has been transmitted to us.  Since the procreation of descendants is a great
enterprise, it must be revered.[3]

The first challenge to Japanese nativism came with the introduction of
Buddhism in the seventh century.  It was in contrast to Buddhism, the `Way
of the Buddha', that native beliefs became codified as Shinto or the `Way of
the gods'.  It is, of course, impossible to describe the Buddhist attitude
toward sexuality because `Buddhism' is reformulated and re-expressed in
different cultures and at different times, adopting and redefining aspects
of the cultures in which it has taken root.  However, as with Christianity,
there are broad outlines or features that have persisted over time and that
can be pointed to when attempting to make generalisations.  Firstly, early
Buddhism discerned two forms of lifestyle appropriate to Buddhist believers:
monastic and lay.  For those men and women ordained as bhikkhus or
bhikkhunis, total celibacy was required, while lay followers undertook to
take five `training principles,' the third of which was `kaamesu
micchaacaaraa verama.nii sikkhaapada.m samaadiyaami' (I take the rule of
training `verama.nii sikkhaapada.m samaadiyaami,' not to go the wrong way
`micchaacaaraa,' for sexual pleasure `kaamesu').  Unlike the Christian
penitentials of the medieval period, Buddhist texts do not go into great
detail explicating exactly what the `wrong' and `right' ways regarding
sexual pleasure actually are.  As with other actions, they are subject to
the application of the golden mean: `[the deed which causes remorse
afterward and results in weeping is ill-done.  The deed which causes no
remorse afterwards and results in joy and happiness is well done'
(Dhammapada).  Rather than essentialising actions as good (puñña) or bad
(paapa), Buddhism instead utilised an ethic of intention, understanding acts
as skilful (kusala) or unskilful (akusala).  Motivations were skilful or
unskilful, not in relation to a creator deity's designer-realist agenda but
in terms of the degree to which they resulted in a lessening of desire.  In
Buddhism, desire was a problem, not because it was evil but because the
attachment it produced caused suffering.

Buddhism was essentially disinterested in procreation which was, after all,
seen as the mechanism whereby beings were chained to a constant round of
rebirths in sa.msaara.  This necessarily brought it into conflict with the
indigenous cultures of Eastern Asia where, under Confucian influence, the
perpetuation of the family line was seen as an obligation to the ancestors.
Yet, although doctrinal Buddhism had little interest in procreation and
never developed a discourse about it, Mahaayaana Buddhism did utilise the
powerful imagery surrounding the sex act as a hermeneutic device.  From the
fifth century in northern India, various Buddhist schools developed which
utilised sexual imagery as a means of communicating metaphysical truths such
as the non-differentiation of sa.msaara and nirvaa.na.  Male Buddha and
bodhisattva figures were represented in sexual union with their female
consorts, thus giving a heightened exposure to female elements within the
tradition.  Practitioners occasionally went beyond symbolism and integrated
sexual practices into their rituals.  However, as with Taoist sexo-yogic
practices designed to promote long life, these practices were not meant to
result in ejaculation but to transmute sexual into spiritual energy.  The
Shingon school of Japanese Buddhism founded by Kuukai (774 -835) developed
its own form of Tantra, Tachikawa Ryu, `the main sex cult of Japan'[4] which
taught that the loss of self in the sex act could lead to an awakening of
the spirit.  These developments represent an important difference between
Buddhism and Christianity with regard to sex.  As LaFleur comments: `there
does not seem to be anything comparable in Europe to the Japanese Buddhist
use of sexual union as either a religious symbol, or as increasingly became
the case, as itself a context for religious realization'[5].  What was
remarkable about certain trends within Japanese Buddhism was that sex came
to be viewed as a good in itself apart from its role in procreation.  In
Japanese Buddhism, the divorce of sexuality from procreation enabled sex to
become a religious symbol released from the domesticating realm of the
family.

Although present, Tantric sexual imagery which involved the unification of
male and female was of marginal influence in Japan. Far more pervasive in
male Buddhist institutions was the influence of homoerotic and even
homosexual imagery where beautiful acolytes were understood to embody the
feminine principle.  The degree to which Buddhism tolerated same-sex sexual
activity even among its ordained practitioners is clear from the popular
myth that the founder of the Shingon school, Kooboo Daishi (Kuukai),
introduced homosexual acts upon his return from study in China in the early
ninth century.  This myth was so well known that even the Portuguese
traveller, Gaspar Vilela had heard it.  Writing in 1571, he complains of the
addiction of the monks of Mt. Hiei to `sodomy', and attributes its
introduction to Japan to Kuukai, the founder of Koyasan, the Shingon
headquarters[6]Š

The homoerotic environment of Buddhist monasteries actually inspired a
literary genre, Chigo monogatari (Tales about acolytes), which took as its
theme the love between acolytes (chigo) and their spiritual guides.  These
homoerotic relationships were `firmly grounded in the familiar structures of
monastic life'[10] and were meant to appeal to their Buddhist audience.  A
common theme of these tales is the transformation of a Buddhist deity,
usually Kannon (Sanskrit Avalokite'svara), Jizoo (skt.  Ksitigarbha) or
Monjushiri (Sanskrit Ma~nju'srii)[11], into a beautiful young acolyte.  The
acolyte then uses his physical charms to endear himself to an older monk and
thereby lead him to Enlightenment.  In the fourteenth- century Chigo Kannon
engi, Kannon takes the form of a beautiful novice to become the lover of a
monk who is longing for companionship in his old age.  After a few years of
close companionship, however, the acolyte dies, leaving the monk desolate.
Kannon then appears to the monk, reveals that he and the acolyte were one
and the same and delivers a discourse on impermanence.  Childs comments
that:

The homosexual relationship between the monk and the novice implied in this
tale expresses both Kannon's compassion and his accommodation to the needs
of a situation.  Kannon has appeared to the old man to teach him about human
transience and the futility of earthly pleasures.  This goal is
accomplished, because, as the monk's lover, Kannon has become fully
integrated into his life.[12]

Guth (1987) has argued that the homoerotic appreciation of beautiful young
acolytes also came to influence the way these bodhisattvas were depicted in
statues and paintings, there being an increasing trend which represented
Kannon, Ma~nju'srii, Jizoo as well as historical personages such as Kuukai
and Shootoku Taishi (an imperial prince closely connected with the
introduction of Buddhism to Japan) as `divine boys', closely modelled on the
young and beautiful acolytes resident in the monasteries.

Japanese Buddhism responded to the homoerotic environment created by a large
number of monks living together with youths and boys in a very different way
to Christianity which tended to respond to expressions of homoeroticism
within monastic communities with vehement paranoia, characterising sodomy as
the worst of sexual sins, even worse than incest[13].  Consider, for
example, the tone of this passage from Peter Damian's Book of Gomorrah,
written in 1049:

In our region a certain abominable and most shameful vice has
developed...The befouling cancer of sodomy is, in fact, spreading so through
the clergy or rather like a savage beast, is raging with such shameless
abandon through the flock of Christ that for many of them it would be more
salutary to be burdened with service to the world, than, under the pretext
of religion, to be enslaved so easily under the iron rule of satanic tyranny
.[14]

Buddhism's flexibility with regard to sexuality, as in other aspects of
human nature, derives from the doctrine of hooben (Sanskrit upaaya) or
`skilful means' wherein actions are not judged in and of themselves but in
terms of their motivation and outcome.  Hence, even sexual attraction, which
in early Buddhism is considered a defilement, can be used as a means to
communicate the Buddhist truth or Dharma.  Given Buddhism's prioritisation
of intention and consequence over the act itself it was possible for monks
(for whom sexual engagement with women was forbidden) to justify (or perhaps
rationalize) their sexual engagement with youths in terms of creating a
deeper or more lasting spiritual bondŠ

The famous Chigo no sooshi or Acolyte scroll is also often cited in this
context[17].  This is a series of five tales with illustrations produced
some time in the fourteenth century and kept in the Shingon Daigo-ji templeŠ
this scroll is preserved by a Buddhist institution as a `national treasure'
and I find it unlikely that the Vatican would find a place for a similar
work in its vaults.  This suggests that sex did not occupy the same place in
the mind scape of Japanese Buddhists as it did in Christian consciousness
throughout the west.  The result was a different kind of interiority, one
which did not judge actions as inherently right or wrong but insisted,
instead, upon their situationality and intentionality.  This cultural gap is
clearly illustrated by the many encounters in the sixteenth century recorded
between Jesuit missionaries and Japanese monks who were criticised for their
addiction to the `unmentionable vice'.  A sexual ethic which demonized
homosexuality as evil and depraved per se was not intelligible in the terms
available to Japanese of the premodern period; as Faure comments
`[homosexuality] was not an object of social reprobation and repression as
in Europe, where it had been strongly condemned by the Church since Aquinas
and was punishable at the stake'[18].

The lighthearted manner in which sexual infractions of the Vinaya were
treated by some monks is evident in the surviving diaries of priests, the
most famous of which, translated into English as Essays in Idleness is
Kenkoo's Tsurezuregusa, written in the fourteenth century[19].  Kenkoo
routinely describes priestly goings on: partying, drunkenness, pursuit of
boys and women, without any moral evaluation.  He does not have a moralistic
agenda which utilises these stories to bring the protagonists to a bad end
and they stand in stark contrast to the French medieval fabliaux tales about
monastic sexual license which usually results in the priests being horribly
castrated[20].  Rather, he treats the priestly misbehaviour somewhat
humorously, as in the story of `The Acolyte at Omuro'[21]. Here, `a
ravishing acolyte' is invited out by a group of priests on a picnic.
Intending to impress him with their magical powers, they hide a basket of
food in the forest which they will then pretend to conjure up.
Unfortunately, a peasant watches the priests bury the food and steals the
hamper.  Upon their return, the priests, searching for the food in vain
`presently fell to quarrelling most unpleasantly, and returned in a rage to
the temple'.  Kenkoo's comment on this incident is simply that `any
excessively ingenious scheme is sure to end in a fiasco'.


As pointed out above, many sons of the samurai were educated in Buddhist
monasteries and Buddhist paradigms of intergenerational friendships, often
sexual in nature, influenced male-male relations in the homosocial world of
the samurai more generally.  This was especially true in the Tokugawa period
(1600-1857) when the samurai became concentrated in great castle towns like
Edo (present-day Tokyo) where there were comparatively few women.  That
there was a `positive moral value attached to male-male love relationships
among the samurai during this period'[25] is clear from the large amount of
literature dealing with these relationships.  Collections of short stories
such as Ihara Saikaku's Nanshoku ookagami (Great mirror of manly love)[26],
collections of verse and stories like Kitamura Kigin's Iwatsutsuji (Wild
azeleas)[27] and ethical guidebooks for the proper conduct of male love such
as Shin'yuuki (Record of heartfelt friends)[28] and Hagakure (In the shade
of leaves)[29], all give a clear picture of the practice of male love as it
was ideally conceived.[30]

The generally low position of women in Japanese society and the presence of
nativist, Buddhist and Confucian discourses all linking them to sex and
pollution meant that `there was never a trace in Japan of the exalted awe
and adoration accorded to women in the European tradition of chivalry and
courtly love'[48].  That women were held in low esteem seems to further have
encouraged the development of homoerotic traditions in the monasteries where
spiritual beings came increasingly to be represented as divine boys. [49]
As Faure points out `in as much as women meant defilement, by rejecting
women--even if for young boys--monks thought that they were rejecting
defilement'.[50]  Monks could court chigo or young acolytes without the
dangers of pollution or childbirth, and in the absence of a discourse which
defined same-sex sexuality as effeminising, could maintain their identity
and integrity as men. By the time of increased samurai ascendancy from the
thirteenth century, there was already a well-established homoerotic
tradition in Japanese monasteries in which boys, not women, were constructed
as fitting objects for adult male desire, a tradition which was well suited
to the masculine ideals of an increasingly militaristic society.  Blomberg
notes that `[h]omosexual relationships between an older and a younger bushi
[warrior] who were attached to one another as knight and page, were
virtually the rule in feudal Japan'[51], attributing them to the `very close
bonds...commonly found in men's societies in many cultures'.[52]  Not unlike
other warrior societies, particularly ancient Greece, in Japan `[t]he love
of women [was] regarded as disgraceful and a sign of weakness, whereas the
love of men [was] virile and honourable'.[53]

Afterword The history of homosexuality in Japanese Buddhism has attracted a
certain amount of academic attention in Japan and Japanese bibliographies on
the topic including both historical texts and their more recent commentaries
are immense.[54]  I know of no other society which has preserved such an
extensive historical record of love between men.  Modern western schema
which seek to divide individuals into `homosexuals' and `heterosexuals' seem
inapplicable to premodern Japan where an adult man was considered as likely
to fall for the charms of an adolescent youth as he was a young woman and
where a youth was encouraged to respond `sympathetically' to the desire his
beauty occasioned in an older man.  This does not mean, of course, that the
modern division of human sexuality into stark `homo' or `hetero' options is
somehow false; it is simply a different construction, one which cannot be
dissolved simply by pointing out how other societies have conceived of
`sexuality' in very different ways.  This is what Foucault was suggesting
when he argued that `it is precisely the idea of sex in itself that we
cannot accept without examination;' i.e., the idea that there is some
irreducible essence of `sex' which exists inside the body. This means that
with regard to sexual behaviour, we should be very cautious about deploying
such terms as `natural' or `unnatural' because how we see `nature' is
actually filtered through assumptions embedded in culture.

Japanese culture seems to have held assumptions about sexuality which differ
in important ways from those characteristic of Anglo- American societies
since the close of the nineteenth century.  I have argued that these
Japanese expressions of homosexuality were culturally determined by a
variety of `discourses'.  Firstly, the Buddhist discourse which separated
sex from procreation and secondly, Nativist, Buddhist and Neo-Confucian
discourses which identified women as `polluting' and a potential threat to
men.  Yet, although women occupied a similarly disadvantaged position within
western Christian discourse, no Christian culture developed socially
validated and institutionalised homosexual relationships between men.  What
then, was different about Japan that enabled these relationships to thrive?
Japanese misogyny alone cannot be a sufficient explanation, for within
Christianity `women' were subjected to a barrage of insults and
recriminations quite as unyielding as anything that Confucianism produced.

To a certain extent, the influence of Buddhism seems clear.  As Faure
comments `Certain sexual habits considered "against nature" by the
Christians may have been encouraged by the antinomian teachings of
Mahayana'.[55]  Despite painstaking regulations in the Vinaya against any
kind of sexual activity on the part of monks, including many forbidding
homosexual encounters, Buddhism in Japan developed a very lax attitude
towards sexual _expression on the part of monks, which has resulted in the
curious anomaly that because most monks now marry (and must do so for
succession to temple property follows family line)[56], it is only Japanese
nuns who live a celibate lifestyle today.[57]

Yet even the flexibility of Mahaayaana ethics in which actions which may
seem unethical can be understood as `skilful means' cannot fully account for
the flourishing of homosexual relationships within Japanese culture, for
similar expressions of male desire did not proliferate to the same extent in
China or in Tibet where Mahaayaana influence was equally as strong.  Nor can
Shinto's sex-positive teachings be used to explain the development of forms
of physical love between men, for Shinto essentially valorized procreative
sex as a symbol of cosmic fertility: an ideology flatly opposed by Buddhism.
My speculation is that Buddhism's disinterest in procreation as a
spiritually significant act coupled with a social discourse which not only
understood women to be inferior to men but also polluted and potentially
polluting, meant that boys, not women became the bearer of the `feminine'
archetype.  In a belief system in which the self is ultimately empty and is
caught up in a round of births where gender identity, like any other
`essential' feature, is transient and illusory, the blurring of gender
boundaries is not likely to become a major transgression, a heresy or a sin.
The history of homoeroticism in Japanese Buddhism is interesting because it
shows that `gender' like `sexuality' is not a fixed attribute of biological
bodies.  Rather, both sex and gender are complex cultural performances which
are acted out with the body as opposed to `biological' realities which
emerge from within it.

To suggest what interest or implications the history of homosexuality in
Japanese Buddhism should hold for Buddhist practitioners in the modern west
is to enter into the realm of speculation but I would like to offer a few
ideas derived from my research into Japanese history and gender theory as
well as five years of living in Japan.  When compared with many people in
modern Japan, the topic of homosexuality does seem particularly troubling
for westerners.  The reasons are complex, but put simply, for over a
thousand years homosexual acts between men were considered to be among the
most sinful, according to Saint Aquinas, even worse than mother-son incest
(which at least had procreative potential--the only excuse for sex).  In the
nineteenth century the sinful/virtuous paradigm for categorising sexual acts
was overturned by the medical notion of sick/healthy and later the
psychological characterisation of desire as perverse/normal.  Homosexuality
in the west has always been placed on the negative side of these binaries.
Although the discourse attempting to `explain' homosexuality has recently
been transformed, the fundamental notion that it is `problematic' remains.
Modern western homophobia, which `others' same-sex desire onto a small group
of `homosexuals' and asserts that for the majority of `heterosexuals'
homoeroticism is a constitutional impossibility, is the product of a
comparatively recent change in the way sexuality has been configured in the
west.[58]  Likewise, the idea that certain sexual acts or desires are
`against nature' is only intelligible in a system where `nature' has been
established according to a designer-realist deity's blue-print or design.

Hence, in our cultural context where homosexual desire has for centuries
been considered sinful, unnatural and a great evil, the experience of
homoerotic desire can be very traumatic for some individuals and severely
limit the potential for same-sex friendship.  The Danish sociologist Henning
Bech, for instance, writes of the anxiety which often accompanies developing
intimacy between male friends:

The more one has to assure oneself that one's relationship with another man
is not homosexual, the more conscious one becomes that it might be, and the
more necessary it becomes to protect oneself against it.  The result is that
friendship gradually becomes impossible.[59]

The famous Japanese psychologist, Doi Takeo, has commented on the anxieties
many westerners (his examples are drawn from American society) have in
developing same-sex intimacy.  Doi argues that a major difference between
western and Japanese society is that in the west, it is relationships
between men and women which are most culturally valued, whereas in Japan it
is relationships between men and between women which are emphasised.  He
argues that western men, in particular, have to prove themselves as men
through their ability to court and interact with women.  Relationships with
other men are, on the other hand, fraught with anxiety because displaying
too much intimacy with another man invites suspicion of homosexuality.  He
therefore identifies western homophobia as a limiting factor stopping men
establishing intimate bonds with other men.  Doi[60] argues that `homosexual
feelings' however, are more prevalent in Japan.  He says that he doesn't
mean homosexuality in the `narrow sense' but in the case where `emotional
links between members of the same sex take priority over those with the
opposite sex'.[61]  These strong emotional bonds are not so much prevalent
among friends (which suggests an equality of relationship) but
superiors/inferiors.  He mentions teacher and pupil, senior and junior
members of organisations, and even parents and children of the same sex.
Doi stresses that these desires are quite normal and may continue to be the
most important emotional attachments in a person's life, even after
marriage.  The continuing importance in Japan of vertical homosocial bonds
between members of the same sex seems to be a pale reflection in modern
times of the common pattern of erotic friendship between junior and senior
men which took place throughout much of Japan's history and is related to
socialisation patterns in Japanese society which remain much more
sex-segregated than those in the west.

I found Doi's comments interesting as both western feminists[62] and gender
theorists[63] alike have argued that the `death' of male friendship in the
modern era is closely linked with homophobia.  As Doi argues, the
prioritisation of opposite-sex relationships and the development of what
Japanese feminist Ueno Chizuko has called the western `couple culture' has
resulted in the modern west in the prioritisation of the marital
relationship and the consequent eclipse of close friendships between men
(and to a lesser extent, between women).  Michel Foucault, too, argues that
we live in a world in which relationships have become `impoverished' because
of the over-valuation of family relationships:

We live in a relational world that institutions have considerably
impoverished.  Society and the institutions which frame it have limited the
possibility of relationships because a rich relational world would be very
complex to manage...In effect, we live in a legal, social and institutional
world where the only relations possible are extremely few, extremely
simplified, and extremely poor.  There is, of course, the fundamental
relation of marriage, and the relations of the family, but how many other
relations should exist...[64]

Unlike these modern theorists, however, as Buddhists we have Buddhist
traditions and approaches to draw upon.  Whatever the reasons that have led
to the decline of male (and female) friendship in the west, it is clear that
as Buddhists we are in the unfortunate position of having to reinvent
spiritual friendship in a cultural context where this form of relationship
has been lost.  One of the great obstacles that we must work against is the
homophobia resulting from centuries of Christianity's sex-negativism.  This
homophobia is not only an obstacle on the psychological level inhibiting
men's attempts to develop close and intimate friendships with other men
(perhaps less of an issue in women's friendships), but also on a societal
level where intimate relationships between members of the same sex are
rendered suspect.  If the history of homoeroticism in the Buddhist tradition
of Japan has any relevance to our lives as western Buddhists today, it is to
give us hope that there are other ways of interacting and other criteria for
judging friendships than those currently endorsed.

Jnanavira, Dharmachari. "Homosexuality in the Japanese Buddhist Tradition."
Western Buddhist Review, Volume 3. Journal of the Western Buddhist Order (12
Oct, 2005).
http://www.westernbuddhistreview.com/vol3/homosexuality.html


Your comments and opinions are most welcome, and please do let us know if
you wish your comments to be publicized in this journal.

May you dwell in the joyful home of the way
(Di.t.thadhammasukhavihaaraa)

Jeffrey S, Brooks
the Great Western Vehicle € Mahapacchimayana
PO Box 41795
Tucson, AZ 85717-1795
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/index.html


%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

The intention of this newsletter is to provide timely information to the
Southwestern community of contemplatives. This newsletter offers a monthly
calendar of meditation retreats and other related activities.  You are
welcome to forward, reproduce or copy in anyway or part this newsletter for
helping others to lead a contemplative life. I only ask that you give credit
to the newsletter and publisher.

This newsletter is a service of Jhanananda (Jeffrey S. Brooks) of the Great
Western Vehicle € Mahapacchimayana  The editor/publisher alone takes
responsibility for this newsletter and its content.

To Subscribe: SWI_E_letter-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Access to the archive of all back issues is at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SWI_E_letter/

Please direct all comments or submissions to the editor: Jhanananda (Jeffrey
S. Brooks) at: Jhanananda@...

Great Western Vehicle Ordination Program
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/gwvordinationprogram.htm

If you find the services of the Great Western Vehicle € Mahapacchimayanaof
value then please consider supporting the Great Western Vehicle
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/support.html


May you become enlightened in this very life-time,

Jeff Brooks
Jhanananda
the Great Western Vehicle
PO Box 41795
Tucson, AZ 85717-1795
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/index.html

March 1, 2006


^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^
^:^:^       THE SOUTHWEST INSIGHT E'LETTER      ^:^:^
^:^:^                        Vol. 06.03                       ^:^:^
^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^

a service of the Great Western Vehicle € Mahapacchimayana
a 4th wheel Buddhist tradition
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/index.html


!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Jhana Meditation Sitting Groups !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Maha-satipatthana Sutta (DN 22.21)
"And what is skilful meditation (sama-samadhi)? There is a case where an
aspirant who is withdrawn from sensory experience, withdrawn from unskillful
mental states -- enters & remains in the first meditative absorption
(jhana)"...
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/mahasatipatthanasutta.htm

There are Jhana sensitive meditation groups starting in your area.
Email us for the nearest location.

Tucson, AZ Jhana, Satipatthana and Sutta Discussion Group.
8:30 AM to 10:00 AM on either Saturday or Sunday mornings
2506 E. Drachman, Tucson, 85716.
Contact: Mark Pirtle at mark@... or (520) 250-9027

Boulder, CO Jhana, Satipatthana Meditation and Sutta Discussion Group.
Contact: Michael Hawkins <adreampuppet@...>
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Buddhist Meetup !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

First Thursdays most Buddhist Meetup Groups meet.  To find the meeting in
your area click on this link http://buddhism.meetup.com/

%%%%%%% A CONTEMPLATIVE¹S CALENDAR %%%%%%

%%%%%%%%%% MARCH ­ APRIL %%%%%%%%

MAR Ash Wednesday

MAR 2-5, a Jhana retreat in Oracle, AZ, led by Jeff Brooks for the Great
Western Vehicle at the Triangle L Ranch Bed and Breakfast, Oracle, AZ. Come
for the day or spend the whole retreat with us. Call (520) 623-6732
info@... € http://www.trianglelranch.com/

MAR 2, Tucson Buddhist Meetup Group First Thursday @ 7:00 PM at the Epic
Cafe 745 N 4th Av  Tucson, AZ  520-624-6844  *
http://buddhism.meetup.com/10/

MAR 2, 7:00 pm ­ 9:00 pm Pure Motivation Lama Shenpen Drolma¹s second
teaching in a series at the Historic YWCA 738 N. 5th Ave. Tucson, AZ call
(520) 742-7895, or email marinastretch@...

MAR 3, 6:30 -meal, 7:30 - raffle, 8:00 -concert THE NO MORE DEATHS BENEFIT
CONCERT featuring Charlie King & Karen Brandow Unitarian Universalist Church
4831 E 22nd ST ITZABOUTIME.  623 1688 <its@...>

MAR 5, 1:00 PM ceremony, 1:30 begin walk, Muslim-Jewish PeaceWalk and
International Gatehring, from the Icslamic Center of Tucson, 901 E. 1st St.
Walk to Temple Emanu-El 225 N. Country Club. Call 615 2781

MAR 5, Sunday mornings from 10 to 11:30AM Gay-Lesbian-Bi-Trans meditation
group which meets at Wingspan, 4th Ave & University, Tucson, AZ

MAR 5, Sundays 6:30 ­ 8:00 PM, Singing Bird Sangha, Thich Nhat Hanh, Pima
Friends Meetinghouse, 931 N. 5th Street, Tucson, AZ
First and third Tuesdays 6:30-7:30 PM 2415 E. 6th St, Tucson

MAR 6, 7 PM Tucson BPF meetings 1st and 3rd Mondays at Martin's house, 701
E. Mabel, Tucson. (520) 320-5883. bpf_Tucson@yahoogroups.com
HTTP://groups.yahoo.com/groups/bpf_Tucson/cal

MAR 8 International Women¹s Day

MAR. 8: Dharma Talk, by Pat Hawk Roshi. Discussion following, at Zen Desert
Sangha, 3226 N. Martin, Tucson, AZ. http://www.zendesertsangha.org

MAR 9-13 White Tara Retreat: Full Ritual Teachings and Practice, led by Ven.
Traga Rinpoche, Gape Lama, and Bunima Lama at Garchen Institute, Prescott,
AZ. Reservations: 928-925-1237, questions@..., or visit
www.garchen.net

MAR 11-13 7-9 PM Geshe Michael Roach & Christie McNally, "The Courage to
have it all, Christ and the teachings of Tibet," in the Great Hall, Christ
Church Cathedral, 1117 Texas Ave., Houston, Texas

MAR 11, 7:30-9:30 Phoenix Metro area Dances of Universal Peace 2nd and last
Saturdays at the SouthWest Institute of Healing Arts, Tempe, 110 E. Apache
Blvd (East of Rural) John Hinton (602)841-2843, or om4u@...

MAR 11, 3 - 5 pm THe frEE CoMMunity [Second Saturday] SiNG at St Marks
Calvin Hall, 3809 E 3rd St. ITZABOUTIME.  623 1688 <its@...>

MAR 12, 6:15 to 7:15 p.m. Children's Dharma Class, Ages 5 to 10, 2nd Sunday
of each month. 931 N. 5th Ave., (Pima Friend's Meeting House, Tucson).
Activities will include Jataka tales, art projects, sharing and mindful
snacking.  For more information call Katherine at (520) 290-1722.

MAR 13-26 ‹ Matt Flickstein, will be Teachers-in-residence at Santa Fe
Vipassana Sangha, <http://www.santafevipassana.org>

MAR 14th: Full Moon & Lunar Eclipse Purim

MAR 14th: Sunset (6:31 PM) Planet Coexist's Full Moon & Lunar Eclipse
Gathering at Tanque Verde Falls near Tucson, AZ. Contact our office at
520-790-1757 or email us at http://www.planetcoexist.com

MAR 15th - APR 12th. 2nd Annual Hermitage, Taos New, Mexico led by Marcia
Rose and Annie Nugent Contact: The Mountain Hermitage 505-758-0633
hermit@... <http://www.mountainhermitage.org>

MAR 17 St. Patrick¹s Day

MAR 17 - 19 retreat led by Geshe Michael Roach & Christie McNally, at Camp
Allen, Houston, Texas. Contact: Star in the East
http://www.starintheeast.org or call: (520) 792-6585
http://www.starintheeast.org/events/events.htm

MAR 18, Prescott, AZ Dances of Universal Peace 3rd Saturdays at the Prescott
College Chapel. Kris Rogers (928) 778-1606 or P.O. Box 480, Prescott, AZ
tigermoon@... or www.prescottdances.org

MAR 18, 7:30-9:30 Tempe, AZ, Dances of Universal Peace 3rd Saturdays at the
Bodyworks Studio, 1801 S. Jentilly Ln., Suite B8, Tempe Terry Matthews
(480)998-9331 or (602)368-6784 or Terryamat@...

MAR 20 Vernal Equinox

MAR 20, 7 PM Tucson BPF meeting at Martin's house, 701 E. Mabel, Tucson. 1st
and 3rd Mondays (520) 320-5883. bpf_Tucson@yahoogroups.com
HTTP://groups.yahoo.com/groups/bpf_Tucson/cal

MAR 25, at 2:00 PM (4th Sunday of each month) Antigone's Buddhist reading
group at Antigone's bookstore at, 411 N. 4th Ave. Tucson, AZ. They can be
reached at (520) 792-3715 to find out the book they are currently working
with or www.antigonebooks.com

MAR 25, 6:15 to 7:15 p.m. 4th Sundays Children's Dharma Class, for older
kids, ages 10-14 info. 931 N. 5th Ave., (Pima Friend's Meeting House,
Tucson). For more information call Katherine at (520) 290-1722.

MAR 25, 7:30-9:30 Phoenix Metro area Dances of Universal Peace 2nd and last
Saturdays at the SouthWest Institute of Healing Arts, Tempe, 110 E. Apache
Blvd (East of Rural) John Hinton (602)841-2843, or om4u@...

MAR 25, Cornville, AZ, Dances of Universal Peace ­ Last Saturdays at The
Earthship. Cathryn Swann (928) 634-1696
conscious@...

MAR 29 New Moon, solar eclipse

APR 1st and 2nd, Retreat led by Dr. Alan Wallace "Balancing the Heart and
Mind" Dharmakirti College, Tucson, AZ admin@... €
http://www.DharmakirtiCollege.org

APR 4-8, - Toward a Science of Consciousness, Center for Consciousness
Studies, Tucson, AZ
http://www.consciousness.arizona.edu/Tucson2006.htm

APR 7,8,9, Triangle of Empowerment: Integrating Body, Mind and Spirit.
Andrew Weil ,M.D., Larry Dossey M.D., Gladys McGarey M.D., Rabbi Rami
Shapiro, Russill Paul and Michael Green and The Illumination Band. The Inner
Connection, Tucson, AZ

APR 8-9 9am-5pm Seven-Point Mind Training led by Khenpo Sherab Ozer Rinpoche
at the Historic Y Building  738 N. 5th Ave call 520-465-1882
<www.drikungkagyutucson.org>

APR 16 : 9am-noon, 2-5pm Medicine Buddha Empowerment & Practice Instruction
led by Khenpo Sherab Ozer Rinpoche at the Historic Y Building  738 N. 5th
Ave call 520-465-1882 <www.drikungkagyutucson.org>

APR 21-23 Mahamudra Practice Retreat led by Khenpo Sherab Ozer Rinpoche,
TBA, call 520-465-1882 <www.drikungkagyutucson.org>

APR 21-23, Dance Leader Training, Southwest Sufi Community, PO Box 373,
Silver City, NM 88062, contact: rabiya@... (505) 534-0431, Darvesha,
darvesh@...

APR. 22, Discussion, with Pat Hawk Roshi, at Zen Desert Sangha, 3226 N.
Martin, Tucson, AZ. http://www.zendesertsangha.org

APR. 28-30: Sesshin, with Pat Hawk Roshi, at Zen Desert Sangha, 3226 N.
Martin, Tucson, AZ. http://www.zendesertsangha.org

APR-MAY ‹ Grove Burnett, will be Teachers-in-residence at Santa Fe Vipassana
Sangha, <http://www.santafevipassana.org>

May 19-21 Conference of the Birds, Southwest Sufi Community, PO Box 373,
Silver City, NM 88062, Contact: Basira Nickle, (505) 538-5034,
basira@...

May 20: Zazenkai, with Pat Hawk Roshi, at Zen Desert Sangha, 3226 N. Martin,
Tucson, AZ. http://www.zendesertsangha.org

June ‹ Stephen and Martine Batchelor, will be Teachers-in-residence at Santa
Fe Vipassana Sangha, <http://www.santafevipassana.org>

June 14: Dharma Talk, by Pat Hawk Roshi. Discussion following, at Zen Desert
Sangha, 3226 N. Martin, Tucson, AZ. http://www.zendesertsangha.org

July-Aug 17 ‹ DaeJa Napier, will be Teachers-in-residence at Santa Fe
Vipassana Sangha, <http://www.santafevipassana.org>

Aug 6-12 Southwest Sufi Camp, Southwest Sufi Community, PO Box 373, Silver
City, NM 88062, Contact: John Foldan (505) 388-4536,
john@...

Aug 18-Sep 27 ‹ Lila Kate Wheeler, will be Teachers-in-residence at Santa Fe
Vipassana Sangha, <http://www.santafevipassana.org>

Aug. 26: Discussion, with Pat Hawk Roshi, at Zen Desert Sangha, 3226 N.
Martin, Tucson, AZ. http://www.zendesertsangha.org

Sept 17 Meeting of the Ways, Sufism, Judaism, Buddhism, Sweat Lodge, Dance,
Zikr, Southwest Sufi Community, PO Box 373, Silver City, NM 88062, Contact:
Basira Nickle, (505) 538-5034, basira@...

Sept. 22-24: Sesshin, with Pat Hawk Roshi, at Zen Desert Sangha, 3226 N.
Martin, Tucson, AZ. http://www.zendesertsangha.org

Oct 1-6 Sufi Session Retreat, Sitting meditation, Zikr, Dances, Southwest
Sufi Community, PO Box 373, Silver City, NM 88062, Contact: John Foldan
(505) 388-4536, john@...

Oct 2-December ‹ Jason Siff, will be Teachers-in-residence at Santa Fe
Vipassana Sangha, <http://www.santafevipassana.org>

Oct. 21: Zazenkai, with Pat Hawk Roshi, at Zen Desert Sangha, 3226 N.
Martin, Tucson, AZ. http://www.zendesertsangha.org

Nov. 8: Dharma Talk, by Pat Hawk Roshi. Discussion following, at Zen Desert
Sangha, 3226 N. Martin, Tucson, AZ. http://www.zendesertsangha.org

Dec. 16: Discussion, with Pat Hawk Roshi, at Zen Desert Sangha, 3226 N.
Martin, Tucson, AZ. http://www.zendesertsangha.org


  +++++++++++++++ EDITORIAL +++++++++++++++++

The Boycott of the work of the GWV by the Theravadan Orthodoxy Continues

Hello dear friend Nirodha, having my messages deleted from e'sangha would
explain why I could not find it this morning.  The boycott by the orthodoxy
of Buddhism seems to continue.  It of course only proves their hypocrisy.
Apparently the article hit a soar point in the Theravadan orthodoxy.  It
must have been right on.

A Critique of the Abhidhamma and Visuddhimagga
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/criticism/abhidhamma.htm

Kindest regards to all, Jhanananda


on 2/28/06 1:00 PM, Discourses_of_the_Buddha@yahoogroups.com at
Discourses_of_the_Buddha@yahoogroups.com wrote:

>    Date: Tue, 28 Feb 2006 11:51:32 -0000
>    From: "Nirodha (Bill Gray)" <nirodhasati@...>
> Subject: Re: A Critique of the Abhidhamma and Visuddhimagga
>
> Hello my dear friend,
>
> You're very welcome and thank you for your research on this issue.
>
> I noticed that you posted a link to your essay on E-Sangha.
> Unfortunately, I must inform you that it has since disappeared. Also,
> I wouldn't be surprised if you find yourself now banned from there as
> well.
>
> It would seem that the GWV is now being boycotted by E-Sangha. They
> have not made an official announcement of this -- that I know of --
> but it's happening none the less. I'm banned from there, and any
> links I posted in the past to GWV related material has also seemed to
> disappear.
>
> I guess you and I have angered some "important" Bhikkhu who decided
> to throw his weight around. ;)
>
> Happiness and Ease to you all,
> Nirodha (Bill Gray)

Your comments and opinions are most welcome, and please do let us know if
you wish your comments to be publicized in this journal.

May you dwell in the joyful home of the way
(Di.t.thadhammasukhavihaaraa)

Jeffrey S, Brooks
the Great Western Vehicle € Mahapacchimayana
PO Box 41795
Tucson, AZ 85717-1795
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/index.html


%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

The intention of this newsletter is to provide timely information to the
Southwestern community of contemplatives. This newsletter offers a monthly
calendar of meditation retreats and other related activities.  You are
welcome to forward, reproduce or copy in anyway or part this newsletter for
helping others to lead a contemplative life. I only ask that you give credit
to the newsletter and publisher.

This newsletter is a service of Jhanananda (Jeffrey S. Brooks) of the Great
Western Vehicle € Mahapacchimayana  The editor/publisher alone takes
responsibility for this newsletter and its content.

To Subscribe: SWI_E_letter-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Access to the archive of all back issues is at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SWI_E_letter/

Please direct all comments or submissions to the editor: Jhanananda (Jeffrey
S. Brooks) at: Jhanananda@...

Great Western Vehicle Ordination Program
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/gwvordinationprogram.htm

If you find the services of the Great Western Vehicle € Mahapacchimayanaof
value then please consider supporting the Great Western Vehicle
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/support.html


May you become enlightened in this very life-time,

Jeff Brooks
Jhanananda
the Great Western Vehicle
PO Box 41795
Tucson, AZ 85717-1795
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/index.html

Hello dear friend a small and intimate 4-day jhana retreat will be held at a
Bed and Breakfast in rural Southern Arizona starting this Thursday at noon,
March 2nd and will run through noon Sunday March 5th.  People are welcome to
attend all or part of the retreat, or just come for the day at no charge to
meditate and/or for dialog on ecstatic Buddhism.

If you are interested in attending the retreat or wish to hear an ecstatic
discourse on Buddhism, please respond to this email.  For more info on the
retreat, please go to this URL:

GWV Jhana retreat in Oracle, AZ
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/events/tucsonretreat2006.html

Date: March 2-5, 2006

Location: Triangle L Ranch Bed and Breakfast, Oracle, AZ

To make reservations contact the Triangle L Ranch Bed and Breakfast
(520) 623-6732
info@...
http://www.trianglelranch.com/

Kindest regards, Jhanananda (Jeffrey S, Brooks)
PO Box 41795
Tucson, AZ 85717
the Great Western Vehicle
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/index.html

February 1, 2006


^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^
^:^:^       THE SOUTHWEST INSIGHT E'LETTER      ^:^:^
^:^:^                 Vol. 06.02                ^:^:^
^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^

a service of the Great Western Vehicle € Mahapacchimayana
a 4th wheel Buddhist tradition
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/index.html


!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Jhana Meditation Sitting Groups !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Maha-satipatthana Sutta (DN 22.21)
"And what is skilful meditation (sama-samadhi)? There is a case where an
aspirant who is withdrawn from sensory experience, withdrawn from unskillful
mental states -- enters & remains in the first meditative absorption
(jhana)"...
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/mahasatipatthanasutta.htm

There are Jhana sensitive meditation groups starting in your area.
Email us for the nearest location.

Tucson, AZ Jhana, Satipatthana and Sutta Discussion Group.
8:30 AM to 10:00 AM on either Saturday or Sunday mornings
2506 E. Drachman, Tucson, 85716.
Contact: Mark Pirtle at mark@... or (520) 250-9027

Boulder, CO Jhana, Satipatthana Meditation and Sutta Discussion Group.
Contact: Michael Hawkins <adreampuppet@...>
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Buddhist Meetup !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

First Thursdays most Buddhist Meetup Groups meet.  To find the meeting in
your area click on this link http://buddhism.meetup.com/

%%%%%%% A CONTEMPLATIVE¹S CALENDAR %%%%%%

%%%%%%%%%% FEBRUARY ­ MARCH %%%%%%%%

FEB 1-Feb 8 Wednesdays, 6:00 - 7:30 Mercedes Bahleda & William Duncan "The
Christian Path to Nirvana" a 5 week meditation course at Saint Philips in
the Hills Episcopal Church 4440 N. Campbell Ave. at River Rd. Tucson, AZ
Info: Star in the East (520) 792-6585

FEB 1- 23 ‹ DaeJa Napier will be Teachers-in-residence for short terms at
Santa Fe Vipassana Sangha, giving Tuesday night Dharma talk. She will also
offer Dharma Study Wednesdays, Feb 1 and Feb 8, and interviews. For more
information about interviews contact Mikaela Barnes, Mikaela355@... €
http://www.santafevipassana.org

FEB Christian Meditation, The World Community for Christian Meditation 627
N. 6th Ave. Tucson, AZ 85705 (888) 673-7770

FEB 2-5, 2006 a Three Day Retreat in the Desert for Mureeds with Taj Inayat
in Albuquerque, New Mexico, held at the Madonna Center, 4040 St. Joseph
Place NW in Albuquerque, to Nur Azima Jones at 2524 Camino San Patricio,
Santa Fe, NM 87505. at (505) 920-8813  or email her at bcazima@....

FEB 2, Tucson Buddhist Meetup Group First Thursday @ 7:00 PM at the Epic
Cafe 745 N 4th Av  Tucson, AZ  520-624-6844  *
http://buddhism.meetup.com/10/

Feb. 2, Thurs. 7:00 PM - 8:30 PM; ZDS Class and Discussion, "Four Noble
Truths", with Larry Levine and Dan Dorsey; Zen Desert Sangha, 3226 N.
Martin, Tucson, AZ. http://www.zendesertsangha.org

FEB 5, Sunday mornings from 10 to 11:30AM Gay-Lesbian-Bi-Trans meditation
group which meets at Wingspan, 4th Ave & University, Tucson, AZ

FEB 5, Sundays 6:30 ­ 8:00 PM, Singing Bird Sangha, Thich Nhat Hanh, Pima
Friends Meetinghouse, 931 N. 5th Street, Tucson, AZ
First and third Tuesdays 6:30-7:30 PM 2415 E. 6th St, Tucson

FEB 6, 7 PM Tucson BPF meetings 1st and 3rd Mondays at Martin's house, 701
E. Mabel, Tucson. (520) 320-5883. bpf_Tucson@yahoogroups.com
HTTP://groups.yahoo.com/groups/bpf_Tucson/cal

FEB 11 ­ 12, Shambhala Prison Community volunteer training Weekend Training
in Tucson, AZ Contact: Sloane Haywood, shaywood@...; or, Belle
Kool, isabellakool@...

FEB 11 ­ 12, Ngondro Series with Ven. Traga Rinpoche: Vajrasattva Teachings
and Practice at Garchen Institute, P.O. Box 4318, Chino Valley, AZ 86323.
preregister by emailing questions@... or calling 928-925-1237.

FEB 11, 3 - 5 pm, THe frEE CoMMunity SiNG, Calvin Hall- St Marks
Presbyterian Church, 3809 E 3rd St. Tucson, AZ. Info:  Ted 623-1688
ITZABOUTIME

FEB 11, 7:30-9:30 Phoenix Metro area Dances of Universal Peace 2nd and last
Saturdays at the SouthWest Institute of Healing Arts, Tempe, 110 E. Apache
Blvd (East of Rural) John Hinton (602)841-2843, or om4u@...

FEB 12, 6:15 to 7:15 p.m. Children's Dharma Class, Ages 5 to 10, 2nd Sunday
of each month. 931 N. 5th Ave., (Pima Friend's Meeting House, Tucson).
Activities will include Jataka tales, art projects, sharing and mindful
snacking.  For more information call Katherine at (520) 290-1722.

FEB 17-19th: Planet Coexist's C.A.R.E. Gathering at Tanque Verde Falls near
Tucson, AZ. Contact our office at 520-750-8200x217 or email us at
together@....

FEB. 18,; Zazenkai, with Pat Hawk Roshi, at Zen Desert Sangha, 3226 N.
Martin, Tucson, AZ. http://www.zendesertsangha.org Register!: Shelly Dorsey,
624-8030; or, email Shelly: sdorsey50@...

FEB 18, Prescott, AZ Dances of Universal Peace 3rd Saturdays at the Prescott
College Chapel. Kris Rogers (928) 778-1606 or P.O. Box 480, Prescott, AZ
tigermoon@... or www.prescottdances.org

FEB 18, 7:30-9:30 Tempe, AZ, Dances of Universal Peace 3rd Saturdays at the
Bodyworks Studio, 1801 S. Jentilly Ln., Suite B8, Tempe Terry Matthews
(480)998-9331 or (602)368-6784 or Terryamat@...

FEB 19 ­ 28 Yamantaka Drubchen at Garchen Institute, PO Box 4318, Chino
Valley, AZ 86323, Phone: 928.925.1237
Email: garchen@...  Web: www.garchen.net

FEB 19, 7 pm, Emma's Revolution - Pat Humphries and Sandy O, a concerts from
ITZABOUTIME, at Calvin Hall- St Marks Presbyterian Church 3809 E 3rd St.
Tucson, AZ information 623 1688

FEB 20, 7 PM Tucson BPF meeting at Martin's house, 701 E. Mabel, Tucson. 1st
and 3rd Mondays (520) 320-5883. bpf_Tucson@yahoogroups.com
HTTP://groups.yahoo.com/groups/bpf_Tucson/cal

FEB 24-27 SSC Mureed¹s Retreat, Southwest Sufi Community, PO Box 373, Silver
City, NM 88062 contact: rabiya@... (505) 534-0431

FEB 25, at 2:00 PM (4th Sunday of each month) Antigone's Buddhist reading
group at Antigone's bookstore at, 411 N. 4th Ave. Tucson, AZ. They can be
reached at (520) 792-3715 to find out the book they are currently working
with or www.antigonebooks.com

FEB 25, 6:15 to 7:15 p.m. 4th Sundays Children's Dharma Class, for older
kids, ages 10-14 info. 931 N. 5th Ave., (Pima Friend's Meeting House,
Tucson). For more information call Katherine at (520) 290-1722.

FEB. 25; 6:00 PM - ~8:30 PM; Special Potluck & Poetry (Sangha Arts-Night):
ZDS will host the City-wide, circulating, Buddhist Sangha monthly potluck;
format will be like our usual ZDS Poetry and Potluck Sangha Arts-Night. We
invite everyone to bring poems, musical instruments, songs, etc., at Zen
Desert Sangha, 3226 N. Martin, Tucson, AZ. http://www.zendesertsangha.org

FEB 25, 7:30-9:30 Phoenix Metro area Dances of Universal Peace 2nd and last
Saturdays at the SouthWest Institute of Healing Arts, Tempe, 110 E. Apache
Blvd (East of Rural) John Hinton (602)841-2843, or om4u@...

FEB 25, Cornville, AZ, Dances of Universal Peace ­ Last Saturdays at The
Earthship. Cathryn Swann (928) 634-1696
conscious@...

FEB 28, 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. Lama Chopa Tsok Offering and Losar
Celebration at Garchen Institute, P.O. Box 4318, Chino Valley, AZ 86323.
emailing questions@... or calling 928-925-1237.

Mar. 8: Dharma Talk, by Pat Hawk Roshi. Discussion following, at Zen Desert
Sangha, 3226 N. Martin, Tucson, AZ. http://www.zendesertsangha.org

Mar 11-13 7-9 PM Geshe Michael Roach & Christie McNally, "The Courage to
have it all, Christ and the teachings of Tibet," in the Great Hall, Christ
Church Cathedral, 1117 Texas Ave., Houston, Texas

MAR 13-26 ‹ Matt Flickstein, will be Teachers-in-residence at Santa Fe
Vipassana Sangha, <http://www.santafevipassana.org>

MAR 15th - APR 12th. 2nd Annual Hermitage, Taos New, Mexico led by Marcia
Rose and Annie Nugent Contact: The Mountain Hermitage 505-758-0633
hermit@... <http://www.mountainhermitage.org>

MAR 17 - 19 retreat led by Geshe Michael Roach & Christie McNally, at Camp
Allen, Houston, Texas. Contact: Star in the East
http://www.starintheeast.org or call: (520) 792-6585
http://www.starintheeast.org/events/events.htm

APR 1st and 2nd, Retreat led by Dr. Alan Wallace "Balancing the Heart and
Mind" Dharmakirti College, Tucson, AZ admin@... €
http://www.DharmakirtiCollege.org

APR 4-8, - Toward a Science of Consciousness, Center for Consciousness
Studies, Tucson, AZ
http://www.consciousness.arizona.edu/Tucson2006.htm

APR 7,8,9, Triangle of Empowerment: Integrating Body, Mind and Spirit.
Andrew Weil ,M.D., Larry Dossey M.D., Gladys McGarey M.D., Rabbi Rami
Shapiro, Russill Paul and Michael Green and The Illumination Band. The Inner
Connection, Tucson, AZ

APR 21-23, Dance Leader Training, Southwest Sufi Community, PO Box 373,
Silver City, NM 88062, contact: rabiya@... (505) 534-0431, Darvesha,
darvesh@...

APR. 22, Discussion, with Pat Hawk Roshi, at Zen Desert Sangha, 3226 N.
Martin, Tucson, AZ. http://www.zendesertsangha.org

APR. 28-30: Sesshin, with Pat Hawk Roshi, at Zen Desert Sangha, 3226 N.
Martin, Tucson, AZ. http://www.zendesertsangha.org

APR-MAY ‹ Grove Burnett, will be Teachers-in-residence at Santa Fe Vipassana
Sangha, <http://www.santafevipassana.org>

May 19-21 Conference of the Birds, Southwest Sufi Community, PO Box 373,
Silver City, NM 88062, Contact: Basira Nickle, (505) 538-5034,
basira@...

May 20: Zazenkai, with Pat Hawk Roshi, at Zen Desert Sangha, 3226 N. Martin,
Tucson, AZ. http://www.zendesertsangha.org

June ‹ Stephen and Martine Batchelor, will be Teachers-in-residence at Santa
Fe Vipassana Sangha, <http://www.santafevipassana.org>

June 14: Dharma Talk, by Pat Hawk Roshi. Discussion following, at Zen Desert
Sangha, 3226 N. Martin, Tucson, AZ. http://www.zendesertsangha.org

July-Aug 17 ‹ DaeJa Napier, will be Teachers-in-residence at Santa Fe
Vipassana Sangha, <http://www.santafevipassana.org>

Aug 6-12 Southwest Sufi Camp, Southwest Sufi Community, PO Box 373, Silver
City, NM 88062, Contact: John Foldan (505) 388-4536,
john@...

Aug 18-Sep 27 ‹ Lila Kate Wheeler, will be Teachers-in-residence at Santa Fe
Vipassana Sangha, <http://www.santafevipassana.org>

Aug. 26: Discussion, with Pat Hawk Roshi, at Zen Desert Sangha, 3226 N.
Martin, Tucson, AZ. http://www.zendesertsangha.org

Sept 17 Meeting of the Ways, Sufism, Judaism, Buddhism, Sweat Lodge, Dance,
Zikr, Southwest Sufi Community, PO Box 373, Silver City, NM 88062, Contact:
Basira Nickle, (505) 538-5034, basira@...

Sept. 22-24: Sesshin, with Pat Hawk Roshi, at Zen Desert Sangha, 3226 N.
Martin, Tucson, AZ. http://www.zendesertsangha.org

Oct 1-6 Sufi Session Retreat, Sitting meditation, Zikr, Dances, Southwest
Sufi Community, PO Box 373, Silver City, NM 88062, Contact: John Foldan
(505) 388-4536, john@...

Oct 2-December ‹ Jason Siff, will be Teachers-in-residence at Santa Fe
Vipassana Sangha, <http://www.santafevipassana.org>

Oct. 21: Zazenkai, with Pat Hawk Roshi, at Zen Desert Sangha, 3226 N.
Martin, Tucson, AZ. http://www.zendesertsangha.org

Nov. 8: Dharma Talk, by Pat Hawk Roshi. Discussion following, at Zen Desert
Sangha, 3226 N. Martin, Tucson, AZ. http://www.zendesertsangha.org

Dec. 16: Discussion, with Pat Hawk Roshi, at Zen Desert Sangha, 3226 N.
Martin, Tucson, AZ. http://www.zendesertsangha.org


  +++++++++++++++ EDITORIAL +++++++++++++++++

So many teachers, so little enlightenment

By Jeffrey S. Brooks
991st day of a three year retreat
January 31, 2006
(Copyright 2006 all rights reserved)

First posted to the JSG January 2006

Maha-satipatthana Sutta (DN 22.21)
"And what is skilful meditation (sama-samadhi)? There is the case where an
aspirant -- quite withdrawn from sensuality, withdrawn from unskillful
(mental) qualities -- enters & remains in the first absorption (jhana)"...
(through fourth jhana).

It seems that too many spiritual teachers and contemplative traditions
express enlightenment in all too often narrow and self-serving ways. This is
at least in part why we have so many interpretations of enlightenment.  A
teacher who shouts down his devotees saying, "I HAVE NO EGO" speaks for
itself.  So does philandering, as well as alcoholism and drug addiction,
power mongering, covetousness, gluttony, etc.

Sometimes enlightenment is never claimed but it is nonetheless implied.  We
might think that someone who feeds many people, and/or gives free retreats
and tirelessly teaches the dharma, and who never exhibits philandering,
alcoholism, drug addiction, and covetousness; must be a very enlightened
person.  However, when we review that person's history we may find that
individual has not empowered a single person to teach meditation and
philosophy in his or her own right.  We often find the philosophy of such
teachers rejects, subverts, obfuscates and/or mystifies bliss (piiti), joy
(sukha) and ecstasy (jhana/samadhi).  If this is true then we can see that
teacher is addicted to power and control.  This just means the ways of the
ego are sometimes subtle, but they are nonetheless traceable.

Siddhartha Gotama, Jesus of Nazareth, Saints: Francis of Assisi, Teresa of
Avila, and John of the Cross, empowered many people to teach.  Empowering
others is one of the earmarks of an enlightened one.  Have many of the
teachers and gurus of today empowered anyone to teach?  Few have, so few.
Hwy is that?

When people are not empowered, but are disempowered when they arrive at
meditative absorption (jhana/samadhi); and when meditative absorption
(jhana/samadhi) is dismissed and demonized by these teachers or traditions;
then we can say these are not the teaching of philosophy that is "beautiful
in the beginning, beautiful in the middle and beautiful in the end," as the
Buddha would describe his teaching.

People; however, continue to support the dry and stoic philosophical model.
Why is that? It seems reasonable to conclude people are afraid of meditative
absorption (jhana/samadhi).  If people are afraid of meditative absorption
(jhana/samadhi), we must conclude it is because it has been routinely
dismissed, marginalized and demonized through subversion, obfuscation and
mystification by the religions and traditions of the world. This too speaks
for itself.

Siddhartha Gotama, Jesus of Nazareth, Saints Francis of Assisi, Teresa of
Avila, and John of the Cross, and many, many more mystics expressed
themselves in terms of bliss (piiti), joy (sukha) and ecstasy
(jhana/samadhi).  The teachers and traditions who then reject bliss (piiti),
joy (sukha) and ecstasy (jhana/samadhi) must not have arrived at
enlightenment, and therefore do not know the path to enlightenment.

If we want enlightened teachers we must seek out those teachers who teach
bliss (piiti), joy (sukha) and ecstasy (jhana/samadhi) is attainable in this
very lifetime; and who claim to have found bliss (piiti), joy (sukha) and
ecstasy (jhana/samadhi) in their contemplative life.  If they have found
bliss (piiti), joy (sukha) and ecstasy (jhana/samadhi), then they will avoid
the 7 deadly sins; their students will find bliss (piiti), joy (sukha) and
ecstasy (jhana/samadhi) in their contemplative life. These enlightened
teachers will empower their students to go forth and teach a path that leads
to bliss (piiti), joy (sukha) and ecstasy (jhana/samadhi) in their own
right.

If we want enlightened teachers in our life we must support those teachers
who teach bliss (piiti), joy (sukha) and ecstasy (jhana/samadhi). We must
also stop supporting those teachers, traditions and religions that reject,
subvert, obfuscate and/or mystify (piiti), joy (sukha) and ecstasy
(jhana/samadhi).

If we want enlightenment in this very lifetime then we must follow the
training from enlightened teachers who teach bliss (piiti), joy (sukha) and
ecstasy (jhana/samadhi) is attainable in this very lifetime, and who have
found bliss (piiti), joy (sukha) and ecstasy (jhana/samadhi); and who teach
from the direct experience of bliss (piiti), joy (sukha) and ecstasy
(jhana/samadhi).  We must also not follow the conflicting and contradictory
and confusing teaching of those teachers, traditions and religions that
reject, subvert, obfuscate and/or mystify (piiti), joy (sukha) and ecstasy
(jhana/samadhi).

The expression of any teacher claiming or implying enlightenment, or
claiming to teach a path that leads to enlightenment, should fall within the
range of the expression of the many, many enlightened teachers of the world,
such as Siddhartha Gotama, Jesus of Nazareth, Saints Francis of Assisi,
Theresa of Avila, and John of the Cross; who expressed themselves in terms
of bliss (piiti), joy (sukha) and ecstasy (jhana/samadhi). If a teacher's
message is not expressed in terms of bliss (piiti), joy (sukha) and ecstasy
(jhana/samadhi); if that teacher does not avoid the 7 deadly sins; if that
teacher does not empower others to teach; then we can conclude that teacher
is not enlightened.

Kindest regards, Jhanananda


References:

Maha-satipatthana Sutta (DN 22.21)
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/pali/phalanikaya/mahasatipatthanasutta.ht
m


Your comments and opinions are most welcome, and please do let us know if
you wish your comments to be publicized in this journal.

May you dwell in the joyful home of the way
(Di.t.thadhammasukhavihaaraa)

Jeffrey S, Brooks
the Great Western Vehicle € Mahapacchimayana
PO Box 41795
Tucson, AZ 85717-1795
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/index.html


%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

The intention of this newsletter is to provide timely information to the
Southwestern community of contemplatives. This newsletter offers a monthly
calendar of meditation retreats and other related activities.  You are
welcome to forward, reproduce or copy in anyway or part this newsletter for
helping others to lead a contemplative life. I only ask that you give credit
to the newsletter and publisher.

This newsletter is a service of Jhanananda (Jeffrey S. Brooks) of the Great
Western Vehicle € Mahapacchimayana  The editor/publisher alone takes
responsibility for this newsletter and its content.

To Subscribe: SWI_E_letter-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Access to the archive of all back issues is at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SWI_E_letter/

Please direct all comments or submissions to the editor: Jhanananda (Jeffrey
S. Brooks) at: Jhanananda@...

Great Western Vehicle Ordination Program
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/gwvordinationprogram.htm

If you find the services of the Great Western Vehicle € Mahapacchimayanaof
value then please consider supporting the Great Western Vehicle
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May you become enlightened in this very life-time,

Jeff Brooks
Jhanananda
the Great Western Vehicle
PO Box 41795
Tucson, AZ 85717-1795
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/index.html

January 1, 2006


^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^
^:^:^       THE SOUTHWEST INSIGHT E'LETTER      ^:^:^
^:^:^                        Vol. 06.01                       ^:^:^
^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^

a service of the Great Western Vehicle € Mahapacchimayana
a 4th wheel Buddhist tradition
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/index.html


!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Jhana Meditation Sitting Groups !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Maha-satipatthana Sutta (DN 22.21)
"And what is skilful meditation (sama-samadhi)? There is a case where an
aspirant who is withdrawn from sensory experience, withdrawn from unskillful
mental states -- enters & remains in the first meditative absorption
(jhana)"...
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/mahasatipatthanasutta.htm

There are Jhana sensitive meditation groups starting in your area.
Email us for the nearest location.

Tucson, AZ Jhana, Satipatthana and Sutta Discussion Group.
8:30 AM to 10:00 AM on either Saturday or Sunday mornings
2506 E. Drachman, Tucson, 85716.
Contact: Mark Pirtle at mark@... or (520) 250-9027

Boulder, CO Jhana, Satipatthana Meditation and Sutta Discussion Group.
Contact: Michael Hawkins <adreampuppet@...>
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Buddhist Meetup !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

First Thursdays most Buddhist Meetup Groups meet.  To find the meeting in
your area click on this link http://buddhism.meetup.com/

%%%%%%% A CONTEMPLATIVE¹S CALENDAR %%%%%%

%%%%%%%%%% JAMUARY ­ FEBRUARY %%%%%%%%

JAN 1, - FEB 1, Jhana, learn the Joy of Meditation by meditating in the
wilderness with Jhanananda, who teaches meditation the way the Buddha taught
it, which was the 4 paths, or foundations, of mindfulness (satipatthana) and
learn it in the wilderness where the Buddha taught. Come for any part of the
retreat. Please RSVP at least 30 days in advance
jhanananda@...
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/events/index.htm

DEC 4 to JAN 22, Sunday Mornings, 9am ­ 12pm, Gampopa¹s ³Jewel Ornament of
Liberation,² A Foundation for Buddhist Study and Practice led by Khenpo
Sherab Özer Rinpoche. (excluding December 25 and January 1) Location:
Historic Y Building 738 N. 5th Ave, Tucson, Arizona 85705. Info: Pati Stein
520-465-1882 (Tucson) pati@...
www.drikungkagyutucson.org

DEC 27 -January 2, 2006 WINTER TEACHINGs led by Traga Rinpoche, Achala
Empowerment, Patrul Rinpoche's ³Words from the Dance of the Lotus Garden²
Medicine Buddha Empowerment at Garchen Buddhist Institute. PO Box 4318,
Chino Valley, AZ 86323. 928.925.1237 Email: garchen@...
Web: www.garchen.net

DEC 31, New Year's Eve 11:00 a.m.  Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche Live Broadcast
Tucson Shambhala Meditation Group" 3250 N. Tucson Blvd. Tucson, AZ
<info@...>

DEC 31, 7:30-9:30 Phoenix Metro area Dances of Universal Peace 2nd and last
Saturdays at the SouthWest Institute of Healing Arts, Tempe, 110 E. Apache
Blvd (East of Rural) John Hinton (602)841-2843, or om4u@...

DEC 31, Cornville, AZ, Dances of Universal Peace ­ Last Saturdays at The
Earthship. Cathryn Swann (928)634-1696
conscious@...

DEC 31st 7:30 PM New Year's Eve Benefit Concert at the Island, An evening of
heart opening New Year's Eve Meditation Concert special Medicine Buddha
meditation concert by cellist Nancy Green with facilitation by Lewis
Humphreys at Garchen Buddhist Institute . PO Box 4318, Chino Valley, AZ
86323. 928.925.1237 Email: garchen@... €Web€ www.garchen.net
www.nancygreencello.com  € http://www.dharma-media.org/wogmin/ddca.html

JAN 1 Sunday mornings from 10 to 11:30AM Gay-Lesbian-Bi-Trans meditation
group which meets at Wingspan, 4th Ave & University, Tucson, AZ

JAN 1st thru January 31st 2006 Vipassana Retreat, Marcia Rose and Annie
Nugent at The Forest Refuge Contact:  theforestrefuge@...

JAN 2, 7 PM Tucson BPF meetings 1st and 3rd Mondays at Martin's house, 701
E. Mabel, Tucson. (520) 320-5883. bpf_Tucson@yahoogroups.com
HTTP://groups.yahoo.com/groups/bpf_Tucson/cal

JAN 5, Tucson Buddhist Meetup Group First Thursday @ 7:00 PM at the Epic
Cafe 745 N 4th Av  Tucson, AZ  520-624-6844  *
<http://buddhism.meetup.com/10/>

JAN 7-Feb 23 ‹ DaeJa Napier will be Teachers-in-residence for short terms at
Santa Fe Vipassana Sangha, giving Tuesday night Dharma talks starting
January 17. She will also offer Dharma Study Wednesdays Jan 25, Feb 1 and
Feb 8, and interviews. For more information about interviews contact Mikaela
Barnes, Mikaela355@... € <http://www.santafevipassana.org>

JAN 8, 6:15 to 7:15 p.m. Children's Dharma Class, Ages 5 to 10, 2nd Sunday
of each month. 931 N. 5th Ave., (Pima Friend's Meeting House, Tucson).
Activities will include Jataka tales, art projects, sharing and mindful
snacking.  For more information call Katherine at (520) 290-1722.

JAN 11, 7 pm a special screening of ³Isn't This a Time!² A Tribute Concert
for Harold Leventhal, the impact of music on social change in this country
at Tucson Jewish Community Center  - 3800 E River (at Dodge) Info: Ted at
ITZABOUTIME, 402 S Star, Tucson AZ 85719 (520) 623 1688 <its@...>

JAN 14, Saturday, 2 - 4 pm THe frEE CoMMunity SiNG annual sing-a-long
celebrating Martin Luther King Jr. Day, The sing will be led by Ted
Warmbrand.  in the Calvin Room at St Marks Presbyterian Church, 3809 E 3rd
St. Info: Ted 623-1688 ITZABOUTIME
JAN 14, 7:30-9:30 Phoenix Metro area Dances of Universal Peace 2nd and last
Saturdays at the SouthWest Institute of Healing Arts, Tempe, 110 E. Apache
Blvd (East of Rural) John Hinton (602)841-2843, or om4u@...

JAN 15th Sundays, 3:00pm to 6:00pm, Survey of Tibetan Buddhism: The Secret,
Sacred Tantra of Tibet, Dharmakirti College at Ada Peirce McCormick
Building, 1401 East First Street, Tucson, AZ
Details at http://www.DharmakirtiCollege.org

JAN 15th Sundays, 10:00am to 1:00pm, Improving Your Practice: Western &
Buddhist Views of Attention, Emotion & Consciousness, Dharmakirti College,
Ada Peirce McCormick Building, 1401 East First Street, Tucson, AZ
Details at http://www.DharmakirtiCollege.org

JAN 16, 7 PM Tucson BPF meeting at Martin's house, 701 E. Mabel, Tucson. 1st
and 3rd Mondays (520) 320-5883. bpf_Tucson@yahoogroups.com
HTTP://groups.yahoo.com/groups/bpf_Tucson/cal

JAN 21, Prescott, AZ Dances of Universal Peace 3rd Saturdays at the Prescott
College Chapel. Kris Rogers (928) 778-1606 or P.O. Box 480, Prescott, AZ
tigermoon@... or www.prescottdances.org

JAN 21, 7:30-9:30 Tempe, AZ, Dances of Universal Peace 3rd Saturdays at the
Bodyworks Studio, 1801 S. Jentilly Ln., Suite B8, Tempe Terry Matthews
(480)998-9331 or (602)368-6784 or Terryamat@...

JAN 22, at 2:00 PM (4th Sunday of each month) Antigone's Buddhist reading
group at Antigone's bookstore at, 411 N. 4th Ave. Tucson, AZ. They can be
reached at (520) 792-3715 to find out the book they are currently working
with or www.antigonebooks.com

JAN 22, 6:15 to 7:15 p.m. 4th Sundays Children's Dharma Class, for older
kids, ages 10-14 info. 931 N. 5th Ave., (Pima Friend's Meeting House,
Tucson). For more information call Katherine at (520) 290-1722.

JAN 19 to 22, 2006 Thanissaro Bhikkhu will give a Meditation and Study
Retreat on Kamma of The Mind Thurs at Sunrise Springs Resort, Santa Fe, NM.
For registration and information:  sabina@... ,
www.lifetransition.com., 800 547-2574 or 505 982-4183.

JAN 28, 7:30-9:30 Phoenix Metro area Dances of Universal Peace 2nd and last
Saturdays at the SouthWest Institute of Healing Arts, Tempe, 110 E. Apache
Blvd (East of Rural) John Hinton (602)841-2843, or om4u@...

FEB 2-5, 2006 a Three Day Retreat in the Desert for Mureeds with Taj Inayat
in Albuquerque, New Mexico, held at the Madonna Center, 4040 St. Joseph
Place NW in Albuquerque, to Nur Azima Jones at 2524 Camino San Patricio,
Santa Fe, NM 87505. at (505) 920-8813  or email her at bcazima@....

FEB 19 ­ 28 Yamantaka Drubchen at Garchen Institute, PO Box 4318, Chino
Valley, AZ 86323, Phone: 928.925.1237
Email: garchen@...  Web: www.garchen.net

MAR 13-26 ‹ Matt Flickstein, will be Teachers-in-residence at Santa Fe
Vipassana Sangha, <http://www.santafevipassana.org>

MAR 15th - April 12th 2006 2nd Annual Hermitage, Taos New, Mexico led by
Marcia Rose and Annie Nugent Contact: The Mountain Hermitage 505-758-0633
hermit@... <http://www.mountainhermitage.org>

April 7,8,9 2006 Triangle of Empowerment: Integrating Body, Mind and Spirit.
Andrew Weil ,M.D., Larry Dossey M.D., Gladys McGarey M.D., Rabbi Rami
Shapiro, Russill Paul and Michael Green and The Illumination Band. The Inner
Connection, Tucson, AZ

April-May ‹ Grove Burnett, will be Teachers-in-residence at Santa Fe
Vipassana Sangha, <http://www.santafevipassana.org>

June ‹ Stephen and Martine Batchelor, will be Teachers-in-residence at Santa
Fe Vipassana Sangha, <http://www.santafevipassana.org>

July-Aug 17 ‹ DaeJa Napier, will be Teachers-in-residence at Santa Fe
Vipassana Sangha, <http://www.santafevipassana.org>

Aug 18-Sep 27 ‹ Lila Kate Wheeler, will be Teachers-in-residence at Santa Fe
Vipassana Sangha, <http://www.santafevipassana.org>

Oct 2-December ‹ Jason Siff, will be Teachers-in-residence at Santa Fe
Vipassana Sangha, <http://www.santafevipassana.org>


  +++++++++++++++ EDITORIAL +++++++++++++++++

The Jhanas and Addiction

Last updated December 18, 2005

By Jhanananda (Jeffrey S. Brooks)
232nd day of a solo wilderness retreat
Inyo National Forest
(copyright 2005 all rights reserved)

Frequently those who have arrived at the ecstasies (jhanas) are accused of
avoiding dealing with their psyches by ³escaping into bliss states.² And, I
have been asked by many people, ³is it possible to become addicted to the
ecstasies (jhanas)?²  I have been saying "no" all along, because the
ecstasies (jhanas) requires dispassion and equanimity for them to emerge and
deepen, and addictions are obsessive-compulsive personality disorders that
are a consequence of an anxiety disorder.  One who has established the
conditions of absorption (jhana) is going to be at least relatively free in
the moment of anxiety (dukkha) thus it seems unlikely that one who has given
rise to the absorption states is either addicted or has escaped the
consequences of their unresolved anxieties.

It is also worth pointing out the act of meditation itself is self
reflexive, so it seems unreasonable to accuse someone who is a contemplative
who has arrived at skilful meditation, which is defined by the ecstasies
(jhanas), of not engaging in self-observation, and self-reflection.  While
it is most certainly possible that someone could conceivably use any
religious activity, such as meditation, as a means of escape, however, one
who has arrived at the absorption states has by definition succeeded in
negotiating the layers of the psyche to arrive at what the Buddha called
³skilful or correct meditation, which was defined by him in the
Maha-satipatthana Sutta (DN 22.21).

Maha-satipatthana Sutta (DN 22.21)
"And what is skilful meditation (sama-samadhi)? There is the case where an
aspirant -- quite withdrawn from sensuality, withdrawn from unskillful
(mental) qualities -- enters & remains in the first absorption (jhana)"...
(through fourth jhana).

Some people have actually come out and stated that jhana yogis are addicted
to jhana.  Well, in the Buddha's own words in the Pasadika Sutta (DN 29),
yes, jhana yogis are addicted to jhana, worse, pleasure seeking.  But, he
said since it is a pleasure "not of the senses" it is a pleasure worthy of
seeking for one who seeks Buddhahood, Arahantship, full enlightenment.

Pasadika Sutta (DN 29)
The Delightful Discourse
24.2    ³There are, Cunda, these four kinds of life devoted to pleasure,
which are conducive to disenchantment, to dispassion, to cessation, to
tranquility, to realization, to enlightenment, to Nibbana.  What are they?
First a monk detached from sense-desires, detached from unwholesome mental
states, enters and remains in the first jhanaŠthe fourth jhana, which is
beyond pleasure and pain, and purified by equanimity and mindfulness.²

Now we have a further ask the question.  Is this ³addiction² to the
ecstasies (jhanas) a distraction on the path to enlightenment?  Are they an
³escape?² Are they an ³avoidance of necessary psychological work?² Do they
keep the contemplative a ³prisoner² of his or her own psyche?  The Buddha
has an answer for these questions as well.

Pasadika Sutta (DN 29)
³These are the four kinds of life devoted to pleasure, which are entirely
conducive to disenchantment, to cessation, to tranquility, to realization,
to enlightenment, to Nibbana.  So, if wanderers from other sects should say
that the followers of the Sakyan are addicted to these four forms of
pleasure seeking, they should be told: "Yes," for they would be speaking
correctly about you, they would not be slandering you with false or untrue
statements.²

Thus we can hardly assume one who has arrived at ³disenchantment, to
cessation, to tranquility, to realization, to enlightenment, to Nibbana,² is
one who is avoiding necessary ³psychological work² or a ³prisoner² of his or
her own psyche.

Later in the same sutta the Buddha states that one who arrives at the
ecstasies (jhanas) will become free of the fetters (samyojana).  If we look
at the fetters (please see below) we will see that for one who is
sufficiently skilful in meditation to have arrived at the ecstasies
(jhanas), that one will be free of narcissism, doubt, clinging to rules,
rights and rituals, sensuous craving, ill-will or aversion, craving for
material existence or lust for form, craving for immaterial or formless
existence, conceit, restlessness and ignorance.  One who is free of the
above ³fetters² should hardly be considered one who has an
obsessive-compulsive personality disorders.

Pasadika Sutta (DN 29)
25.    Then such wanderers might ask: "Well then, those who are given to
these four forms of pleasure-seeking - how many fruits, how many benefits
can they expect?"  And, you should reply: "They can expect four fruits, four
benefits.  What are they?  The first is when a monk by destruction of three
fetters has become a Stream-Winner, no more subject to rebirth in lower
worlds, firmly established, destined for full enlightenment; the second is
when a monk by the complete destruction of three fetters and the reduction
of greed, hatred and delusion, has become a Once-Returner, and having
returned once more to this world, will put an end to suffering; the third is
when a monk, by the destruction of the corruptions in this very life has, by
his own knowledge and realization, attained Arahantship, to the deliverance
of heart and through wisdom.  Such are the four fruits and the four benefits
that one given to these four forms of pleasure-seeking can expect."
a translation from the Pali by
Maurice Walshe, Wisdom Publications, Boston 1987, 1995

Further the Buddha said there was actually a path or way by which one could
become free of the ³fetters.²  And he said in the Mahamalunkya Sutta (MN 64)
that Jhana was that very path.

Mahamalunkya Sutta (MN 64)
The Greater Discourse to Malunkyaputta
7. The Blessed One said, ³There is a path, Ananda, a way to the abandoning
of the five lower fetters; that someone, by relying upon that path, on that
way, shall know and see and abandon the five lower fetters‹this is
possibleŠ²

9. ³And, what, Ananda, is the path, the way to the abandoning of the five
lower fetters?  Here, with seclusion from acquisitions, with the abandoning
of unwholesome states, with the complete tranquilization of the bodily
inertia, quite secluded from sensual pleasure, secluded from unwholesome
states, a bhikkhu enters upon and abides in the first jhanaŠ(through 8th
jhana).
(Majjhima Nikaya trans. Bhikkhus Nanamoli & Bodhi, Wisdom, 1995)

In fact in the Jhanasamyutta (SN 9.53) the Buddha said it was Jhana that was
the path to understanding and the destruction of the fetters.

Jhanasamyutta (SN 9.53)
"Bhikkhus, there are these five higher fetters.  What five?  Lust for form,
lust for the formless, conceit, restlessness, ignorance.  These are the five
higher fetters.  The four absorptions (jhanas) are to be developed for
direct knowledge of these five higher fetters, for the full understanding of
them, for their utter destruction, for their abandoning."
(Samyutta Nikaya trans. Bhikkhu Bodhi, Wisdom, 2000)

In conclusion we can say while the Buddha was not aware of 20th century
psychological concepts and terminology, his concept of the ³fetters² is
consistent with the range of psychological terminology that is associated
with obsessive-compulsive personality disorders.  And, he had come up with a
way of dissolving those aspects of the psyche that are commonly associated
with personality disorders.  And, his method of dealing with those aspects
of the psyche that are the basis for personality disorders was in the
cultivation of the absorption states (jhanas).

Finally we can also conclude one who has arrived at the meditative
absorption states (jhanas) must have ³dealt² with his or her ³necessary
psychological work² and is thus free of being a ³prisoner² to his or her own
psyche, because the ecstasies (jhanas) require dispassion and equanimity for
them to emerge and deepen, and addictions are obsessive-compulsive
personality disorders that are a consequence of an anxiety disorder.  One
who has established the conditions of absorption (jhana) is going to be at
least relatively free in the moment of anxiety (dukkha) thus it seems
unlikely that one who has given rise to the absorption states is either
addicted or has escaped the consequences of his or her unresolved anxieties.

The 10 Fetters (samyojana) tying beings to the wheel of existence:

5 Lower Fetters (orambhagiya-samyojana)
1Narcissismsakkaya-ditthi2Skeptical doubt vicikiccha3Clinging to rules,
rights and ritualssilabbata-paramasa; s. upadana4Sensuous craving
kama-raga5Ill-will or aversion vyapada
5 Higher Fetters (uddhambhagiya-samyojana)
1Craving for material existence or Lust for form rupa-raga2Craving for
immaterial or formless existence arupa-raga3Conceit
mana4Restlessnessuddhacca5Ignoranceavija

References:

Maha-satipatthana Sutta (DN 22.21)

Pasadika Sutta (DN 29)
The Delightful Discourse
a translation from the Pali by
Maurice Walshe, Wisdom Publications, Boston 1987, 1995

Mahamalunkya Sutta (MN 64)
The Greater Discourse to Malunkyaputta
(Majjhima Nikaya trans. Bhikkhus Nanamoli & Bodhi, Wisdom, 1995)
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/pali/tipitaka/2Sutta-Pitaka/2Majjhima-Nik
aya/Majjhima2/064-maha-malunkhyaputta-e1.htm

Jhanasamyutta (SN 9.53)
(Samyutta Nikaya trans. Bhikkhu Bodhi, Wisdom, 2000)



Your comments and opinions are most welcome, and please do let us know if
you wish your comments to be publicized in this journal.

May you dwell in the joyful home of the way
(Di.t.thadhammasukhavihaaraa)

Sotapanna Jhanananda (Jeffrey S, Brooks)
the Great Western Vehicle € Mahapacchimayana
PO Box 41795
Tucson, AZ 85717-1795
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/index.html


%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

The intention of this newsletter is to provide timely information to the
Southwestern community of contemplatives. This newsletter offers a monthly
calendar of meditation retreats and other related activities.  You are
welcome to forward, reproduce or copy in anyway or part this newsletter for
helping others to lead a contemplative life. I only ask that you give credit
to the newsletter and publisher.

This newsletter is a service of Jhanananda (Jeffrey S. Brooks) of the Great
Western Vehicle € Mahapacchimayana  The editor/publisher alone takes
responsibility for this newsletter and its content.

To Subscribe: SWI_E_letter-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Access to the archive of all back issues is at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SWI_E_letter/

Please direct all comments or submissions to the editor: Jhanananda (Jeffrey
S. Brooks) at: Jhanananda@...

Great Western Vehicle Ordination Program
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/gwvordinationprogram.htm

If you find the services of the Great Western Vehicle € Mahapacchimayanaof
value then please consider supporting the Great Western Vehicle
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/support.html


May you become enlightened in this very life-time,

Jeff Brooks
Jhanananda
the Great Western Vehicle
PO Box 41795
Tucson, AZ 85717-1795
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/index.html

December 1, 2005


^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^
^:^:^       THE SOUTHWEST INSIGHT E'LETTER      ^:^:^
^:^:^                        Vol. 05.12                       ^:^:^
^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^

a service of the Great Western Vehicle,
a 4th wheel Buddhist tradition
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/index.html


!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Jhana Meditation Sitting Groups !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Maha-satipatthana Sutta (DN 22.21)
"And what is skilful meditation (sama-samadhi)? There is a case where an
aspirant who is withdrawn from sensory experience, withdrawn from unskillful
mental states -- enters & remains in the first meditative absorption
(jhana)"...
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/mahasatipatthanasutta.htm

There are Jhana sensitive meditation groups starting in your area.
Email us for the nearest location.

Tucson Jhana, Satipatthana and Sutta Discussion Group.
8:30 AM to 10:00 AM on either Saturday or Sunday mornings
2506 E. Drachman, Tucson, 85716.
Contact Mark Pirtle at mark@... or (520) 250-9027

Boulder, CO Jhana, Satipatthana Meditation and Sutta Discussion Group.
Michael Hawkins <adreampuppet@...>
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Buddhist Meetup !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

First Thursdays most Buddhist Meetup Groups meet.  To find the meeting in
your area click on this link http://buddhism.meetup.com/

%%%%%%% A CONTEMPLATIVE¹S CALENDAR %%%%%%

%%%%%%%%%% DECEMBER ­ JAMUARY %%%%%%%%

DEC 1, 2005 - JAN 2, 2006 Jhana, the Joy of Meditation, a Winter Wilderness
Meditation Retreat led by Jhanananda, in Death Valley, Inyo National Forest,
California. Teaching the 4 paths, or foundations, of meditation
(satipatthana) the way the Buddha taught meditation, and taught in the
wilderness where he taught. Come for any part of the retreat. Please RSVP at
least 30 days in advance jhanananda@...
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/events/index.htm

DEC 1, Tucson Buddhist Meetup Group First Thursday @ 7:00 PM at the Epic
Cafe 745 N 4th Av  Tucson, AZ  520-624-6844  *
<http://buddhism.meetup.com/10/>

DEC. 2, 7 ­ 9 pm, Saturday Dec. 3 and Sunday Dec. 4. White Tara Healing
Retreat with empowerment led by Traga Rinpoche in Albuquerque, NM. Info,
Rigdzin Dharma Foundation, (505) 238-9807.

DEC 2nd - 4th, Lopon Barbara DuBois Teaching: "One Room Dharma Schoolhouse"
Practice Retreat, at the Garchen Buddhist Institute, PO Box 4318, Chino
Valley, AZ 86323 Phone: 928.925.1237 Email: garchen@... Web:
www.garchen.net

DEC. 3-10 - Metta Retreat with Marcia Rose   Mabel Dodge Luhan House - Taos,
NM Contact: 505-751-9686 or 800-846-2235 email
Mabel@...   or  www.mabeldodgeluhan.com

DEC 4 Sunday mornings from 10 to 11:30AM Gay-Lesbian-Bi-Trans meditation
group which meets at Wingspan, 4th Ave & University, Tucson, AZ

DEC 4 to JAN 22, Sunday Mornings, 9am ­ 12pm, Gampopa¹s ³Jewel Ornament of
Liberation,² A Foundation for Buddhist Study and Practice led by Khenpo
Sherab Özer Rinpoche. (excluding December 25 and January 1) Location:
Historic Y Building 738 N. 5th Ave, Tucson, Arizona 85705. Info: Pati Stein
520-465-1882 (Tucson) pati@...
www.drikungkagyutucson.org

DEC 5, 7 PM Tucson BPF meeting at Martin's house, 701 E. Mabel, Tucson.
(520) 320-5883. bpf_Tucson@yahoogroups.com
HTTP://groups.yahoo.com/groups/bpf_Tucson/cal

DEC 10, 7:30-9:30 Phoenix Metro area Dances of Universal Peace 2nd and last
Saturdays at the SouthWest Institute of Healing Arts, Tempe, 110 E. Apache
Blvd (East of Rural) John Hinton (602)841-2843, or om4u@...

DEC 11, 6:15 to 7:15 p.m. Children's Dharma Class, Ages 5 to 10, 2nd Sunday
of each month. 931 N. 5th Ave., (Pima Friend's Meeting House, Tucson).
Activities will include Jataka tales, art projects, sharing and mindful
snacking.  For more information call Katherine at (520) 290-1722.

DEC 17, Prescott, AZ Dances of Universal Peace Third Saturdays at the
Prescott College Chapel. Kris Rogers (928) 778-1606 or P.O. Box 480,
Prescott, AZ
tigermoon@... or www.prescottdances.org

DEC 17, 7:30-9:30 Tempe, AZ, Dances of Universal Peace 3rd Saturdays at the
Bodyworks Studio,1801 S. Jentilly Ln., Suite B8, Tempe Terry Matthews
(480)998-9331 or (602)368-6784 or Terryamat@...

DEC 19, 7 PM Tucson BPF meeting at Martin's house, 701 E. Mabel, Tucson. 1st
and 3rd Mondays (520) 320-5883. bpf_Tucson@yahoogroups.com
HTTP://groups.yahoo.com/groups/bpf_Tucson/cal

DEC. 21, 7:00 PM; Dharma Talk, by Pat Hawk Roshi, followed by discussion;
Sutra Service and one period of Zazen begin the evening at 6:30 PM. at Zen
Desert Sangha 3226 N. Martin, Tucson, AZ Bob Wallin, 620-6347; or, email
Bob: wallinrw@...

DEC 25, at 2:00 PM (4th Sunday of each month) Antigone's Buddhist reading
group Antigone's bookstore at, 411 N. 4th Ave. Tucson, AZ. They can be
reached at (520) 792-3715 to find out the book they are currently working
with or www.antigonebooks.com Since this is Christmas I would call ahead.

DEC 25, 6:15 to 7:15 p.m. 4th Sundays Children's Dharma Class, for older
kids, ages 10-14 info. 931 N. 5th Ave., (Pima Friend's Meeting House,
Tucson). For more information call Katherine at (520) 290-1722. Since this
is Christmas I would call ahead.

DEC 27 -January 2, 2006 WINTER TEACHINGs led by Traga Rinpoche, Achala
Empowerment, Patrul Rinpoche's ³Words from the Dance of the Lotus Garden²
Medicine Buddha Empowerment at Garchen Buddhist Institute. PO Box 4318,
Chino Valley, AZ 86323. 928.925.1237 Email: garchen@...
Web: www.garchen.net

DEC 31, 7:30-9:30 Phoenix Metro area Dances of Universal Peace 2nd and last
Saturdays at the SouthWest Institute of Healing Arts, Tempe, 110 E. Apache
Blvd (East of Rural) John Hinton (602)841-2843, or om4u@...

DEC 31, Cornville, AZ, Dances of Universal Peace ­ Last Saturdays at The
Earthship. Cathryn Swann (928)634-1696
conscious@...

JAN 1st thru January 31st 2006 Vipassana Retreat, Marcia Rose and Annie
Nugent at The Forest Refuge Contact:  theforestrefuge@...

JAN 19 to 22, 2006 Thanissaro Bhikkhu will give a Meditation and Study
Retreat on Kamma of The Mind Thurs at Sunrise Springs Resort, Santa Fe, NM.
For registration and information:  sabina@... ,
www.lifetransition.com., 800 547-2574 or 505 982-4183.

Feb  2-5, 2006 a Three Day Retreat in the Desert for Mureeds with Taj Inayat
in Albuquerque, New Mexico, held at the Madonna Center, 4040 St. Joseph
Place NW in Albuquerque, to Nur Azima Jones at 2524 Camino San Patricio,
Santa Fe, NM 87505. at (505) 920-8813  or email her at bcazima@....

MAR 15th - April 12th 2006 2nd Annual Hermitage, Taos New, Mexico led by
Marcia Rose and Annie Nugent Contact: The Mountain Hermitage 505-758-0633
hermit@... <http://www.mountainhermitage.org>

April 7,8,9 2006 Triangle of Empowerment: Integrating Body, Mind and Spirit.
Andrew Weil ,M.D., Larry Dossey M.D., Gladys McGarey M.D., Rabbi Rami
Shapiro, Russill Paul and Michael Green and The Illumination Band. The Inner
Connection, Tucson, AZ

  +++++++++++++++ EDITORIAL +++++++++++++++++

How to Determine an Authentic Enlightened Teacher

By Dhammaccariya Jhanananda (Jeffrey S. Brooks)
144th day of summer solo wilderness retreat
Inyo National Forest
September, 21, 2005
(Copyright 2005 all rights reserved)

There is a most pleasant juniper and pine scent in the air here in the Inyo
National Forest after yesterday¹s rain, so it is a pleasurable work to study
the teachings of the enlightened ones, and to write commentary upon them. A
recent letter inspired this reflection.

Is there a method by which one could ascertain whether a teacher is
authentically enlightened or not? First we have to begin with accepting that
people have very unrealistic expectations of an enlightened one. These
unrealistic expectations begin with the myths that are embedded in every
religion.  Christians are always looking for a guy who was born of a virgin,
walks on water and raises the dead.  Jews are always looking for someone who
can send pestilences and part the seas, and who talks to burning bushes, the
Moslem don't look for an enlightened teacher (prophet) because they believe
the last one came 1,500 years ago and he talked to angels and flew bodily
through the air, Buddhists are looking for a guy who turns into a rainbow
and teleports his community of monks across.  And, Hindus have the biggest
expectations of all because they are looking for a guy who can satisfy
10,000 wives. What if that enlightened teacher is a woman?

When I was seven I assumed the fantastic stories taught by my religion of
origin, Protestant Christianity, were nothing more than myths because no one
I had met had done any fantastic tricks, nor had any of them seen anyone who
had performed them.  Even at that early age I understood that the followers
of the major religions of the world have been waiting for thousands of years
for magic tricks that will never come.

Then we have those who are willing to go for any old crazy guy that claims
to be an enlightened master.  So, they line up by the 10s of thousands to be
fleeced by materialists, alcoholics, drug addicts, sex addicts and power
mongers like Rajnish, Choigum Trungpa and Free-John, who masquerade as
enlightened masters.  There just should be some way to determine the
authenticity of an enlightened teacher.

My method of determining an authentic teacher is very simple. First I throw
out the Marvel Comic Book Super-Hero myths, because I am not willing to wait
another 2 thousand years for a myth that will never come. Next, I use the
behavior of the mystics for whom there is a reasonably authentic and
realistic record of their personal lives, so I use what I believe is the
real Buddha, Jesus, Francis of Assisi, Rumi, Kabir, Teresa of Avila, John of
the Cross and Ramakrishna; as my examples.  I say, would one of these
enlightened masters own 100 expensive cars, be diamond studded, drug his or
her followers to insure they have a "religious experience" and/or poison a
whole town of people to manipulate their elections? Would one of these
authentic mystics be so drug and sex addicted to die by the time he or she
is 35 from a combination of AIDS, alcoholism and drug addiction?  Would one
of these enlightened ones be engaging in "bazaar and demeaning sexual
practices" with his or her disciples?  The answer always comes up, "No."

Often the popular spiritual teachers are insulated by layers of protective
institutions that prevent us from seeing the real person behind the great or
famous teacher.  I can only say that if there are no rumors from
disenfranchised members from that institution, then it is reasonable to
speculate that the guru is the real deal, or at least more masterful at
protecting his/her true identity. Rumors are not always a reliable source
however.

On the other hand, I see no value in following a guru who cannot give one
personal guidance.  Why be one of the nameless and faceless minions?  There
are plenty of religions within which one can be obscure.

A teacher can manifest great ethical behavior and yet have not a clue about
mystical experiences. Thich Nhat Han and the Dali Lama are good examples of
this.  I find both of these individual have been a great inspiration to many
of us western contemplatives. However, I believe we err when we try to turn
these noble and ethical people into meditation masters, and mystics. There
simply is no evidence in support of their accomplishments in meditation to
support believing that they are mystics.  Thus we need to apply some
discrimination in regard to our search for an authentic spiritual teacher.

There are of course teachers who claim a treasure trove of interior or
mystical experiences, who nonetheless own a private palace in a tropical
paradise. We must keep in mind often that "treasure trove" may be nothing
more than story and intellectualism.

We have teachers, like Castañeda, who wrote fiction, but many of us bought
his "Yaqui man of knowledge" myth.  The key here is the myth has to match up
to reality.  There was no reality in Castañeda's myth.  I found while
studying southwestern archeology, anthropology and ethnology that there were
simply no authentic details of the Yaqui way of life revealed in Castañeda's
myth.  And, there were no students at all who had a personal relationship
with Castañeda, who rose as peers to corroborate his message.  Additionally
the LA Times reported in the 80s that Castañeda's ex-wife claimed he
fabricated the whole story based upon taking LSD in the desert east of LA.
Thus we can conclude Castañeda's story was nothing but myth

An authentic enlightened teacher must speak from his or her own personal
experience.  Too often we hear a lot of intellectualism and pontification
from teachers who are not authentic.  These are easy to dispense with,
because they offer not a single personal reference.

What should be revealed in the biography of an authentic enlightened teacher
is a clear representation of teacher¹s journey to enlightenment.  A 16 year
old, who's mommy says he is enlightened, such as Maharaj-ji in the 70s, is
not enough.  In such a case we can see that this is a classic case of
parental projection.  One must be an adult, and one's journey to
enlightenment must have taken years through many difficulties, as the
stories of so many of the mystics has revealed.

Some schools put forward the premise that an authentic enlightened one means
not only knowledge, but the power to intercede, as in the practice of
shaktipat, which is the bestowing of grace through the touch of the teacher.
This premise could bring us right back to the myths of the religious
institutions of today.  With the expectation of the "power to intercede" we
could be looking for someone who can send pestilences, part the seas, born
of a virgin, walks on water, raises the dead, flies bodily through the air
or turns into a rainbow.  If we did we would wait for 2,000 or 20,000 more
years and still never see anyone do that.

I believe it falls down to more simple requirements.  Does the individual
walk his or her talk?  Did the individual actual make the journey?  Can this
person express that journey in a way that others can understand it?  Does
this person's teaching fall within the domain of the message of the great
mystics?  Then we have to be willing to make a leap of faith and accept our
failures in judgment if our choice was incorrect.

Our seeking of an authentic enlightened teacher can be compounded by the
broad range of definitions for enlightenment that is expressed by the
various religions and contemplative traditions.  Is it possible that
enlightenment has such a broad expression?  Or, is it possible that the
various teachers and traditions have adjusted the traditional interpretation
of enlightenment to fit the experience of their particular teacher?  I
believe in part the later is true, which has made the former appear correct,
when it is in fact in error.

One of the reasons why I have been critiquing the dogma of the various
religions is they have been presenting to us too broad an interpretation of
enlightenment.  In a Zen context satori, or no-mind, is held up as the end
all.  Well, if we were to examine the Buddha¹s discourses on enlightenment
(DN 2, 22, MN 119), then we would have to accept that if jhana was the
Buddha¹s definition of enlightenment, then satori is only the second jhana,
which means satori (no-mind) was not the Buddha¹s definition of
enlightenment.

Thus in the biography and the teachings of one who claims, or is said, to be
enlightened there must be the content of how the pantheon of enlightened
teachers expressed their enlightenment.  Since Sidharta Gotama; the
Christian contemplatives, such as Saints Francis of Assisi, Bernard of
Clairvaux, Teresa of Avila and John of the Cross; the Sufi mystics such as
al-Hallaj, Rumi and Kabir; Kabbalists messiahs, such as Isaac Luria and the
Ba¹al Shem Tov of Turin; and the Hindu yogis, such as Sañkhara and Sri
Ramakrishna; all described their experience within the context of bliss, joy
and ecstasy, and they all lived ethical lives. We can then conclude that
certainly the story of any one who claims, or is said, to be enlightened
must fall within the personal experience of bliss, joy and ecstasy and that
person must live an exemplary life, or at least not manifest the seven
deadly sins.


References:

Kayagata-sati Sutta (MN 119) ³Mindfulness of the Body²
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/pali/phalanikaya/kayagatasati.htm

Maha-satipatthana Sutta (DN 22), ³Larger Discourse on the Four Paths of
Mindfulness² updated 10-27-04
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/pali/phalanikaya/mahasatipatthanasutta.ht
m

Samaññaphala Sutta (DN 2) ³The Discourse on the Fruits of the Contemplative
Life²
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/pali/phalanikaya/samannaphala.htm


Your comments and opinions are most welcome, and please do let us know if
you wish your comments to be publicized in this journal.

May you dwell in the joyful home of the way
(Di.t.thadhammasukhavihaaraa)

Sotapanna Jhanananda (Jeffrey S, Brooks)
the Great Western Vehicle
PO Box 41795
Tucson, AZ 85717-1795
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/index.html


%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

The intention of this newsletter is to provide timely information to the
Southwestern community of contemplatives. This newsletter offers a monthly
calendar of meditation retreats and other related activities.  You are
welcome to forward, reproduce or copy in anyway or part this newsletter for
helping others to lead a contemplative life. I only ask that you give credit
to the newsletter and publisher.

This newsletter is a service of Jhanananda (Jeffrey S. Brooks) of the Great
Western Vehicle.  The editor/publisher alone takes responsibility for this
newsletter and its content.

To Subscribe: SWI_E_letter-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Access to the archive of all back issues is at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SWI_E_letter/

Please direct all comments or submissions to the editor: Jhanananda (Jeffrey
S. Brooks) at: Jhanananda@...

Great Western Vehicle Ordination Program
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/gwvordinationprogram.htm

If you find the services of the Great Western Vehicle of value then please
consider supporting the Great Western Vehicle
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/support.html


May you become enlightened in this very life-time,

Jeff Brooks
Jhanananda
the Great Western Vehicle
PO Box 41795
Tucson, AZ 85717-1795
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/index.html

November 1, 2005


^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^
^:^:^       THE SOUTHWEST INSIGHT E'LETTER      ^:^:^
^:^:^          Vol. 05.11                       ^:^:^
^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^

a service of the Great Western Vehicle,
a 4th wheel Buddhist tradition
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/index.html


!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Jhana Meditation Sitting Groups !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Maha-satipatthana Sutta (DN 22.21)
"And what is skilful meditation (sama-samadhi)? There is a case where an
aspirant who is withdrawn from sensory experience, withdrawn from unskillful
mental states -- enters & remains in the first meditative absorption
(jhana)"...
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/mahasatipatthanasutta.htm

There are Jhana sensitive meditation groups starting in your area.
Email us for the nearest location.

Tucson Jhana, Satipatthana and Sutta Discussion Group.
8:30 AM to 10:00 AM on either Saturday or Sunday mornings
2506 E. Drachman, Tucson, 85716.
Contact Mark Pirtle at mark@... or (520) 250-9027

Boulder, CO Jhana, Satipatthana Meditation and Sutta Discussion Group.
Michael Hawkins <adreampuppet@...>
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Buddhis Meetup !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

First Thursdays most Buddhist Meetup Groups meet.  To find the meeting in
your area click on this link http://buddhism.meetup.com/

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here's a chance in real time to get on the fast track to enlightenment with
Bob Thurman, learn radical acceptance from Tara Brach, or explore Buddhism
without beliefs with Stephen Batchelor.  With Tricycle Tele-Teachings This
is the link to the information page on the Tricycle Website:
http://www.tricycle.com/foundation/ttt.html

%%%%%%% A CONTEMPLATIVE¹S CALENDAR %%%%%%

%%%%%%%%%% NOVEMBER ­ DECEMBER %%%%%%%%

OCT  29, 2:30-4:30 pm  frEE CoMMunity SiNG, led by Ted Warmbrandt, at the
Ada Peirce McCormick Building Library n.e. corner of Highland and 1st Street
on the U of A Campus Refreshments provided, info: Ted 623-1688 ITZABOUTIME]

OCT 30 Sunday mornings from 10 to 11:30AM Gay-Lesbian-Bi-Trans meditation
group which meets at Wingspan, 4th Ave & University, Tucson, AZ

OCT 30, Sunday, from 4-6pm, Buddhist Peace Fellowship (BPF) potluck, hosted
by Singing Bird Sangha, at the Meeting House on 5th Ave 931 N. 5th Ave.,
(Pima Friend's Meeting House, Tucson).

NOV 1 - NOV 30, 2005 Fall Wilderness Meditation Retreat led by Jhanananda in
the Upper Owens River Valley of the Inyo National Forest, California,
Teaching the 4 paths of meditation (satipatthana) the way the Buddha taught
it, in the wilderness where he taught. Come for any part of the retreat.
RSVP jhanananda@...
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/events/index.htm

NOV 3, Tucson Buddhist Meetup Group First Thursday @ 7:00 PM at the Epic
Cafe 745 N 4th Av  Tucson, AZ  520-624-6844  *
<http://buddhism.meetup.com/10/>

NOV 6 Sunday mornings from 10 to 11:30AM Gay-Lesbian-Bi-Trans meditation
group which meets at Wingspan, 4th Ave & University, Tucson, AZ

NOV 6-16 10-Day Mindfulness Meditation Retreat Led by Shinzen Young for the
Tucson Community Meditation Center at the C.O.D. Ranch, Oracle, AZ, 37 miles
NE of Tucson. website at www.codranch.com Registrar, Debra Raeber, at
520/577-3029 or debraraeber@...

NOV 6th, 1:30pm - 4:30pm, Sant Mat Events at Mail Library, 101 N. Stone
Ave., Tucson. Call 520-544-8139 or 520-762-5188 or visit
www.knowthyselfassoul.org

NOV 7, 7 PM Tucson BPF meeting at Martin's house, 701 E. Mabel, Tucson.
(520) 320-5883. bpf_Tucson@yahoogroups.com
HTTP://groups.yahoo.com/groups/bpf_Tucson/cal

NOV 8 - 10 Investigating the Mind 2005 The Science and Clinical Applications
of Meditation DAR Constitution Hall, Washington DC with the Dalai Lama The
Mind & Life Institute <www.InvestigatingTheMind.org>

NOV 9 Sunday mornings from 10 to 11:30AM Gay-Lesbian-Bi-Trans meditation
group which meets at Wingspan, 4th Ave & University, Tucson, AZ

NOV 10th, Thursdays 7:00 PM to 8:30 PM OCT 20th, OCT 27th, NOV 10th, and NOV
17th Ten Grave Precepts Class led by Dan Dorsey at Zen Desert Sangha, 3226
N. Martin, one block west of Campbell, one half block north of Ft. Lowell,
Tucson  Call 624-8030 or e-mail dorsey@...

NOV 11 - 13; Weekend Sesshin with Pat Hawk Roshi; at Zen Desert Sangha, 3226
N. Martin, Tucson, AZ; Register!: Bob Wallin, 620-6347; or, email Bob:
wallinrw@...

NOV 11 - 13th Khenmo Nyima Drolma Teaching: The Uttara Tantra, at the
Garchen Buddhist Institute, PO Box 4318, Chino Valley, AZ 86323 Phone:
928.925.1237 Email: garchen@... Web: www.garchen.net

NOV 11, 2005   7:30 pm Public Evening Talk by Pir Zia Inayat Khan at St.
Philip¹s in the Hills Episcopal Church - Music Hall, 4440 North Campbell for
the , Tucson Sufi Community

NOV 12th, 12:00pm - 3:00pm, Sant Mat Events at Woods Library, 3455 N. 1st
Ave., Tucson. Call 520-544-8139 or 520-762-5188 or visit
www.knowthyselfassoul.org

NOV 12 and 13 Sought by the Spirit a Silent Weekend Retreat, led by Pir Zia
Inayat Khan, 3705 N. Old Sabino Canyon Road, Tucson Sufi Community, Qayyima
Schmidt at (520) 721-5106, or call Marcia Zaccaria at (520) 615-2781
tucsonsufi@...

NOV 12 7:30-9:30 Phoenix Metro area Dances of Universal Peace 2nd and last
Saturdays at the SouthWest Institute of Healing Arts, Tempe, 110 E. Apache
Blvd (East of Rural) John Hinton (602)841-2843, or om4u@...

NOV 13, 6:15 to 7:15 p.m. Children's Dharma Class, Ages 5 to 10, 2nd Sunday
of each month. 931 N. 5th Ave., (Pima Friend's Meeting House, Tucson).
Activities will include Jataka tales, art projects, sharing and mindful
snacking.  For more information call Katherine at (520) 290-1722.

NOV 15-22 Vajrakilaya Empowerment, Teachings, & Drupchen led by Garchen
Rinpoche at Garchen Buddhist Institute. PO Box 4318, Chino Valley, AZ 86323.
928.925.1237 Email: garchen@...
Web: www.garchen.net

NOV 17th, Thursdays 7:00 PM to 8:30 PM OCT 20th, OCT 27th, NOV 10th, and NOV
17th Ten Grave Precepts Class led by Dan Dorsey at Zen Desert Sangha, 3226
N. Martin, one block west of Campbell, one half block north of Ft. Lowell,
Tucson  Call 624-8030 or e-mail dorsey@...

NOV 19, Prescott, AZ Dances of Universal Peace Third Saturdays at the
Prescot College Chapel. Kris Rogers (928) 778-1606 or P.O. Box 480,
Prescott, AZ
tigermoon@... or www.prescottdances.org

NOV 19, 7:30-9:30 Tempe, AZ, Dances of Universal Peace 3rd Saturdays at the
Bodyworks Studio,1801 S. Jentilly Ln., Suite B8, Tempe Terry Matthews
(480)998-9331 or (602)368-6784 or Terryamat@...

NOV 20, Sunday, from 4-6pm, Buddhist Peace Fellowship (BPF) potluck, hosted
by Tucson Shambhala Meditation Center, at 3250 N. Tucson Blvd.

NOV 21, 7 PM Tucson BPF meeting at Martin's house, 701 E. Mabel, Tucson.
(520) 320-5883. bpf_Tucson@yahoogroups.com
HTTP://groups.yahoo.com/groups/bpf_Tucson/cal

NOV 26 Cornville, AZ, Dances of Universal Peace ­ Last Saturdays at The
Earthship. Cathryn Swann (928)634-1696
conscious@...

NOV 26 7:30-9:30 Phoenix Metro area Dances of Universal Peace 2nd and last
Saturdays at the SouthWest Institute of Healing Arts, Tempe, 110 E. Apache
Blvd (East of Rural) John Hinton (602)841-2843, or om4u@...

NOV 23 Sunday mornings from 10 to 11:30AM Gay-Lesbian-Bi-Trans meditation
group which meets at Wingspan, 4th Ave & University, Tucson, AZ

NOV 27, at 2:00 PM (4th Sunday of each month) Antigone's Buddhist reading
group Antigone's bookstore at, 411 N. 4th Ave. Tucson, AZ. They can be
reached at (520) 792-3715 to find out the book they are currently working
with or www.antigonebooks.com

NOV 27, 6:15 to 7:15 p.m. 4th Sundays Children's Dharma Class, for older
kids, ages 10-14 info. 931 N. 5th Ave., (Pima Friend's Meeting House,
Tucson). For more information call Katherine at (520) 290-1722.

DEC 1, 2005 - JAN 2, 2006 Winter Wilderness Meditation Retreat led by
Jhanananda in Death Valley in the Inyo National Forest, California. Teaching
the 4 paths of meditation (satipatthana) the way the Buddha taught it, in
the wilderness where he taught. Come for any part of the retreat. RSVP
jhanananda@...
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/events/index.htm

DEC 2nd - 4th, Lopon Barbara DuBois Teaching: "One Room Dharma Schoolhouse"
Practice Retreat, at the Garchen Buddhist Institute, PO Box 4318, Chino
Valley, AZ 86323 Phone: 928.925.1237 Email: garchen@... Web:
www.garchen.net

DEC. 3-10 - Metta Retreat with Marcia Rose   Mabel Dodge Luhan House - Taos,
NM Contact: 505-751-9686 or 800-846-2235 email
Mabel@...   or  www.mabeldodgeluhan.com

DEC. 21, 7:00 PM; Dharma Talk, by Pat Hawk Roshi, followed by discussion;
Sutra Service and one period of Zazen begin the evening at 6:30 PM. at Zen
Desert Sangha 3226 N. Martin, Tucson, AZ Bob Wallin, 620-6347; or, email
Bob: wallinrw@...

DEC 27 -January 2, 2006 WINTER TEACHINGs led by Traga Rinpoche, Achala
Empowerment, Patrul Rinpoche's ³Words from the Dance of the Lotus Garden²
Medicine Buddha Empowerment at Garchen Buddhist Institute. PO Box 4318,
Chino Valley, AZ 86323. 928.925.1237 Email: garchen@...
Web: www.garchen.net

JAN 1st thru January 31st 2006 Vipassana Retreat, Marcia Rose and Annie
Nugent at The Forest Refuge Contact:  theforestrefuge@...

JAN 19 to 22, 2006 Thanissaro Bhikkhu will give a Meditation and Study
Retreat on Kamma of The Mind Thurs at Sunrise Springs Resort, Santa Fe, NM.
For registration and information:  sabina@... ,
www.lifetransition.com., 800 547-2574 or 505 982-4183.

Feb  2-5, 2006 a Three Day Retreat in the Desert for Mureeds with Taj Inayat
in Albuquerque, New Mexico, held at the Madonna Center, 4040 St. Joseph
Place NW in Albuquerque, to Nur Azima Jones at 2524 Camino San Patricio,
Sanata Fe, NM 87505. at (505) 920-8813  or email her at bcazima@....

MAR 15th - April 12th 2006 2nd Annual Hermitage, Taos New, Mexico led by
Marcia Rose and Annie Nugent Contact: The Mountain Hermitage 505-758-0633
hermit@... <http://www.mountainhermitage.org>

April 7,8,9 2006 Triangle of Empowerment: Integrating Body, Mind and Spirit.
Andrew Weil ,M.D., Larry Dossey M.D., Gladys McGarey M.D., Rabbi Rami
Shapiro, Russill Paul and Michael Green and The Illumination Band. The Inner
Connection, Tucson, AZ

  +++++++++++++++ EDITORIAL +++++++++++++++++

A Critique of the translation of the Buddha¹s Teachings

By Dhammaccariya Jhanananda (Jeffrey S. Brooks):
Inyo National Forest
October 3, 2005
(Copyright 2005 all rights reserved)

Every culture that has embraced Buddhism has spent the first few centuries
of that endeavor in acquiring and translating the early canon of Buddhist
literature, which is known as the ³Ti or Tri Pitaka,² which means the ³Three
Baskets.² The ³Three Baskets² are three libraries or collections of early
Buddhist canonical literature. They include: the Discourses of the Buddha or
the ³sutta/sutra pitaka;² The ³Vinaya² or Monastic collect; and the
³Abhidhamma,² which is the earliest commentaries on the Discourses of the
Buddha.

It is a matter of history that the Buddha spoke in the common language of
the people of his region. The people of his region were Magada, thus he
spoke and taught in the Magadan language, not Sanskrit as some people
believe.

The Pali language is a liturgical language that is based upon the ancient
Magadan language of 26 centuries ago when the Buddha taught in that
language. Once the Buddha's teachings were written down in the first century
BC they were almost immediately translated into Sinhala and Sanskrit. When
Buddhism arrived in China, then Korea, then Japan then Tibet, the Three
Baskets were acquired in Sanskrit then translated into Chinese then
translated into the languages of those above regions.

As the English speaking peoples embrace Buddhism we have the choice of
acquiring the teachings of the Buddha in the above mentioned languages.
However, why go through three layers of translation, which are only going to
increase the likelihood of translator bias and religious dogma overlaying
the Buddha¹s original message, when we can go back to the original language
of the Buddha, which is represented by the Pali language?

For scholarly purposes we believe serious students of Buddhism are going to
want to penetrate through the fog of translator bias and religious dogma to
get as close to the original teachings of the Buddha as one can. One cannot
hope to penetrate the language of the dhamma without a Pali-to-English
dictionary that reflects a clear understanding of the Pali language and the
Buddha¹s teachings.

Previous efforts in constructing Pali-to-English dictionaries have
functioned under the erroneous premise that translation is a science and
that abstract concepts, such as the philosophical principles of the Buddha
can be translated with a single word under all circumstances from one
language and culture to the next.  Translation is not a science but an art
for which there is a range of expression, because abstract concepts rarely
have the same range of meaning from one language and culture to the next.

It is our premise that getting at Sidharta Gotama¹s philosophy requires, in
part, realizing that the Buddha and his people were working from a different
world-view than that of the contemporary Western world-view, thus it is
often rather difficult to simply translate the words of the Buddha literally
and end up with something cogent at the other end.

Often translations depend upon literal translations of abstract concepts,
such as the concepts of Dependent Origination.  The problem is a literal
translation in the hands of someone who does not either understand Dependent
Origination or the Western world-view typically produces unsuccessful
compound terms, such as " mentality materiality," ³sense contact² and ³eye
consciousness.² These terms are nothing more than a lot of Dependent
Origination double-talk and Pali-speak that seems to pervade the Buddha¹s
discourse in English translation, and we believe only serves to make the
Buddha¹s discourses opaque to the common Western reader.

When one reads clumsy compound English terms, such as mentioned above, we
can conclude the translator or commentator is either not familiar with the
Western language of cognition and/or does not understand the Buddha¹s
philosophy of Dependent Origination.  It is clear to this contemplative that
one must understand both to be able to clearly articulate Dependent
Origination, and the Buddha¹s philosophy and contemplative practices
(dhamma) to the Western people.

In Western psychology and neurology we use terminology like:
Œneurophysiology¹ and Œpsycho soma¹ to express the same concept the Buddha
referred to when he used the compound term Œnama-rupa,¹ which is too often
rather clumsily rendered as "mentality materiality." We use Œsensory
stimuli¹ for another clumsy compound term Œ(sense organ) contact.¹ We use
³originates in sensory stimuli² for the clumsy ³born of sense contact.² And,
we use Œcognition¹ for the incorrect translation of the term Œviññana¹ as
Œconsciousness.¹

It is very possible that some dharma teachers think if they can make their
explanation of Dependent Origination really opaque, then (s)he will appear
very intelligent instead of too dull to understand the rather elegant
principle it is. It is this editor¹s belief that a well-executed translation
of the Buddha¹s Discourses (Sutta Pitaka) hardly needs commentary, so one
may use that premise as a guide for determining the skillfulness of any
translation.

The creation of another Pali-to-English dictionary initially grew out of
having sat through many instances where an Asian interpreter, who is
translating for an Asian monk, is engaged in an argument with some native
speakers of English in the audience who are questioning his use of the term
Œconsciousness¹ in the translation of the Asian teacher¹s dialog. The Asian
interpreters are frequently caught in the unfortunate error of attempting to
teach a native speaker of English his or her own language.

The typical interpreter¹s error originates in the erroneous translation of
the Sanskrit term Œcitta¹ or the Pali term Œviññána¹ as Œconsciousness.¹  If
translators of Asian contemplative literature were a bit more skilful in
their understanding of cognition and gnosis they would never have translated
these terms in that way.  While it is understandable how difficult it can be
to render an abstract concept, such as Œconsciousness¹ or Œcognition,¹ into
another language, still cognition is a much better rendering of the terms
Œcitta¹ or Œviññána.¹

Wherever possible we have also endeavored to extract the influence of dogma
prevalent in the three Asian vehicles of Buddhism that does not stand up
against a comparative literary analysis of the original Discourses of the
Buddha.  For instance the concept of ³access-concentration² (s.
javana-samádhi) is religious dogma without canonical support. While this
term appears in the early commentaries, such as the Abhidhamma and the
Visuddhimagga, as well as the four Pali-to-English dictionaries, there is no
canonical support for that term, so this editor has determined it is most
probably apocryphal.

Further, if we examine how the term is used, then we find the concept of
Œaccess concentration¹ is typically used to describe a subjective state or
condition that arises prior to the subjective states of absorption
(jhana/samadhi), which were described by the Buddha.  The problem with
recognizing a state of meditation induced absorption prior to jhana/samadhi,
is the Buddha did not seem to think it was important to acknowledge such a
subjective state.  In fact it is the premise of this editor that there is no
subjective state that precedes the first stage of absorption, other than a
state of non-absorption.  Thus we have concluded that ³access-concentration²
(s. javana-samádhi) is either a clear misunderstanding of the Buddha¹s
discourses or very possibly intentional subversion and obfuscation of the
Buddha¹s teachings.

This issue brings up another example of erroneous translations of Pali and
Sanskrit terminology in the translation of the Pali term Œjhana¹ and the
Sanskrit term Œsamadhi¹ as Œconcentration.¹  The English term
Œconcentration¹ is the act of applying and sustaining one¹s attention upon a
subject, such as one¹s schoolwork or attending to a meditation object.  The
problem with translating the Pali term Œjhana¹ and the Sanskrit term
Œsamadhi¹ as Œconcentration¹ is Siddhartha Gotama had defined the terms
Œjhana¹ and Œsamadhi¹ in terms of bliss (piiti) and joy (sukha) in numerous
suttas, such as the Maha-satipatthana sutta (DN 22).  Patanjali, the author
of the Yoga Sutras, did not use the term Œjhana¹, however he did use the
term Œsamadhi¹ and he defined it in ecstatic terms in much the same way the
Buddha did.  Thus the definition of the eighth hold of the Noble Eightfold
Path is not ³Right Concentration² but ³Right Meditative Absorption,² or what
Teresa of Avila called ³ecstasy² in her book the ³Interior Castle.²

We need only recall when we were children and our schoolteachers asked us to
Œconcentrate¹ upon our schoolwork that they were not asking us to experience
bliss and joy.  Thus we can conclude that defining the Pali term Œjhana¹ and
the Sanskrit term Œsamadhi¹ as merely Œconcentration¹ is most clearly
erroneous, and could very possibly be another example of intentional
appropriation, subversion and obfuscation of the Buddha¹s teachings.

One of the goals of the Great Western Vehicle is to bring the Buddha's
teachings to the broadest audience. However, when the translation of the
Buddha¹s teachings are executed without a clear understanding of English
language of cognition and gnosis, then we have confusion, misunderstandings
and half-truths as translations of the Buddha¹s teachings. Thus to meet our
goals of providing translations that have a clear understanding of the
Buddha¹s teachings that are rendered skillfully in the English language,
then we felt there was a profound need for new translations of the
Discourses of the Buddha (Sutta Pitaka) as well as a new Pali-to-English
Dictionary.

After finding the four published Pali to English Dictionaries do not
represent the direct experience of gnosis (jhana/samadhi) adequately, and
clearly misunderstand the English language of cognition as well, then it was
decided to simply edit a new dictionary that both reflected the direct
insight and attainment of gnosis, as well as an understanding of the
preexisting English language of gnosis and cognition. It is most unfortunate
that previous translations of the Buddha¹s teachings and the Pali-to-English
dictionaries were unable to bring an understanding of the larger view of
European contemplative traditions, but then the previous editors were only
scholars apparently without attainment, and not much understanding of
European contemplative traditions.

While the western people are quite familiar with the attempts of the
orthodoxy of Christianity attempting to appropriate, subvert and obfuscate
the teaching of Jesus, few western people, who have converted to Buddhism or
Hinduism and the Yogas, are familiar with the same phenomena in Buddhism and
Hinduism.  We must just accept that orthodoxies of religions are the same
the world around.

This article is the preface for the first addition of the Contemplative¹s
Pali-to-English Dictionary.  It can be retrieved at this URL:
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/pali/GWV_Dictionary/dic1-titel.htm

The first revision of the GWV Contemplative¹s Pali-to-English Dictionary is
available at this URL
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/pali/GWV_Dictionary/ebidx.htm


Your comments and opinions are most welcome, and please do let us know if
you wish your comments to be publicized in this journal.

May you dwell in the joyful home of the way
(Di.t.thadhammasukhavihaaraa)

Sotapanna Jhanananda (Jeffrey S, Brooks)
the Great Western Vehicle
PO Box 41795
Tucson, AZ 85717-1795
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/index.html


%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

The intention of this newsletter is to provide timely information to the
Southwestern community of contemplatives. This newsletter offers a monthly
calendar of meditation retreats and other related activities.  You are
welcome to forward, reproduce or copy in anyway or part this newsletter for
helping others to lead a contemplative life. I only ask that you give credit
to the newsletter and publisher.

This newsletter is a service of Jhanananda (Jeffrey S. Brooks) of the Great
Western Vehicle.  The editor/publisher alone takes responsibility for this
newsletter and its content.

To Subscribe: SWI_E_letter-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Access to the archive of all back issues is at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SWI_E_letter/

Please direct all comments or submissions to the editor: Jhanananda (Jeffrey
S. Brooks) at: Jhanananda@...

Great Western Vehicle Ordination Program
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/gwvordinationprogram.htm

If you find the services of the Great Western Vehicle of value then please
consider supporting the Great Western Vehicle
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/support.html


May you become enlightened in this very life-time,

Jeff Brooks
Jhanananda
the Great Western Vehicle
PO Box 41795
Tucson, AZ 85717-1795
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/index.html

October 1, 2005


^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^
^:^:^       THE SOUTHWEST INSIGHT E'LETTER      ^:^:^
^:^:^          Vol. 05.10                       ^:^:^
^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^

a service of the Great Western Vehicle,
a 4th wheel Buddhist tradition
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/index.html


!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Jhana Meditation Sitting Groups !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Maha-satipatthana Sutta (DN 22.21)
"And what is skilful meditation (sama-samadhi)? There is a case where an
aspirant who is withdrawn from sensory experience, withdrawn from unskillful
mental states -- enters & remains in the first meditative absorption
(jhana)"...
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/mahasatipatthanasutta.htm

There are Jhana sensitive meditation groups starting in your area.
Email us for the nearest location.

Tucson Jhana, Satipatthana and Sutta Discussion Group.
8:30 AM to 10:00 AM on either Saturday or Sunday mornings
2506 E. Drachman, Tucson, 85716.
Contact Mark Pirtle at mark@... or (520) 250-9027

Boulder, CO Jhana, Satipatthana Meditation and Sutta Discussion Group.
Michael Hawkins <adreampuppet@...>
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Buddhist Meetup !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

First Thursdays most Buddhist Meetup Groups meet.  To find the meeting in
your area click on this link http://buddhism.meetup.com/

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here's a chance in real time to get on the fast track to enlightenment with
Bob Thurman, learn radical acceptance from Tara Brach, or explore Buddhism
without beliefs with Stephen Batchelor.  With Tricycle Tele-Teachings This
is the link to the information page on the Tricycle Website:
http://www.tricycle.com/foundation/ttt.html

%%%%%%% A CONTEMPLATIVE¹S CALENDAR %%%%%%

%%%%%%%%%% OCTOBER ­ NOVEMBER %%%%%%%%

OCT 1 - Nov 30, 2005 Fall Wilderness Meditation Retreat led by Jhanananda in
the Upper Owens River Valley of the Inyo National Forest, California,
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/events/index.htm

Oct.1st, 10:00am -1:00pm, Sant Mat Events at Columbus Library, 4350 E. 22nd
St., Tucson. Call 520-544-8139 or 520-762-5188 or visit
www.knowthyselfassoul.org

OCT 2 Sunday mornings from 10 to 11:30AM Gay-Lesbian-Bi-Trans meditation
group which meets at Wingspan, 4th Ave & University, Tucson, AZ

OCT 3, 7 PM Tucson BPF meeting at Martin's house, 701 E. Mabel, Tucson.
(520) 320-5883. bpf_Tucson@yahoogroups.com
HTTP://groups.yahoo.com/groups/bpf_Tucson/cal

OCT 6, Tucson Buddhist Meetup Group First Thursday @ 7:00 PM at the Epic
Cafe 745 N 4th Av  Tucson, AZ  520-624-6844  *
<http://buddhism.meetup.com/10/>

OCT 7-12 First Annual Five-day Amitayus Long Life Retreat led by Drupon
Rinpoche. Tucson, AZ Drikung Kagyu Buddhist Center of Tucson. Info: Pati
Stein 520-465-1882 <pati@...>
<www.drikungkagyutucson.org>

OCT 8 7:30-9:30 Phoenix Metro area Dances of Universal Peace 2nd and last
Saturdays at the SouthWest Institute of Healing Arts, Tempe, 110 E. Apache
Blvd (East of Rural) John Hinton (602)841-2843, or om4u@...

OCT 9, 6:15 to 7:15 p.m. Children's Dharma Class, Ages 5 to 10, 2nd Sunday
of each month. 931 N. 5th Ave., (Friend's Meeting House, Tucson).
Activities will include Jataka tales, art projects, sharing and mindful
snacking.  For more information call Katherine at (520) 290-1722.

OCT 9, at 7 pm Therese Fitzgerald will lead a meditation and offer a Dharma
Talk as a special guest to Open Heart Sangha.  She is a teacher ordained by
Thich Nhat Hanh and will be returning from leading a Mindfulness Retreat at
Vallecitos Mountain Refuge, NM. www.mountainhermitage.org; by e-mail at
hermit@...; or by telephone at 505-758-0663.

OCT 9 Sunday mornings from 10 to 11:30AM Gay-Lesbian-Bi-Trans meditation
group which meets at Wingspan, 4th Ave & University, Tucson, AZ

OCT 15: 10am­12pm, 2pm­5pm Phowa Practice Instruction Drikung Kagyu Buddhist
Center of Tucson. Location: 1871 N. King Street Tucson AZ  85749. Info: Pati
Stein 520-465-1882 <pati@...>
<www.drikungkagyutucson.org>

OCT 15, Prescot, AZ Dances of Universal Peace Third Saturdays at the Prescot
College Chapel. Kris Rogers (928)778-1606 or P.O. Box 480, Prescot, AZ
tigermoon@... or www.prescottdances.org

OCT 15, 7:30-9:30 Tempe, AZ, Dances of Universal Peace 3rd Saturdays at the
Bodyworks Studio,1801 S. Jentilly Ln., Suite B8, Tempe Terry Matthews
(480)998-9331 or (602)368-6784 or Terryamat@...

OCT 15, 6:00 AM - 4:00 PM Zazenkai, with Path Hawk Roshi at Zen Desert
Sangha; Sangha 3226 N. Martin, Tucson, AZ Register!: Bob Wallin, 620-6347;
or, email Bob: wallinrw@...

OCT 16 Sunday mornings from 10 to 11:30AM Gay-Lesbian-Bi-Trans meditation
group which meets at Wingspan, 4th Ave & University, Tucson, AZ

OCT 17, 7 PM Tucson BPF meeting at Martin's house, 701 E. Mabel, Tucson.
(520) 320-5883. bpf_Tucson@yahoogroups.com
HTTP://groups.yahoo.com/groups/bpf_Tucson/cal

OCT 20 2005 7:00pm to 9:30pm, Dr. Stephen LaBerge An Overview of Lucid
Dreaming: Western Science and Tibetan Dream Yoga, Auditorium 120, Integrated
Learning Center University of Arizona, Tucson.DHARMAKIRTI COLLEGE RESEARCH
INSTITUTE <www.dharmakirti.org>

OCT 22 Cornville, AZ, Dances of Universal Peace ­ Last Saturdays at The
Earthship. Cathryn Swann (928)634-1696
conscious@...

OCT 22 7:30-9:30 Phoenix Metro area Dances of Universal Peace 2nd and last
Saturdays at the SouthWest Institute of Healing Arts, Tempe, 110 E. Apache
Blvd (East of Rural) John Hinton (602)841-2843, or om4u@...

OCT 23 Sunday mornings from 10 to 11:30AM Gay-Lesbian-Bi-Trans meditation
group which meets at Wingspan, 4th Ave & University, Tucson, AZ

OCT 23, at 2:00 PM (4th Sunday of each month) Antigone's Buddhist reading
group Antigone's bookstore at, 411 N. 4th Ave. Tucson, AZ. They can be
reached at (520) 792-3715 to find out the book they are currently working
with or www.antigonebooks.com

OCT 23, 6:15 to 7:15 p.m. 4th Sundays Children's Dharma Class, for older
kids, ages 10-14 info. 931 N. 5th Ave., (Friend's Meeting House, Tucson).
For more information call Katherine at (520) 290-1722.

OCT 23-24 Ngöndro, The Preliminaries of Tantric Buddhism: Teachings and
Practice led by Traga Rinpoche at Garchen Buddhist Institute. PO Box 4318,
Chino Valley, AZ 86323. 928.925.1237 Email: garchen@...
Web: www.garchen.net

OCT 30 Sunday mornings from 10 to 11:30AM Gay-Lesbian-Bi-Trans meditation
group which meets at Wingspan, 4th Ave & University, Tucson, AZ

NOV 6-16 10-Day Mindfulness Meditation Retreat Led by Shinzen Young for the
Tucson Community Meditation Center at the C.O.D. Ranch, Oracle, AZ, 37 miles
NE of Tucson. website at www.codranch.com Registrar, Debra Raeber, at
520/577-3029 or debraraeber@...

Nov. 6th, 1:30pm - 4:30pm, Sant Mat Events at Mail Library, 101 N. Stone
Ave., Tucson. Call 520-544-8139 or 520-762-5188 or visit
www.knowthyselfassoul.org

NOV 8 - 10 Investigating the Mind 2005 The Science and Clinical Applications
of Meditation DAR Constitution Hall, Washington DC with the Dalai Lama The
Mind & Life Institute <www.InvestigatingTheMind.org>

NOV. 11 - 13; Weekend Sesshin with Pat Hawk Roshi; at Zen Desert Sangha,
3226 N. Martin, Tucson, AZ; Register!: Bob Wallin, 620-6347; or, email Bob:
wallinrw@...

NOV 11 - 13th  -  Khenmo Nyima Drolma Teaching: The Uttara Tantra, at the
Garchen Buddhist Institute, PO Box 4318, Chino Valley, AZ 86323 Phone:
928.925.1237 Email: garchen@... Web: www.garchen.net

November 11, 2005   7:30 pm Public Evening Talk by Pir Zia Inayat Khan at
St. Philip¹s in the Hills Episcopal Church - Music Hall, 4440 North Campbell
for the , Tucson Sufi Community

Nov. 12th, 12:00pm - 3:00pm, Sant Mat Events at Woods Library, 3455 N. 1st
Ave., Tucson. Call 520-544-8139 or 520-762-5188 or visit
www.knowthyselfassoul.org

November 12 and 13 Sought by the Spirit a Silent Weekend Retreat, led by Pir
Zia Inayat Khan, 3705 N. Old Sabino Canyon Road, Tucson Sufi Community,
Qayyima Schmidt at (520) 721-5106, or call Marcia Zaccaria at (520) 615-2781
tucsonsufi@...

NOV 15-22 Vajrakilaya empowerment led by Garchen Rinpoche at Garchen
Buddhist Institute. PO Box 4318, Chino Valley, AZ 86323. 928.925.1237 Email:
garchen@...
Web: www.garchen.net

DEC 1, 2005 - Jan 30, 2006 Winter Wilderness Meditation Retreat led by
Jhanananda in Death Valley in the Inyo National Forest, California,
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/events/index.htm

DEC 2nd - 4th  -  Lopon Barbara DuBois Teaching: "One Room Dharma
Schoolhouse" Practice Retreat, at the Garchen Buddhist Institute, PO Box
4318, Chino Valley, AZ 86323 Phone: 928.925.1237 Email: garchen@...
Web: www.garchen.net

DEC 3rd thru 10th Metta Retreat with Marcia Rose. Taos, New Mexico info:
 505-751-9686 or 800-846-2235 email:  mabel@...

DEC 27, 2005-January 2, 2006 WINTER TEACHINGs led by Traga Rinpoche, Achala
Empowerment, Patrul Rinpoche's ³Words from the Dance of the Lotus Garden²
Medicine Buddha Empowerment at Garchen Buddhist Institute. PO Box 4318,
Chino Valley, AZ 86323. 928.925.1237 Email: garchen@...
Web: www.garchen.net

DEC. 3-10 - Metta Retreat with Marcia Rose   Mabel Dodge Luhan House - Taos,
NM Contact Mabel@...   or  www.mabeldodgeluhan.com

DEC. 21, 7:00 PM; Dharma Talk, by Pat Hawk Roshi, followed by discussion;
Sutra Service and one period of Zazen begin the evening at 6:30 PM. at Zen
Desert Sangha 3226 N. Martin, Tucson, AZ Bob Wallin, 620-6347; or, email
Bob: wallinrw@...

JAN 1st thru January 31st 2006 Vipassana Retreat, Marcia Rose and Annie
Nugent at The Forest Refuge Contact:  theforestrefuge@...

JAN 19 to 22, 2006 Thanissaro Bhikkhu will give a Meditation and Study
Retreat on Kamma of The Mind Thurs at Sunrise Springs Resort, Santa Fe, NM.
For registration and information:  sabina@... ,
www.lifetransition.com., 800 547-2574 or 505 982-4183.

Feb  2-5, 2006 a Three Day Retree in the Desert for Mureeds with Taj Inayat
in Albquerque, New Mexico, held at the Madonna Center, 4040 St. Joseph Place
NW in Albuquerque, to Nur Azima Jones at 2524 Camino San Patricio, Sanata
Fe, NM 87505. at (505) 920-8813  or email her at bcazima@....

MAR 15th - April 12th 2006 2nd Annual Hermitage, Taos New, Mexico led by
Marcia Rose and Annie Nugent Contact: The Mountain Hermitage 505-758-0633
hermit@... <http://www.mountainhermitage.org>

April 7,8,9 2006 Triangle of Empowerment: Integrating Body, Mind and Spirit.
Weil,M.D., Larry Dossey M.D., Gladys McGarey M.D., Rabbi Rami Shapiro,
Russill Paul and Michael Green and The Illumination Band. The Inner
Connection, Tucson, AZ

  +++++++++++++++ EDITORIAL +++++++++++++++++

The Myth of Lineage

These days lineage seems rather important to many traditions of Buddhism,
however, some of those so-called ³lineage holders,² are drunken or drug
addicted and/or philanders.  In such a case one cannot claim lineage,
because an addicted person cannot represent any lineage of enlightenment
only that of a tradition of dysfunctional personalities.

Recently the Insight Meditation Society (IMS) teacher, Eric Kolvig,
criticized my self-ordination by saying, ³Simply put, here are the reasons
why I did not support you to teach.  You had not received transmission from
any established teacher.  That's the only quality control we have in the
dharma world,² I had of course asked him for empowerment, but he never given
it.  The problem of course is if ³transmission² is forever withheld, then
one never receives ³empowerment.²  And, if drunks or drug addicts and/or
philanderers are the norm, then there is no ³quality control² in the ³dharma
world,²

This contemplative has maintained a daily meditation practice for over 30
years; has read a wide range of contemplative literature, as well as having
made a study of 3 of the 5 volumes of the Discourses of the Buddha; has sat
well over 50 meditation retreats; has completed the second of two 6-month
summer-long solo wilderness retreats; was actively involved in several
southwestern contemplative communities and was even a board member for one
(TCMC), has translated the Yoga Sutras; edited 20 Buddhist suttas; has
written well over 300 essays on various dhamma topics; has taken graduate
level classes in Native American Spirituality, Sufism, Kabbalah and
Buddhism, for which he has received a degree in Anthropology; hosts 17 Yahoo
groups that are dedicated to Buddhism and the contemplative life; built the
largest website of the Buddha¹s discourses on the World Wide Web; does not
manifest any obsessive compulsive behavior disorders or addictions; has
extensive attainment from his dedicated contemplative life, and has
documented those attainments in meditative absorption (jhana). Unfortunately
with a resume that one would think would ensure enthusiastic support from
the lay and monastic teachers of Buddhism, on the contrary, recognition and
³transmission² are consistently withheld from this contemplative, and
instead he has received nothing but dismissal, marginalization and even
demonization in the western ³dharma world.²

It should be pointed out that meditative absorption states (jhanas) was the
Buddha¹s definition of successful accomplishment in meditation, and his very
definition of the 8th fold of the Noble Eightfold Path (DN 22). However, how
many meditation teachers teach that or even understand what meditative
absorption is?  Considering that this contemplative sat over 50 meditation
retreats in 30 years and never heard the term ³jhana² or an adequate
description of the meditative absorption states discussed by any of those
³highly respected² meditation teachers until 4 years ago when I was asked to
leave a Goenka retreat because of the jhana I was experiencing; we can only
conclude these so called ³lineages² are nothing more than ³traditions² of
appropriation, subversion and obfuscation of the Buddha dhamma.

Maha-satipatthana Sutta (DN 22.21)
"And what is skilful meditation (sama-samadhi)? There is the case where an
aspirant -- quite withdrawn from sensuality, withdrawn from unskillful
(mental) qualities -- enters & remains in the first meditative absorption
(jhana)"... (through fourth jhana).

There is, revealed in this story, a dual standard evident in western
Buddhism. Chögyam Trungpa, Rajnish and Joshu Sasaki Roshi have proven that
any drug addicted and philandering Asian can come to the West and become a
religious hero, whereas a western contemplative who lives according to the
ethics of Buddhism, and diligently studies the philosophy of Buddhism, and
rigorously engages in Buddhist contemplative practices is utterly and
completely ignored.

Exposed also is the fact that those who threaten the status quo by teaching
something controversial, such as jhana, will never receive empowerment,
ordination or any other form of certification to teach.  Since this
contemplative teaches a dialog that is sensitive to meditative absorption
(jhana) he has only been consistently dismissed, marginalized and even
demonized within the various contemplative communities that he has been a
member.

Four years ago I had asked Eric Kolvig and Shinzen Young to help me build a
program for the empowerment of myself, as well as my fellow students, at a
20-year-old Southwestern dhamma center (TCMC).  After 2 years of foot
dragging I got tired of waiting for Eric and Shinzen to even begin the
program, so I just announced myself as a dhamma teacher, since I had more
years of daily practice than either of them had, and I had actually made a
study of the Discourses of the Buddha, which they most probably have not
(since their discourses certainly did not reflect a depth of understanding
of the Buddha¹s Discourses). And, my contemplative practice has born the
fruit of meditative absorption (jhana), whereas their practices most
assuredly have not.

Eric Kolvig¹s so-called ³lineage² goes to Insight Meditation Society (IMS),
where Joseph Goldstein, Sharon Salzburg and Jack Cornfield simply invented
their ³lineage² and have made a career out of selling dry insight as if it
was something the Buddha taught, which he did not.  Shinzen Young¹s ³lineage
holder,² Joshu Sasaki Roshi, is a 96-year old Zen ³monk² in LA, who is
notorious for seducing 20-year old women, even to this day. Thus, I did not
feel it necessary to forever bow to their authority and questionable
³lineage.²

Lineage is really a weak ploy anyway, because after all we seekers of
enlightenment want enlightened guidance not a philosophy and practice
strategy that has been appropriated, subverted and obfuscated by an
entrenched orthodoxy, That is what Christianity had and that was why I left
it. Unfortunately as I have encounter a boycott against my work by the
orthodoxy of Theravadan Buddhism, Insight Meditation Society, Vipassana
Support Institute and the Tucson Community Meditation Center (TCMC) I can
only say there is plenty of proof that an equally entrenched orthodoxy
exists in Buddhism today, which is equally intent upon appropriating,
subverting and obfuscating the Buddha¹s teachings.  Those who are intent
upon enlightenment in this very lifetime also do not want a lineage of
addicted personalities, which is what Chögyam Trungpa who died at the age of
35 from a combination of alcoholism, drug addiction and AIDS, and Shinzen¹s
teacher, Joshu Sasaki Roshi, represent.

There is no lineage that goes back to the Buddha anyway, because the Buddha
refused to leave a dhamma heir, no doubt because he used to say, decay is
inevitable in all constituent things, including the Buddha sangha.  Instead
on his last day on Earth he said, ³be a lamp unto yourselves. Be a refuge to
yourselves. Seek no external refuge, let the dhamma be your refuge² (DN 16).

The claim of ³lineage² within Buddhism is a rather spurious one to make,
considering its history.  Many of these so-called ³lineages² claim their
lineage goes all of the way back to the Buddha.  Such a claim has to be
false, because the Buddha never left a dhamma heir (DN 16).  He instead left
behind a peer-level community of monks and lay teachers who were supposed to
work together.  The Buddha called that community Œsangha,¹ which was by his
time an old Vedic term that means ³company of truth.²  What kind of truth is
there in a ³lineage² of alcoholics and sex addicts?

What is often ignored in these so-called ³lineage² claims is Buddhism went
through a series of collapses over its two and half millennium.  Thus there
is no lineage of Buddhism that can claim any more than a few centuries of
continuity at best.  And, most of the so-called lineages are nothing more
than family titles and temples passed down from father to son, such as in
Zen Buddhism.

Even though lineage is a myth, requiring it makes it rather difficult for
the contemplative with many years of solo practice, and considerable
attainment, but no living teacher to begin teaching. Thus this
contemplative, like many western contemplatives, is left with having to
establish his authority and empowerment to teach within a power vacuum.

Sidharta Gotama is an example of someone without a lineage, who simply came
forth after his enlightenment and began to teach. He, however, lived in a
culture and a time when contemplatives were honored and respected.  This
culture generally does not honor or respect contemplative, or they lionize
drunken and philandering Asians before they will respect a contemplative of
their own language and culture

In conclusion we can see the history of Buddhism reveals that it rose and
collapsed in every nation within which it emerged. Thus all claims of
tracing one¹s intellectual or spiritual ³lineage² directly back to the
Buddha can only be false. Requiring lineage makes it difficult for the
contemplative with many years of solo practice, and considerable attainment,
but no living teacher, to find a platform from which to teach.

There is no ³quality control² in the dharma world, because many of the
lineages are nothing more than titles passed down from father to son, or
from drug addict and philanderer to the next.  Lineage is thus an absurd
requirement, because no one can claim lineage back to the Buddha.  And,
anyone claiming ³lineage² through an addict can only be claiming ³lineage²
in a tradition of dysfunctional personalities.  Thus, at its best, lineage
is nothing more than the bastion of mediocrity, where pride, envy, gluttony,
lust, anger, greed and sloth find a comfortable home; and at its worst it is
the refuge of pedophiles, drug addicts, alcoholics and sex addicts.

Underneath all of this is the fact that hypocrisy has existed in every age
and in every major religion; and no doubt rose up while the body of the
progenitor was still warm.  This means that the people have been financing
hypocrisy all along.  If people want enlightened teachers in their lives and
leading their religious institutions, then they have to stop financing
hypocrisy and begin financing dedicated contemplative who lead ethical
lives.

Sources:

Maha-satipatthana Sutta (DN 22.21)
Edited by Jeffrey S. Brooks
<http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/pali/phalanikaya/mahasatipatthanasutta.h
tm>

MAHÂ-PARINIBBÂNA-SUTTANTA (DN 16)
Buddhist Suttas Translated from Pâli by T. W. Rhys Davids, Oxford, the
Clarendon Press, [1881] Vol. XI of The Sacred Books of the East
<http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/pali/PTS/SBE11/sbe1103.htm>

GWV A Buddhist Timeline
<http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/pali/buddhist-time-line.htm>

This article can be retrieved at this URL:
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/criticism/lineage.htm

Your comments and opinions are most welcome, and please do let us know if
you wish your comments to be publicized in this journal.

May you dwell in the joyful home of the way
(Di.t.thadhammasukhavihaaraa)

Sotapanna Jhanananda (Jeffrey S, Brooks)
the Great Western Vehicle
PO Box 41795
Tucson, AZ 85717-1795
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/index.html


%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

The intention of this newsletter is to provide timely information to the
Southwestern community of contemplatives. This newsletter offers a monthly
calendar of meditation retreats and other related activities.  You are
welcome to forward, reproduce or copy in anyway or part this newsletter for
helping others to lead a contemplative life. I only ask that you give credit
to the newsletter and publisher.

This newsletter is a service of Jhanananda (Jeffrey S. Brooks) of the Great
Western Vehicle.  The editor/publisher alone takes responsibility for this
newsletter and its content.

To Subscribe: SWI_E_letter-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Access to the archive of all back issues is at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SWI_E_letter/

Please direct all comments or submissions to the editor: Jhanananda (Jeffrey
S. Brooks) at: Jhanananda@...

Great Western Vehicle Ordination Program
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/gwvordinationprogram.htm

If you find the services of the Great Western Vehicle of value then please
consider supporting the Great Western Vehicle
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/support.html


May you become enlightened in this very life-time,

Jeff Brooks
Jhanananda
the Great Western Vehicle
PO Box 41795
Tucson, AZ 85717-1795
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/index.html

Dear friends, I just wanted to say how much I appreciate all of the things
that you all do for the dharma.  And, I wanted to than-you for your kind and
generous support.

As you may know for the last year and a half I have been on a 3-year mostly
silent and solo wilderness meditation retreat in the Inyo National Forest,
which I chose for its extreme remoteness.  I post a biweekly journal on my
retreat that people have said has inspired them considerably.  Those
journals are available at this URL:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Jhanananda-s_Journal/

I am now almost at the halfway mark through this retreat and I am finding
the need to seek donors who will help with the material needs of this simple
contemplative. Perhaps you would know someone who maybe willing to make a
small contribution to this noble venture.  I live on less than $100 a month
that is donated monthly by generous supporters, however, there are simply
some expenses that I had not accounted for, such as the now 4 bald tires and
the need for a break job, in addition to auto insurance and registration,
etc.  The price of fuel has also gone up $1/gallon.

I live and get around in an almost 20 year-old Toyota van, which has been
remarkably reliable and economical to operate.  To reduce expenses, and to
squeeze out the last few miles out of this old van, I drive into town only
once a week for groceries and to catch up on email enquiries into my dharma
work and to conduct needed dharma research.

My retreat has not just been about meditation, but also I have been making a
study of the Buddha¹s discourse, as well as writing a book on the meditative
absorption states. The Buddha discoursed extensively on these absorption
states, thus I have not just read cover to cover the three out of five
volumes of the Buddha¹s Discourses, but I have made a thorough study of
them. If the remaining two volumes were available to me in English
translation I would most assuredly study them as well.  However, there is
only one complete English translation of the Sutra Pitaka (The Buddha¹s
Discourses) available, and they are quite costly and precious and belong in
a sangha¹s library, not on a solo wilderness retreat.  You can find out more
about the Buddha¹s discourses in English translation at this URL:
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/palisources.htm

My dharma work is I help people understand the meditative absorption states.
The Buddha called them  ³Jhana.² There is, however, unfortunately very
little written on the subject, other than what is in the sutras, so I
started a Yahoo group to create a peer-level support network for those who
are arriving at the meditative absorption states with virtually no guidance.
In the 2 and half years since I started that group it has grown to almost
600 members. You can find the Jhana Support Group at this URL:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Jhanas/

With so little written on the subject of the meditative absorption states
and so many enquiring with me about them I have thus been writing a book on
the subject, which has been driven by the hundreds of people who have
learned of my special skills in meditation and sent me personal letters of
enquiry.

The book that I am writing ³Jhana, the Joyful home of the way² is taking
form at present as a series of webpages on the subject of the meditative
absorptions states.  You can review those articles/chapters if you are
interested at this URL:
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/foundations.htm

In the course of writing that book I wanted to quote the Buddha extensively,
because he frequently discoursed on the meditative states, however, I kept
coming up to problems with the translations.  In the course of the 5 years
that I have been making a study of the Discourses of the Buddha I have had
cause to question the accepted translations.  This has caused me to read
numerous translations of the sutras for comparison, which I have found here
and there on the web, to slog through the fog of dogma that seems to
surround the Buddha¹s Discourses.

In this exploration of the Buddha¹s sutras on the web, I have found that
there are 4 basic archives, none of which are linked in anyway, nor
complete. Remarkably there is no single complete collection of the Buddha¹s
discourses available on the web, and only one in print in the English
language and, as I said earlier, it is quite expensive. So, I enquired with
the webmasters of those archives and recently received permission to
download and build a master archive out of three of the four archives.  My
website now has the most complete collection of the Buddha¹s Discourse on
the World Wide Web, and I am working to build a master directory that links
those archives together. You can find that archive as it emerges at this
URL:
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/pali/index.htm

Last winter, to get at why there was so much variability in the various
translations, and to get to the bottom of the conflict I had with those
translations not apparently agreeing with the content of the sutra, I took a
6 month break from this wilderness retreat and spent the winter in the
University of Arizona Library, which happens to have one of the best Asian
collections of literature anywhere.  Since the Dhammapada is the most
frequently translated piece of Buddhist literature, I decided to examine how
it has been historically translated. In the UofA library I found 25
different translations of the Dhammapada, and three of the four Pali to
English dictionaries.  I happened to have the fourth dictionary in my
library. For comparison I looked at a single four-line stanza in the
Dhammapada, and translated that stanza myself. I happen to have a degree in
English, so literary analysis was rather easy for me to do on these
translations. With that research I wrote an article called ³Exposing
Translator Bias in the Translation of Buddhist Literature.²  That article is
at this URL:
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/translation.htm

With having exposed extensive translator bias in the translation of Buddhist
literature I began to translate the key suttas I needed to quote from for my
book.  At present I have edited or translated 20 sutras.  They are at this
URL:
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/pali/Phala_Nikaya/index.htm

As I progress in my research for the book I am now faced with having to
challenge the 4 Pali-to-English Dictionaries that have been published since
1876.  The last dictionary was published in 1952.  It is clear to me from my
research that firstly, the major body of translated Buddhist literature has
been executed by people who are only scholars and not contemplatives;
secondly, the three vehicles of Buddhism have historically insulated the
Buddha¹s discourses through layers of interpretation that do not hold up to
the content of the Discourses of the Buddha.

I have found even the monk-scholars, are typically more scholar than
contemplative.  I believe it is not only time to prepare another
Pali-to-English dictionary, but to challenge the accepted translation and
interpretation of key concepts that surround the meditative absorption
states, as well as other dharma topics.  I have only just begun the
dictionary project, so I have no URL to give you. It is a project that I
expect to take a few years in development, but I hope to post early versions
of it to the Great Western Vehicle archive in the near future.

The Great Western Vehicle is my small attempt to build a Western dialog in
the dharma. I believe for Buddhism to make it in the West we need western
contemplatives engaged in living and studying and teaching the dharma.  And,
I believe it is through cultivating the meditative absorption states
(jhanas) that we western people will prove our attainment of the dharma. I
hope you agree.  You can find out more about the GWV at this URL:

the Great Western Vehicle
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/index.html

You can find out more about me at this URL:

Sotapanna (stream winner) Jhanananda (Jeffrey S, Brooks)
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/jhanananda.html

If you believe that my noble efforts are worthy of your generous support,
please send a check of any amount to the following address:

Jeffrey S. Brooks
Great Western Vehicle
PO Box 41795
Tucson, AZ 85717

Or for your convenience you can send us a donation via PayPal.  You will
find information how to do that at this URL:
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/support.html

As the Buddha used to say, ³May you dwell in the joyful home of the way²
(Di.t.thadhammasukhavihaaraa)

September 1, 2005

^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^
^:^:^       THE SOUTHWEST INSIGHT E'LETTER      ^:^:^
^:^:^                        Vol. 05.09                       ^:^:^
^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^

a service of the Great Western Vehicle,
a 4th wheel Buddhist tradition
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/index.html


!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Jhana Meditation Sitting Groups !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Maha-satipatthana Sutta (DN 22.21)
"And what is skilful meditation (sama-samadhi)? There is a case where an
aspirant who is withdrawn from sensory experience, withdrawn from unskillful
mental states -- enters & remains in the first meditative absorption
(jhana)"...
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/mahasatipatthanasutta.htm

There are Jhana sensitive meditation groups starting in your area.
Email us for the nearest location.

Tucson Jhana, Satipatthana and Sutta Discussion Group.
8:30 AM to 10:00 AM on either Saturday or Sunday mornings
2506 E. Drachman, Tucson, 85716.
Contact Mark Pirtle at mark@... or (520) 250-9027

Boulder, CO Jhana, Satipatthana Meditation and Sutta Discussion Group.
Michael Hawkins <adreampuppet@...>
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Buddhist Meetup !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

First Thursdays most Buddhist Meetup Groups meet.  To find the meeting in
your area click on this link http://buddhism.meetup.com/

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here's a chance in real time to get on the fast track to enlightenment with
Bob Thurman, learn radical acceptance from Tara Brach, or explore Buddhism
without beliefs with Stephen Batchelor.  With Tricycle Tele-Teachings This
is the link to the information page on the Tricycle Website:
http://www.tricycle.com/foundation/ttt.html

%%%%%%% A CONTEMPLATIVE¹S CALENDAR %%%%%%

%%%%%%%%%% SEPTEMBER ­ OCTOBER %%%%%%%%

SEPT 1, Tucson Buddhist Meetup Group First Thursday @ 7:00 PM at the Epic
Cafe 745 N 4th Av  Tucson, AZ  520-624-6844  *
<http://buddhism.meetup.com/10/>

SEPT 1, 6:30 pm: The Precepts, led by Julie Tato at Taos Mountain Sangha
Meditation Center, 107 Garcia Plaza, Suite C, Taos, New Mexico 87571 e-mail
tmsangha@... or telephone 505-737-2383

SEPT 5, 7 PM Tucson BPF meeting at Martin's house, 701 E. Mabel, Tucson.
(520) 320-5883. bpf_Tucson@yahoogroups.com
HTTP://groups.yahoo.com/groups/bpf_Tucson/cal

SEPT 7th, 6-7:30pm Course 3: Jesus and Tibet: A Historical Overview, St.
Paul's Episcopal Church, 2331 E Adams St, Tucson, 85719 - (520) 327-6857.
call (520) 792-6585 or email <starintheeast@...>

SEPT 8, 6:30 pm:  Mindfulness, Part 1, led by Marcia Rose at Taos Mountain
Sangha Meditation Center, 107 Garcia Plaza, Suite C, Taos, New Mexico 87571
e-mail tmsangha@... or telephone 505-737-2383

SEPT. 10, 2005; 10:30 AM - 11:30 AM, Saturday Morning Discussion, and Q & A
Session, Open Forum, with Pat Hawk Roshi, at the zendo, following Sat.
morning Zazen. Free. All invited to participate.

Sept. 10th 1 pm to 4:30 pm Dancing in the Wisdom of Tara, and 7 pm to 9 pm
Dances of Universal Peace with Preme and Anahata. There will be a potluck
dinner in between in Peggy's Pavillion at 3705 Old Sabino Canyon Road
contact Teresa  @822-1412 or diamondterra@...

SEPT 10 7:30-9:30 Phoenix Metro area Dances of Universal Peace 2nd and last
Saturdays at the SouthWest Institute of Healing Arts, Tempe, 110 E. Apache
Blvd (East of Rural) John Hinton (602)841-2843, or om4u@...

Sept 11 6 pm Multi-faith Service with refreshments following at Temple
Emanu-El, 225 N. Country Club, Tucson, AZ

SEPT 11, 6:15 to 7:15 p.m. Children's Dharma Class, Ages 5 to 10, 2nd Sunday
of each month. 931 N. 5th Ave., (Friend's Meeting House, Tucson).
Activities will include Jataka tales, art projects, sharing and mindful
snacking.  For more information call Katherine at (520) 290-1722.

SEPT 15, 6:30 pm:  Mindfulness, Part 2, led by Marcia Rose at Taos Mountain
Sangha Meditation Center, 107 Garcia Plaza, Suite C, Taos, New Mexico 87571
e-mail tmsangha@... or telephone 505-737-2383

SEPT 17 Prescot, AZ Dances of Universal Peace Third Saturdays at the Prescot
College Chapel. Kris Rogers (928)778-1606 or P.O. Box 480, Prescot, AZ
tigermoon@... or www.prescottdances.org

SEPT 17 7:30-9:30 Tempe, AZ, Dances of Universal Peace 3rd Saturdays at the
Bodyworks Studio,1801 S. Jentilly Ln., Suite B8, Tempe Terry Matthews
(480)998-9331 or (602)368-6784 or Terryamat@...

SEPT 19, at 3pm the Dalai Lama will give a Public Talk, at the Tucson
Convention Center. Arizona Teachings, Inc. at www.arizonateachings.org or
Arizona Friends of Tibet. http://www.arizona-friends-of-tibet.org/ or
contact@...
Tickets can be purchased through Ticketmaster, by phone (520-321-1000), or
online www.ticketmaster.com

SEPT 20, 7 PM Tucson BPF meeting at Martin's house, 701 E. Mabel, Tucson.
(520) 320-5883. bpf_Tucson@yahoogroups.com
HTTP://groups.yahoo.com/groups/bpf_Tucson/cal

SEPT 22, 6:30 pm: Practice and the Sangha, led by Jean Smith at Taos
Mountain Sangha Meditation Center, 107 Garcia Plaza, Suite C, Taos, New
Mexico 87571 e-mail tmsangha@... or telephone 505-737-2383

SEPT 23rd to 29th at 5:30pm Lesley Ann Patten's documentary film "Words of
My Perfect Teacher" featuring Dzongsar Khyentse Norbu will be showing at The
Loft Cinema at 3233 East Speedway Blvd. in Tucson, Arizona
http://www.loftcinema.com/contact.asp

SEPT 24th 9am-8pm 18th Annual Fall T.A.W.N. Festival Tucson Area
Wiccan/Pagan Network at Reid Park off 22nd Street, Tucson, AZ. at Ramadas 5
& 6 (Just follow the signs on the road leading to the Zoo entrance).
http://www.tawn.org OR
http://www.tawn.org/fallfest/fall_fest.htm
OR e-group http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TAWN_Forum/

SEPT 24 Cornville, AZ, Dances of Universal Peace ­ Last Saturdays at The
Earthship. Cathryn Swann (928)634-1696
conscious@...

SEPT 24 7:30-9:30 Phoenix Metro area Dances of Universal Peace 2nd and last
Saturdays at the SouthWest Institute of Healing Arts, Tempe, 110 E. Apache
Blvd (East of Rural) John Hinton (602)841-2843, or om4u@...

SEPT 25, at 2:00 PM (4th Sunday of each month) Antigone's Buddhist reading
group Antigone's bookstore at, 411 N. 4th Ave. Tucson, AZ. They can be
reached at (520) 792-3715 to find out the book they are currently working
with or www.antigonebooks.com

SEPT 25, 6:15 to 7:15 p.m. 4th Sundays Children's Dharma Class, for older
kids, ages 10-14 info. 931 N. 5th Ave., (Friend's Meeting House, Tucson).
For more information call Katherine at (520) 290-1722.

SEPT 28th 6-7:30pm A Course in Christian Practice, Level III, Star in the
East at Grace St. Paul's Episcopal Church (2331 East Adams Street. Info
(520) 792-6585

Oct 1 - Nov 30, 2005 Fall Wilderness Meditation Retreat led by Jhanananda in
the Lower Owens River Valley of the Inyo National Forest, California,
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/events/index.htm

OCT. 15, Zazenkai, with Path Hawk Roshi, 6:00 AM - 4:00 PM; Register!: Bob
Wallin, 620-6347; or, email Bob: wallinrw@...

Nov 6-16 10-Day Mindfulness Meditation Retreat Led by Shinzen Young for the
Tucson Community Meditation Center at the C.O.D. Ranch, Oracle, AZ, 37 miles
NE of Tucson. website at www.codranch.com Registrar, Debra Raeber, at
520/577-3029 or debraraeber@...

NOV. 11 - 13; Weekend Sesshin with Pat Hawk Roshi; Register!: Bob Wallin,
620-6347; or, email Bob: wallinrw@...

November 11 - 13th  -  Khenmo Nyima Drolma Teaching: The Uttara Tantra, at
the Garchen Buddhist Institute, PO Box 4318, Chino Valley, AZ 86323 Phone:
928.925.1237 Email: garchen@... Web: www.garchen.net

November 15th - 22nd - H.E. Garchen Rinpoche Vajrakilaya Empowerment,
Teaching, & Drupchen, at the Garchen Buddhist Institute, PO Box 4318, Chino
Valley, AZ 86323 Phone: 928.925.1237 Email: garchen@... Web:
www.garchen.net

Dec 1, 2005 - Jan 30, 2006 Winter Wilderness Meditation Retreat led by
Jhanananda in Death Valley in the Inyo National Forest, California,
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/events/index.htm

December 2nd - 4th  -  Lopon Barbara DuBois Teaching: "One Room Dharma
Schoolhouse" Practice Retreat, at the Garchen Buddhist Institute, PO Box
4318, Chino Valley, AZ 86323 Phone: 928.925.1237 Email: garchen@...
Web: www.garchen.net

DEC 3rd thru 10th Metta Retreat with Marcia Rose. Taos, New Mexico info:
 505-751-9686 or 800-846-2235 email:  mabel@...

December 27th - January 4th  - Winter Retreat, at the Garchen DEC. 3-10 -
Metta Retreat with Marcia Rose   Mabel Dodge Luhan House - Taos, NM Contact
Mabel@...   or  www.mabeldodgeluhan.com

DEC. 21, 7:00 PM; Dharma Talk, by Pat Hawk Roshi, followed by discussion;
Sutra Service and one period of Zazen begin the evening at 6:30 PM.

JAN 1st thru January 31st Vipassana Retreat, Marcia Rose and Annie Nugent at
The Forest Refuge Contact:  theforestrefuge@...

MAR 15th - April 12th 2nd Annual Hermitage, Taos New, Mexico led by Marcia
Rose and Annie Nugent Contact: The Mountain Hermitage 505-758-0633
hermit@... <http://www.mountainhermitage.org>


  +++++++++++++++ EDITORIAL +++++++++++++++++

On Self-Ordination, taking the title Sotapanna (Stream Winner), beginning a
new Vehicle of Buddhism and Using the Buddha¹s terminology for hierarchy
within that new vehicle

By Sotapanna Jhanananda (Jeffrey S, Brooks)

First posted 09-09-04, updated 09-01-05

During the spring of 2004 I found myself free of parenting responsibilities
for the first time in 25 years. With that freedom I wanted to dedicate every
moment of the remainder of this very lifetime to, not only following the
Noble Eightfold Path, but teaching it as well. So, I sought a preceptor.

In preparation for ordination during the three preceding years I scoured the
web in search of a preceptor who was clearly knowledgeable on the meditative
absorption states (Jhanas), This criteria seemed only appropriate since
through my 3 decades of lay contemplative life I had mastered the jhanas. I
reasoned, why would I take a preceptor who was not even jhana friendly let
alone ignorant of jhana, as I have found most Theravadan monks and priests
are? I certainly would not take ordination where my attainments were not
respected.

In my research I found only about six Theravadan abbots qualified to ordain
people who are also apparently familiar with jhana. I approached each
preceptor and each one turned me down. I also investigated the teachings of
each of these preceptors and found their knowledge of jhana was purely
intellectual, and thus irrelevant to my trajectory.

With determining that no one within Theravadan Buddhism was qualified to
ordain me, I looked elsewhere.  I approached ordained priests in Zen and
Vajrayana, and I even endeavored to articulate myself within their liturgy
and language.  However, in attempting to find a language of gnosis within
those religions that reflected my experience I found Zen outright rejected
the meditative absorption states as ³makyo² which means the ³devil¹s cave.²
So, Zen was clearly out of the running.  When I explored Vajrayana through
Tibetan Buddhism, I found instead of demonizing the meditative absorption
states and other fruits of the contemplative life (phala), they had turned
them into the stuff of super-heros and thus unattainable by us mere mortals.

Finally, since I found all three vehicles of Buddhism rejected the
meditative absorption states (jhanas) and other fruits (phala) of the
contemplative life for various reasons it seemed inappropriate for me to
ordain in any of these traditions of Buddhism, thus I concluded with no
preceptor knowledgeable in the meditative absorption states (jhanas) and
other fruits (phala) of the contemplative life, and no tradition of Buddhism
supportive of the meditative absorption states (jhanas), then I must start
my own tradition of Buddhism.

This new vehicle of Buddhism was to be re-dedicated to the meditative
absorption states (jhanas) and other fruits (phala) of the contemplative
life from its very inception, as was the Buddha's original sangha. Thus I
started my own order of Buddhism, the Great Western Vehicle, which is a
Western Vehicle of Buddhism. I ordained myself and gave myself the title of
Sotapanna (Stream Winner), because I, at the very least, clearly qualify for
that determination, and future monastics within the Great Western Vehicle
deserve a preceptor who is qualified to ordain them.

I also chose the name Jhanananda because it clearly describes what I am
about, which is "one who has found the bliss of the meditative absorption
states (jhanas)." And, interestingly enough I have not heard of that name
being used in any of the Buddhist traditions or literature that I have
studied, thus it seemed like a most appropriate name for the leader of a
movement for the revivification of Buddhism.

To justify my use of the term Sotapanna (stream winner) I researched the
Buddha¹s discourses and I found he used specific terminology for classifying
his monks, It might be worth pointing out that no Buddhist tradition has
used the Buddha¹s terminology for classifying its monks, since the Second
Great Council (380 BCE). This is yet another reason why the Great Western
Vehicle has begun using the Buddha¹s terminology in designating its
monastics.

The Buddha¹s terminology for classifying his monks was based solely upon the
criteria of attainment.  Since attainment was rejected during the
proceedings of the Second Great Council (380 BCE) it appears that this is
the origin of the rejection of attainment by the Buddhist monastic
community. It is thus part of the revivification of Buddhism to once again
acknowledge attainments as the central determinant of hierarchy within the
sangha.

In the case of the lowest designation of attainment within the Buddha¹s
classifications he determined if one simply followed the Noble Eightfold
Path diligently and with determination to become enlightened, then one would
become enlightened in no more than 7 rebirths and possibly as early as 7
years of practice (MN 22). This is the very definition of Sotapanna (stream
winner), please see below:

Sotapanna (stream winner) is the "lowest of the eight noble disciples (s.
ariya-puggala). Three kinds are to be distinguished: the one 'with 7
rebirths at the utmost' (sattakkhattu-parama), the one 'passing from one
Noble Family to another' (kolankola), the one "germinating only once more'
(eka-biji). As it is said (e.g. Pug. 37-39; A III 87)
Nyanatiloka "The Buddhist Dictionary"

1) "If a man after the disappearance of the three fetters (personality
belief, skeptical doubt, attachment to rules and rituals; s. samyojana) has
entered the stream (to nibbana), (s/he) is no more subject to rebirth in
lower worlds, is firmly established, destined to full enlightenment. After
having passed amongst heavenly and human beings only seven times more
through the round of rebirth, he puts an end to suffering. Such a (person)
is called 'One with 7 Births at the Utmost' (sattakkhattu-parama).

2) "If a man after the disappearance of the 3 fetters...is destined to full
enlightenment, he after having passed among noble families two or three
times through the round of births, puts an end to suffering. Such a (person)
is called "One passing from one Noble Family to another' (kolankola).

3) "If a (person) after the disappearance of the 3 fetters...is destined to
full enlightenment (s/he) after having only once more returned to human
existence, puts an end to suffering. Such a (person) is called 'One
Germinating only once more' (eka-biji).--See Sotapatti-Samyutta (S.LV).

Thus after reading the Digha, Majjhima and Samyutta Nikayas, I concluded
that since I have diligently endeavored to follow the Noble Eightfold Path
and the 5 precepts for the last 3 decades; and I have been observing the 8
precepts for the last 4 years, and I have given rise to and sustained jhana
for almost the entire 3 decades of my practice, then it seemed reasonable to
determine that I am at the very least a Stream Winner (Sotapanna).

These days lineage seems rather important to many traditions of Buddhism,
however, considering no tradition of Buddhism recognizes, understands or
honors the attainment (phala) of meditative absorption, then we can assume
the lineages of Buddhism cannot be based upon attainment (phala).

Requiring lineage makes it rather difficult for the contemplative with many
years of solo practice, and considerable attainment, but with no living
teacher, or a teacher with any lineage. All of this contemplative¹s key
dhamma teachers are now dead, and none of them came from any recognized
lineage. They also did not leave any designated dhamma heir. Thus this
contemplative was left with having to establish his authority and
empowerment to teach within a power vacuum.

As stated earlier the determination of hierarchy within the sangha was
originally established by Sidharta Gotama to be based upon attainment
(phala). Thus using a hypothetical argument, a 21 year old, who has become
established in the 8 jhanas would have seniority over a 75 year old Bhikkhu
with 50 years in the order and a PhD in philosophy from a western
university. We can extend this argument even further to include a mother of
three, who has attained any level of jhana, has superior status to a 70 or
80 year old monk with 50 or 60 years of seniority who has no jhana.  This
may explain why attainment (phala) was rejected as a determinant for status
within the Buddhist sangha.

I believe birth was another means of determining an individual's "rank"
within the sangha. Birth, as used as a ranking form in the early sangha, was
not about who one¹s parents were, or what caste one was from, but whether
one had attainments (phala) in previous lifetimes, which then was considered
superior again to one who had attainments (phala) only in this lifetime,
even though he or she maybe an elderly monk or nun with many rains retreats.

In conclusion even though I am a self ordained monk, with only two rains
retreats accumulated in this lifetime, I have recalled many, many lifetimes
where I engaged in intense contemplative practice that had given rise to
attainments (phala), and in this lifetime I have also engaged in an intense
contemplative practice regimen that has given rise to attainment. Thus,
according to the dhamma, I have superior ranking to any elderly monastic who
has not given rise to attainments, regardless of his or her age, length in
the monastic order, number of accumulated rains retreats, or honors and
status attributed to him by his order.

For a contemplative tradition that is intent upon supporting individuals all
of the way to enlightenment (nibbana), it seems only right that birth and
attainment be recognized as superior to duration in the order. Because only
one who has attainment can understand the journey well enough to properly
articulate it. A scholar, priest or monk with no attainment can never
understand the path to enlightenment.

I understand in Asia that everyone bows to anyone. I believe it is in part
acknowledging that one never knows who has superior attainment, and thus
anyone can become enlightened, even a 19 year old mother of three. It might
be worth pointing out that taking this hypothetical example of a monastic of
50 or 60 years who is unable to recognize the attainments of someone, such
as this hypothetical 19 year old mother of three with jhana, then this
monastic disqualifies him or herself as a Dhammaacariya (teacher of the
Dhamma), due to his or her inability to recognize attainment in the
individual in question.

With respect to this contemplative¹s qualifications to teach the dhamma
(Dhammaacariya), In addition to attainment and birth being valid
qualifications for being a dhamma teacher, which are arguably subjective, I
most often support my arguments with relevant canonical references, have
edited 19 suttas correcting numerous errors in their translation by
otherwise highly respected Dhammaacariyas, and have written and posted to
the web hundreds of articles on the dhamma, therefore it seems reasonable to
argue that this contemplative is very much a teacher of the dhamma
(Dhammaacariya) and a high ranking member of the community of Buddhist
contemplatives (sangha).

I have posted several lengthy and detailed letters directly to numerous lay
and monastic dhamma teachers and dhamma centers regarding my subjective
experiences and attainments. I have followed the four suttas detailing the
practice of Sati to the successful attainment of meditative absorption
(samma-samadhi). And, I believe the record of the Buddha, as it is revealed
in the Pali canon, shows he rejected the teachings and teachers of his time
as corrupt. He claimed he had attained jhana and nibbana and he sought
empowerment through empowering others, and he was self ordained, as was
Jesus of Nazareth, Bodhidharma and al Hallaj, just to mention a few. Thus
there are ample precedence and reasons for self-ordination, using the
Buddha¹s designation for status within the sangha, for establishing a new
vehicle of Buddhism and taking the name Jhanananda.

May you dwell in the joyful home of the way
(Di.t.thadhammasukhavihaaraa)

Sotapanna Jhanananda (Jeffrey S, Brooks)
the Great Western Vehicle
PO Box 41795
Tucson, AZ 85717-1795
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/index.html


%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

The intention of this newsletter is to provide timely information to the
Southwestern community of contemplatives. This newsletter offers a monthly
calendar of meditation retreats and other related activities.  You are
welcome to forward, reproduce or copy in anyway or part this newsletter for
helping others to lead a contemplative life. I only ask that you give credit
to the newsletter and publisher.

This newsletter is a service of Jhanananda (Jeffrey S. Brooks) of the Great
Western Vehicle.  The editor/publisher alone takes responsibility for this
newsletter and its content.

To Subscribe: SWI_E_letter-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Access to the archive of all back issues is at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SWI_E_letter/

Please direct all comments or submissions to the editor: Jhanananda (Jeffrey
S. Brooks) at: Jhanananda@...

Great Western Vehicle Ordination Program
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/gwvordinationprogram.htm

If you find the services of the Great Western Vehicle of value then please
consider supporting the Great Western Vehicle
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/support.html


May you become enlightened in this very life-time,

Jeff Brooks
Jhanananda
the Great Western Vehicle
PO Box 41795
Tucson, AZ 85717-1795
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/index.html

August 1, 2005


^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^
^:^:^       THE SOUTHWEST INSIGHT E'LETTER      ^:^:^
^:^:^                 Vol. 05.08                ^:^:^
^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^

a service of the Great Western Vehicle,
a 4th wheel Buddhist tradition
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/index.html


!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Jhana Meditation Sitting Groups !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"And what is skilful meditation (sama-samadhi)? There is a case where an
aspirant who is withdrawn from sensory experience, withdrawn from unskillful
mental states -- enters & remains in the first meditative absorption
(jhana)"...
Maha-satipatthana Sutta (DN 22.21)
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/mahasatipatthanasutta.htm

There are Jhana sensitive meditation groups starting in your area.
Email us for the nearest location.

"Tucson Jhana, Satipatthana and Sutta Discussion Group."
8:30 AM to 10:00 AM on either Saturday or Sunday mornings
2506 E. Drachman, Tucson, 85716.
Contact Mark Pirtle at mark@... or (520) 250-9027

Boulder, CO Jhana, Satipatthana Meditation and Sutta Discussion Group.
Michael Hawkins <adreampuppet@...>
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Buddhist Meetup !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

First Thursdays most Buddhist Meetup Groups meet.  To find the meeting in
your area click on this link http://buddhism.meetup.com/

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


%%%%%%% A CONTEMPLATIVE¹S CALENDAR %%%%%%

%%%%%%%%%% AUGUST ­ SEPTEMBER %%%%%%%%

AUG 1 - AUG 7:2005 SUMMER TEACHINGS At Garchen Buddhist Institute, P.O. Box
4318, Chino Valley, AZ. 86323-1237 call: 928-925-1237 garchen@...

AUG 1, 7 PM Tucson BPF meeting at Martin's house, 701 E. Mabel, Tucson.
(520) 320-5883. bpf_Tucson@yahoogroups.com
HTTP://groups.yahoo.com/groups/bpf_Tucson/cal

AUG 3rd, 6-7:30pm Course 2: Level Two--Switching Me & You, St. Paul's
Episcopal Church, 2331 E Adams St, Tucson, 85719 - (520) 327-6857. call
(520) 792-6585 or email <starintheeast@...>

AUG 4, Tucson Buddhist Meetup Group First Thursday @ 7:00 PM at the Epic
Cafe 745 N 4th Av  Tucson, AZ  520-624-6844  *
<http://buddhism.meetup.com/10/>

AUG 5-11 A Meeting of the Ways, an annual Sufi retreat bringing together
teachers from the Sufi, Jewish, Christian, Hindu and Native American sacred
traditions.  Experience the Beloved we seek is the same beloved for all
people through Shabbat, Meditation, Prayer and Zikerm at Voice of the Turtle
Retreat Center rashadwilson@... (505) 538-1798

AUG 5-7: ³Essence Teachings on Loving Kindness and the Nature of Mind² by
Garchen Rinpoche At Garchen Buddhist Institute, P.O. Box 4318, Chino Valley,
AZ. 86323-1237 call: 928-925-1237 garchen@...

AUG 7, 9 - 11 AM Morning Sufi Meditation Retreat, 4835 E. Placita
Abrevadero, Tucson, AZ. Please call (520) 577-6474

AUG 7 refuge ceremony with H.E. Garchen Rinpoche at the Garchen Institute
P.O. Box 4318, Chino Valley, AZ. 86323-1237 call: 928-925-1237
garchen@...

AUG 8-12 Level 1: Introduction to the Tibetan Scriptural Language Tibetan
Language Institute, Tibetan Language Institute, P.O. Box 2037, Hamilton, MT
59840 USA 406/ 961-5131  Email: <info@...> or
<www.tibetanlanguage.org>

AUG 12-14 Life Stories: Practices of the Kagyu Masters, Amitabha Empowerment
& Phowa Practice Instruction, With Drupön Thinley Nyingpo Rinpoche at St.
Mark¹s Presbyterian Church 3809 East Third Street, Tucson, Arizona 85716
Info: Drikung Kagyu Tucson, Pati Stein, 520-465-1882 (Tucson)
pati@...
www.drikungkagyutucson.org

AUG 13 7:30-9:30 Phoenix Metro area Dances of Universal Peace 2nd and last
Saturdays at the SouthWest Institute of Healing Arts, Tempe, 110 E. Apache
Blvd (East of Rural) John Hinton (602)841-2843, or om4u@...

AUG 14, 6:15 to 7:15 p.m. Children's Dharma Class, Ages 5 to 10, 2nd Sunday
of each month. 931 N. 5th Ave., (Friend's Meeting House, Tucson).
Activities will include Jataka tales, art projects, sharing and mindful
snacking.  For more information call Katherine at (520) 290-1722.

AUG 15-19 Level 2: Grammar and the Basics of Learning to Read Tibetan Texts,
Tibetan Language Institute, Tibetan Language Institute, P.O. Box 2037,
Hamilton, MT 59840 USA 406/ 961-5131  Email: <info@...> or
<www.tibetanlanguage.org>

AUG 17, 6:30 PM Gathering of Dervishes 48 N. Tucson Blvd. Tucson, AZ (520)
444-9189

AUG 19-21 Weekend Sesshin: by Pat Hawk Roshe:  Zen Desert Sangha, Tucson,
AZ. For more information  www.zendesertsangha.org

AUG 20 7 PM Dances of Universal at Yoga Oasis, 2631 N. Campbell, Tucson, AZ.
call (520) 577-6474

AUG 20 Prescot, AZ Dances of Universal Peace Third Saturdays at the Prescot
College Chapel. Kris Rogers (928)778-1606 or P.O. Box 480, Prescot, AZ
tigermoon@... or www.prescottdances.org

AUG 20 7:30-9:30 Tempe, AZ, Dances of Universal Peace 3rd Saturdays at the
Bodyworks Studio,1801 S. Jentilly Ln., Suite B8, Tempe Terry Matthews
(480)998-9331 or (602)368-6784 or Terryamat@...

AUG. 20th, 10:00am - 1:00pm, An introductory talk on Sant Mat and the Light
and Sound meditation. Himmel Park Library, 1035 N. Treat Ave., Tucson Info
520-544-8139 or 520-762-5188 janina2@...

AUG 22, 7 PM Tucson BPF meeting at Martin's house, 701 E. Mabel, Tucson.
(520) 320-5883. bpf_Tucson@yahoogroups.com
HTTP://groups.yahoo.com/groups/bpf_Tucson/cal

AUG 22-26 Level 3: Reading Seminar: Reading and Translating Dharma Texts
With Tulku Thubten Rinpoche, Tibetan Language Institute, P.O. Box 2037,
Hamilton, MT 59840 USA 406/ 961-5131  Email: <info@...> or
<www.tibetanlanguage.org>

AUG 26 ­ 28 Boundless Healing, Learn to Stimulate the Body's own Healing
Power. A Public Talk and Weekend Workshop with Tulku Thondup at Anjali ­ 330
E. 7th St. Tucson, AZ. For Tucson Shambhala Info: 742-0625 €
info@... € www.tucsonshambhala.org

AUG 26 Flagstaff, AZ Dances of Universal Peace at Unity of Flagstaff 4th
Fridays 2708 4th St. Suite E1 Bernie Skydrummer (831)425-3252

AUG 27 Cornville, AZ, Dances of Universal Peace ­ Last Saturdays at The
Earthship. Cathryn Swann (928)634-1696
conscious@...

AUG 27 7:30-9:30 Phoenix Metro area Dances of Universal Peace 2nd and last
Saturdays at the SouthWest Institute of Healing Arts, Tempe, 110 E. Apache
Blvd (East of Rural) John Hinton (602)841-2843, or om4u@...

Aug. 27th, 11:30am - 2:30pm, An introductory talk on Sant Mat and the Light
and Sound meditation. Woods Library, 3455 N. 1st Ave., Tucson. Info
520-544-8139 or 520-762-5188 janina2@...

AUG 28, at 2:00 PM (4th Sunday of each month) Antigone's Buddhist reading
group Antigone's bookstore at, 411 N. 4th Ave. Tucson, AZ. They can be
reached at (520) 792-3715 to find out the book they are currently working
with or www.antigonebooks.com

AUG 28, 6:15 to 7:15 p.m. 4th Sundays Children's Dharma Class, for older
kids, ages 10-14 info. 931 N. 5th Ave., (Friend's Meeting House, Tucson).
For more information call Katherine at (520) 290-1722.

AUG 31 7-8:00 PM. Evening Dharma Talk by Pat Hawk Roshe:  Zen Desert Sangha,
Tucson, AZ. For more information  www.zendesertsangha.org

SEPT 7th, 6-7:30pm Course 3: Jesus and Tibet: A Historical Overview, St.
Paul's Episcopal Church, 2331 E Adams St, Tucson, 85719 - (520) 327-6857.
call (520) 792-6585 or email <starintheeast@...>

SEPT. 10, 2005; 10:30 AM - 11:30 AM, Saturday Morning Discussion, and Q & A
Session, Open Forum, with Pat Hawk Roshi, at the zendo, following Sat.
morning Zazen. Free. All invited to participate.

SEPT 19, at 3pm the Dalai Lama will give a Public Talk, at the Tucson
Convention Center. Arizona Teachings, Inc. at www.arizonateachings.org or
Arizona Friends of Tibet. http://www.arizona-friends-of-tibet.org/ or
contact@...
Tickets can be purchased through Ticketmaster, by phone (520-321-1000), or
online www.ticketmaster.com

SEPT 28th 6-7:30pm A Course in Christian Practice, Level III, Star in the
East at Grace St. Paul's Episcopal Church (2331 East Adams Street. Info
(520) 792-6585

OCT. 15, Zazenkai, with Path Hawk Roshi, 6:00 AM - 4:00 PM; Register!: Bob
Wallin, 620-6347; or, email Bob: wallinrw@...

NOV. 11 - 13; Weekend Sesshin with Pat Hawk Roshi; Register!: Bob Wallin,
620-6347; or, email Bob: wallinrw@...

DEC. 3-10 - Metta Retreat with Marcia Rose   Mabel Dodge Luhan House - Taos,
NM Contact Mabel@...   or  www.mabeldodgeluhan.com

DEC. 21, 7:00 PM; Dharma Talk, by Pat Hawk Roshi, followed by discussion;
Sutra Service and one period of Zazen begin the evening at 6:30 PM.

DEC 3rd thru 10th Metta Retreat with Marcia Rose. Taos, New Mexico info:
 505-751-9686 or 800-846-2235 email:  mabel@...

JAN 1st thru January 31st Vipassana Retreat, Marcia Rose and Annie Nugent at
The Forest Refuge Contact:  theforestrefuge@...

MAR 15th - April 12th 2nd Annual Hermitage, Taos New, Mexico led by Marcia
Rose and Annie Nugent Contact: The Mountain Hermitage 505-758-0633
hermit@... <http://www.mountainhermitage.org>


  +++++++++++++++ EDITORIAL +++++++++++++++++

The Foundations of Asian Contemplative Thought and Practice

Dear friends, it is one of the efforts of the GWV to provide resources for
the study of contemplative traditions.  At present we are building our
archives of Asian contemplative thought and practices.  We have just
finished updating the resources on the GWV webpage for the study of Asian
contemplative thought and practice. And, we thought you might be interested
in knowing about this valuable resource. You will find the page ³Early Vedic
and Buddhist Literary Resources² at this URL:
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/pali/index.htm

In the study of Christian theology it is very common to not only make a
thorough study of the Gospels of Jesus, but also the foundational literature
of Christian thought, which is found in the Bible of Judaism.  The reason
for this is the Bible is considered the foundational literature of Jesus¹
teaching.

It has come to our attention at the GWV that remarkably few Buddhist
teachers have read the Discourses of the Buddha.  For a Buddhist priest or
teacher to not be intimately familiar with the foundational literature of
Buddhism is like a Christian priest or minister not having even read the
Gospels of Jesus.  Thus we at the GWV would like very much to make it
possible for anyone to study the foundational literature of Buddhism. For
that purpose the GWV archive of early Buddhist Literature in English
Translation is available online at this URL:
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/Pali/index.htm

We would also like to point out that just as the Bible forms the foundations
of Christian thought so do the Vedas form the foundations of Buddhist
thought.  Thus the GWV has begun to build an archive of Vedic literature as
well.  That archive is available at this URL:
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/vedic/index.htm

Kindest regards

May you dwell in the joyful home of the way
(Di.t.thadhammasukhavihaaraa)

Sotapanna Jhanananda (Jeffrey S, Brooks)
the Great Western Vehicle
PO Box 41795
Tucson, AZ 85717-1795
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/index.html


%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

The intention of this newsletter is to provide timely information to the
Southwestern community of contemplatives. This newsletter offers a monthly
calendar of meditation retreats and other related activities.  You are
welcome to forward, reproduce or copy in anyway or part this newsletter for
helping others to lead a contemplative life. I only ask that you give credit
to the newsletter and publisher.

This newsletter is a service of Jhanananda (Jeffrey S. Brooks) of the Great
Western Vehicle.  The editor/publisher alone takes responsibility for this
newsletter and its content.

To Subscribe: SWI_E_letter-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Access to the archive of all back issues is at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SWI_E_letter/

Please direct all comments or submissions to the editor: Jhanananda (Jeffrey
S. Brooks) at: Jhanananda@...

Great Western Vehicle Ordination Program
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/gwvordinationprogram.htm

If you find the services of the Great Western Vehicle of value then please
consider supporting the Great Western Vehicle
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/support.html


May you become enlightened in this very life-time,

Jeff Brooks
Jhanananda
the Great Western Vehicle
PO Box 41795
Tucson, AZ 85717-1795
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/index.html

July 1, 2005


^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^
^:^:^       THE SOUTHWEST INSIGHT E'LETTER      ^:^:^
^:^:^                        Vol. 05.07                       ^:^:^
^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^

a service of the Great Western Vehicle,
a 4th wheel Buddhist tradition
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/index.html


!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Jhana Meditation Sitting Groups !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"And what is skilful meditation (sama-samadhi)? There is a case where an
aspirant who is withdrawn from sensory experience, withdrawn from unskillful
mental states -- enters & remains in the first meditative absorption
(jhana)"...
Maha-satipatthana Sutta (DN 22.21)
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/mahasatipatthanasutta.htm

There are Jhana sensitive meditation groups starting in your area.
Email us for the nearest location.

"Tucson Jhana, Satipatthana and Sutta Discussion Group."
8:30 AM to 10:00 AM on either Saturday or Sunday mornings
2506 E. Drachman, Tucson, 85716.
Contact Mark Pirtle at mark@... or (520) 250-9027

Boulder, CO Jhana, Satipatthana Meditation and Sutta Discussion Group.
Michael Hawkins <adreampuppet@...>
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Buddhist Meetup !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

First Thursdays most Buddhist Meetup Groups meet.  To find the meeting in
your area click on this link http://buddhism.meetup.com/

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


%%%%%%% A CONTEMPLATIVE¹S CALENDAR %%%%%%

%%%%%%%%%% JULY ­ AUGUST %%%%%%%%

July 1st 7 ­ 9 PM Ontul Rinpoche Offers Rare Healing Chod DDCA Center 3547 E
Elida St. Tucson call (520) 326.8436 or www.dzogchenarizona.squarespace.com

JULY 1-3 Garchen Rinpoche teachings Santa Fe , NM (information: Project
Tibet 505-982-3002).

JULY 2 7PM-9PM Prescott dances at THE WISDOM EXCHANGE 119 GROVE AVE,
PRESCOTT, AZ contact Lance at mandmshiloh@... or call 445-6506 or
http://prescottdances.org/calendar.htm

JULY 3, 2005 11:00AM-4:30PM DANCE RETREAT at THE WISDOM EXCHANGE 119 GROVE
AVE, PRESCOTT, AZ contact Lance at mandmshiloh@... or call
445-6506 or http://prescottdances.org/calendar.htm

July 3, 9am ­ Achi Pure Vision Torma Empowerment H.E. Thritsab Rinpoche At
Garchen Buddhist Institute, P.O. Box 4318, Chino Valley, AZ. 86323-1237
call: 928-925-1237 garchen@...

JULY 3 - August 7:2005 SUMMER TEACHINGS At Garchen Buddhist Institute, P.O.
Box 4318, Chino Valley, AZ. 86323-1237 call: 928-925-1237
garchen@...

JULY 4; Annual Fourth of July Party/Barbecue, 5 PM at Zen Desert Sangha;
3226 North Martin Avenue, Tucson, AZ (one block west of Campbell Avenue and
about 100 yards north of Fort Lowell) contact Bob Wallin (520) 620-6347.
http://www.zendesertsangha.org

JULY 6 New Moon

JULY 7, Tucson Buddhist Meetup Group First Thursday @ 7:00 PM at the Epic
Cafe 745 N 4th Av  Tucson, AZ  520-624-6844  *
<http://buddhism.meetup.com/10/>

JULY 9 7:30-9:30 Phoenix Metro area Dances of Universal Peace 2nd and last
Saturdays at the SouthWest Institute of Healing Arts, Tempe, 110 E. Apache
Blvd (East of Rural) John Hinton (602)841-2843, or om4u@...

JULY 10 - AUG 7: 2005 SUMMER TEACHINGS. At Garchen Buddhist Institute, P.O.
Box 4318, Chino Valley, AZ. 86323-1237 call: 928-925-1237
garchen@...

JULY 10, 6:15 to 7:15 p.m. Children's Dharma Class, Ages 5 to 10, 2nd Sunday
of each month. 931 N. 5th Ave., (Friend's Meeting House, Tucson).
Activities will include Jataka tales, art projects, sharing and mindful
snacking.  For more information call Katherine at (520) 290-1722.

JULY 10, 9 - 11 AM Morning Sufi Meditation Retreat, 4835 E. Placita
Abrevadero, Tucson, AZ. Please call (520) 577-6474

JULY 16 7 PM Dances of Universal at Yoga Oasis, 2631 N. Campbell, Tucson,
AZ. call (520) 577-6474

JULY 16 Prescot, AZ Dances of Universal Peace Third Saturdays at the Prescot
College Chapel. Kris Rogers (928)778-1606 or P.O. Box 480, Prescot, AZ
tigermoon@... or www.prescottdances.org

JULY 16 7:30-9:30 Tempe, AZ, Dances of Universal Peace 3rd Saturdays at the
Bodyworks Studio,1801 S. Jentilly Ln., Suite B8, Tempe Terry Matthews
(480)998-9331 or (602)368-6784 or Terryamat@...

JULY 17, 2005, 1:30pm to 4:30pm, Theory and practical experience of Sant Mat
and the meditation on the inner Light and Sound at the Wilmot Library, 530
N. Wilmot Rd. info: 520-544-8139 or 520-762-5188 or visit 
www.knowthyselfassoul.org

July 17, 9 AM: Yamantaka Empowerment by Traga Rinpoche At Garchen Buddhist
Institute, P.O. Box 4318, Chino Valley, AZ. 86323-1237 call: 928-925-1237
garchen@...

JULY 18, 7 PM Tucson BPF meeting at Martin's house, 701 E. Mabel, Tucson.
(520) 320-5883. bpf_Tucson@yahoogroups.com
HTTP://groups.yahoo.com/groups/bpf_Tucson/cal

JULY 21 Full Moon

JULY 22 Sun enters Leo

JULY 22 Mercury goes retrograde

JULY 22 - 30, Wilderness retreat HIGH SIERRA VIPASSANA BACKPACKING RETREAT,
Sequoia National Park, California Led by Eric Kolvig. Info: Terry Gustafson,
7125 W 27th Ave, Wheat Ridge, CO 80033, (303) 239-9917, terry@...
or http://www.rainbow2.com/

JULY 22- Scott Kalechstein will be offering a workshop/concert called A
Course In Miracles- THE MUSICAL! at the Rocky Mountain Miracle Center,
DENVER, COLORADO. Call 303-759-3409 < scott@...> or <
http://www.scottsongs.com>

JULY 22 Flagstaff, AZ Dances of Universal Peace at Unity of Flagstaff 4th
Fridays 2708 4th St. Suite E1 Bernie Skydrummer (831)425-3252

July 22-23: Guru Drakpo (Secret Guru) Teachings by Traga Rinpoche At Garchen
Buddhist Institute, P.O. Box 4318, Chino Valley, AZ. 86323-1237 call:
928-925-1237 garchen@...

JULY 23, 6:15 to 7:15 p.m. 4th Sundays Children's Dharma Class, for older
kids, ages 10-14 info. 931 N. 5th Ave., (Friend's Meeting House, Tucson).
For more information call Katherine at (520) 290-1722.

JULY 23- Scott Kalechstein will be giving an all day workshop called the
Song Portrait Circle at the High Country Unity Church in Englewood,
COLORADO. Call (303) 798-2295 < scott@...> or <
http://www.scottsongs.com>

JULY 24- Scott Kalechstein will be giving a talk and guest music at the High
Country Unity Church in Englewood, COLORADO. Following the service a
workshop of some sort, soon to be determined. Call (303) 798-2295 <
scott@...> or < http://www.scottsongs.com>

JULY 24, at 2:00 PM (4th Sunday of each month) Antigone's Buddhist reading
group Antigone's bookstore at, 411 N. 4th Ave. Tucson, AZ. They can be
reached at (520) 792-3715 to find out the book they are currently working
with or www.antigonebooks.com

JULY 24, 6:15 to 7:15 p.m. 4th Sundays Children's Dharma Class, for older
kids, ages 10-14 info. 931 N. 5th Ave., (Friend's Meeting House, Tucson).
For more information call Katherine at (520) 290-1722.

JULY 30-Aug. 6 - Women's Retreat at Vallecitos Mountain Refuge in northern
New Mexico with Marcia Rose assisted by Jean Smith & Bonnie Duran. Contact
Vallecitos Mtn. Refuge  refuge@... for more info.

JULY 30 Cornville, AZ, Dances of Universal Peace ­ Last Saturdays at The
Earthship. Cathryn Swann (928)634-1696
conscious@...

JULY 30 7:30-9:30 Phoenix Metro area Dances of Universal Peace 2nd and last
Saturdays at the SouthWest Institute of Healing Arts, Tempe, 110 E. Apache
Blvd (East of Rural) John Hinton (602)841-2843, or om4u@...

July 31, 9 AM: Maitreya Empowerment (the Future Buddha) by Traga Rinpoche
Rinpoche At Garchen Buddhist Institute, P.O. Box 4318, Chino Valley, AZ.
86323-1237 call: 928-925-1237 garchen@...

AUG 3rd, 6-7:30pm Course 2: Level Two--Switching Me & You, St. Paul's
Episcopal Church, 2331 E Adams St, Tucson, 85719 - (520) 327-6857. call
(520) 792-6585 or email <starintheeast@...>

AUG 5-11 A Meeting of the Ways, an annual Sufi retreat bringing together
teachers from the Sufi, Jewish, Christian, Hindu and Native American sacred
traditions.  Experience the Beloved we seek is the same beloved for all
people through Shabbat, Meditation, Prayer and Zikerm at Voice of the Turtle
Retreat Center rashadwilson@... (505) 538-1798

AUG 5-7: ³Essence Teachings on Loving Kindness and the Nature of Mind² by
Garchen Rinpoche At Garchen Buddhist Institute, P.O. Box 4318, Chino Valley,
AZ. 86323-1237 call: 928-925-1237 garchen@...

AUG 7, 9 - 11 AM Morning Sufi Meditation Retreat, 4835 E. Placita
Abrevadero, Tucson, AZ. Please call (520) 577-6474

AUG 8-12 Level 1: Introduction to the Tibetan Scriptural Language Tibetan
Language Institute, Tibetan Language Institute, P.O. Box 2037, Hamilton, MT
59840 USA 406/ 961-5131  Email: <info@...> or
<www.tibetanlanguage.org>

AUG 15-19 Level 2: Grammar and the Basics of Learning to Read Tibetan Texts,
Tibetan Language Institute, Tibetan Language Institute, P.O. Box 2037,
Hamilton, MT 59840 USA 406/ 961-5131  Email: <info@...> or
<www.tibetanlanguage.org>

AUG 17, 6:30 PM Gathering of Dervishes 48 N. Tucson Blvd. Tucson, AZ (520)
444-9189

AUG 19-21 Weekend Sesshin: by Pat Hawk Roshe:  Zen Desert Sangha, Tucson,
AZ. For more information  www.zendesertsangha.org

AUG 20 7 PM Dances of Universal at Yoga Oasis, 2631 N. Campbell, Tucson, AZ.
call (520) 577-6474

AUG 22-26 Level 3: Reading Seminar: Reading and Translating Dharma Texts
With Tulku Thubten Rinpoche, Tibetan Language Institute, P.O. Box 2037,
Hamilton, MT 59840 USA 406/ 961-5131  Email: <info@...> or
<www.tibetanlanguage.org>

AUG 31 7-8:00 PM. Evening Dharma Talk by Pat Hawk Roshe:  Zen Desert Sangha,
Tucson, AZ. For more information  www.zendesertsangha.org

SEPT 7th, 6-7:30pm Course 3: Jesus and Tibet: A Historical Overview, St.
Paul's Episcopal Church, 2331 E Adams St, Tucson, 85719 - (520) 327-6857.
call (520) 792-6585 or email <starintheeast@...>

SEPT. 10, 2005; 10:30 AM - 11:30 AM, Saturday Morning Discussion, and Q & A
Session, Open Forum, with Pat Hawk Roshi, at the zendo, following Sat.
morning Zazen. Free. All invited to participate.

SEPT 19, at 3pm the Dalai Lama will give a Public Talk, at the Tucson
Convention Center. Arizona Teachings, Inc. at www.arizonateachings.org or
Arizona Friends of Tibet. http://www.arizona-friends-of-tibet.org/ or
contact@...
Tickets can be purchased through Ticketmaster, by phone (520-321-1000), or
online www.ticketmaster.com

OCT. 15, Zazenkai, with Path Hawk Roshi, 6:00 AM - 4:00 PM; Register!: Bob
Wallin, 620-6347; or, email Bob: wallinrw@...

NOV. 11 - 13; Weekend Sesshin with Pat Hawk Roshi; Register!: Bob Wallin,
620-6347; or, email Bob: wallinrw@...

DEC. 3-10 - Metta Retreat with Marcia Rose   Mabel Dodge Luhan House - Taos,
NM Contact Mabel@...   or  www.mabeldodgeluhan.com

DEC. 21, 7:00 PM; Dharma Talk, by Pat Hawk Roshi, followed by discussion;
Sutra Service and one period of Zazen begin the evening at 6:30 PM.


+++++++++++++++ EDITORIAL +++++++++++++++++

Was the Buddha an Atheist, Nihilist or a Stoic?

There are a number of myths and dogmas that seem to pervade the various
vehicles of Buddhism that are not supported by the Discourse of the Buddha.
Three of those myths are that Sidharta Gotama was an atheist, nihilist and a
stoic. While some Buddhist traditions have presented the Buddha as a stoic,
an atheist and a nihilist it is very clear upon reading the Discourses of
the Buddha that he was none of these things.  If we read the first Sutta in
the Long Discourses (DN 1) we see the Buddha specifically states he is not
an atheist or a nihilist.  If we read the second Discourse (DN 2) we see the
Buddha specifically talk about bliss, joy and ecstasy, therefore we really
should conclude that he was not a stoic either.

BRAHMA-GÂLA SUTTA (DN 1)  Translated by T. W. Rhys Davids
   30. 'There are, brethren, some recluses and Brahmans who are
Eternalists{1}, and who, on four grounds, proclaim that both the soul and
the world are eternal...

   1. 'There are, brethren, some recluses and Brahmans who are Eternalists
with regard to some things, and in regard to others Non-Eternalists; who on
four grounds maintain that the soul and the world are partly eternal and
partly not.

  'This, brethren, is the first state of things on account of which,
starting out from which, some recluses and Brahmans become
Fortuitous-Originists, and maintain that the soul and the world arise
without a cause.

   38. 'There are, brethren, recluses and Brahmans who [31] hold the
doctrine of a conscious existence after death{2}, and who maintain in
sixteen ways that the soul after death is conscious. And how do they do so?

   'They say of the soul: "The soul after death, not subject to decay, and
conscious,
   (1) has form{1},
   (2) is formless{2},
   (3) has, and has not, form,
   (4) neither has, nor has not, form,
   (5) is finite,
   (6) is infinite,
   (7) is both,
   (8) is neither,
   (9) has one mode of consciousness,
   (10) has various modes of consciousness,
   (11) has limited consciousness,
   (12) has infinite consciousness,
   (13) is altogether happy,
   (14) is altogether miserable,
   (15) is both,
   (16) is neither."

   1. 'There are, brethren, recluses and Brahmans who hold the doctrine of
an unconscious existence after death, and who maintain in eight ways that
the soul after death is unconscious. And how do they do so?

   17. 'These, brethren, are the recluses and Brahmans who are
Annihilationists and in seven ways maintain the cutting off, the
destruction, the annihilation of a living being. [36] And whosoever do so
they, all of them, do so in one or other of these seven ways. There is none
beside.

   27. 'In this case, brethren, some recluse or Brahman is dull, stupid. And
it is by reason of his dullness, his stupidity, that when a question on this
or that is put to him, he resorts to equivocation, to wriggling like an
eel--"If you ask me whether there is another world,--well, if I thought
there were, I would say so. But I don't say so. And I don't think it is thus
or thus. And I don't think it is otherwise. And I don't deny it. And I don't
say there neither is, nor is not, another world." Thus does he equivocate,
and in like manner about each of such propositions as the following{2}:--
a.    (2) There is not another world.
(3) There both is, and is not, another world.
(4) There neither is, nor is not, another world.
b.    (1) There are Chance Beings (so called because they spring into
existence, either here or in another world, without the intervention of
parents, and seem therefore to come without a cause).
(2) There are no such beings.
(3) There both are, and are not, such beings.
(4) There neither are, nor are not, such beings.
c.    (1) There is fruit, result, of good and bad actions.
(2) There is not.
(3) There both is, and is not.
(4) There neither is, nor is not.
d.    (1) A man who has penetrated to the truth{1} continues to exist after
death.
(2) He does not.
(3) He both does, and does not.
(4) He neither does, nor does not.

   This, brethren, is the fourth case{2}.

   [28] 28. 'These, brethren, are those recluses and Brahmans who wriggle
like eels; and who, when a question is put to them on this or that, resort
to equivocation, to eel-wriggling; and that in four ways. For whosoever do
so, they do so in these four ways, or in one or other of the same; there is
no other way in which they do so.

   36. 'Now of these, brethren, the Tathâgata knows that these speculations
thus arrived at, thus insisted upon, will have such and such a result, such
and such an effect on the future condition of those who trust in them. [17]
That does he know, and he knows also other things far beyond (far better
than those speculations){2}; and having that knowledge he is not puffed up,
and thus untarnished he has, in his own heart{3}, realised the way of escape
from them{4}, has understood, as they really are, the rising up and passing
away of sensations, their sweet taste, their danger, how they cannot be
relied upon; and not grasping after any (of those things men are eager for)
he, the Tathâgata, is quite set free{1}.

   37. 'These{2}, brethren, are those other things, profound, difficult to
realise, hard to understand, tranquillising, sweet, not to be grasped by
mere logic, subtle, comprehensible only by the wise, which the Tathâgata,
having himself realised and seen face to face, hath set forth; and it is
concerning these that they who would rightly praise the Tathâgata in
accordance with the truth, should speak.'

   73. 'The outward form, brethren, of him who has won the truth{2}, stands
before you, but that which binds it to rebirth is cut in twain. So long as
his body shall last, so long do gods and men behold him. On the dissolution
of the body, beyond the end of his life, neither gods nor men shall see him.

   'Just, brethren, as when the stalk of a bunch of mangoes has been cut,
all the mangoes that were hanging on that stalk go with it; just so,
brethren, though the outward form of him who has won the truth stands before
you, that which binds it to rebirth has been cut in twain. So long as his
body shall last, so long do gods and men behold him. On the dissolution of
the body, beyond the end of his life, neither gods nor men shall see him.'

Samaññaphala Sutta (DN 2) ³The Discourse on the Fruits of the Contemplative
Life²
  (The Four Jhanas)
"Quite withdrawn from sensuality, withdrawn from unskillful mental
qualities, he enters and remains in the first absorption (jhana): bliss
(piti) and joy (sukha) born from withdrawal, accompanied by applied and
sustained attention (vitakka and vicára). He permeates and pervades,
suffuses and fills this very body with the bliss (piti) and joy (sukha) born
from withdrawal. Just as if a skilled bathman or bathman's apprentice would
pour bath powder into a brass basin and knead it together, sprinkling it
again and again with water, so that his ball of bath powder -- saturated,
moisture-laden, permeated within and without -- would nevertheless not drip;
even so, the monk permeates... this very body with the bliss (piti) and joy
(sukha) born of withdrawal. There is nothing of his entire body not pervaded
by bliss (piti) and joy (sukha) born from withdrawal.

Those Buddhist teachers who point to the concept of anatta in support of
their belief that the Buddha was a nihilist may want to review the
principles of anatta and Dependent Origination, because I am sure if they
spend a little more time with these subjects they will find Sidharta Gotama
was not rejecting a self, he was simply instructing his students to
relinquish objectification and identification with observable phenomena.

Maha-nidana Sutta (DN-15) ³The Larger Discourse on Causation, Dependent
Origination (paticca samuppada), Seven Stations of Cognition, Eight
Emancipations²

In conclusion there are a number of myths and dogmas that seem to pervade
the various vehicles of Buddhism that are not supported by the Discourse of
the Buddha.  Three of those myths are that Sidharta Gotama was an atheist,
nihilist and a stoic. However, the Discourses of the Buddha clearly prove
these theories are nothing more than the myths of the naïve and primitive
peoples who embraced Buddhism in the past.  For the West to come to its own
understanding of Buddhism we really should shrug off the many myths that
pervade Buddhism as warn out Asian imports. We Western peoples can make
Buddhism into our own image as long as we keep in mind the original
Discourses of the Buddha.

Sources in the discourses of the Buddha:


Anapanasati Sutta (MN 118) ³Mindfulness of the breath²
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/anapanasatisutta.htm

Brahmajala Sutta (DN 1) ³What the Buddha¹s Discourses are not²
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/tipitaka-metta.lk/metta.lk/tipitaka/2Sutt
a-Pitaka/1Digha-Nikaya/Digha1/01-brahmajala-e.htm

Kayagata-sati Sutta (MN 119) ³Mindfulness of the Body²
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/kayagatasati.htm

Potthapada Sutta (DN 9) ³The Discourse to Potthapada²
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/tipitaka-metta.lk/metta.lk/tipitaka/2Sutt
a-Pitaka/1Digha-Nikaya/Digha1/09-potthapada-e.htm

Mahaasaccaka sutta (MN 36), On the pleasure of meditation (jhana), the
fruits (phala) of the contemplative life, and the Dark Night of the Soul.
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/mahaasaccakasutta.htm

Maha-satipatthana Sutta (DN 22), ³the Larger Discourse on the Four
Cornerstones of Mindfulness²
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/mahasatipatthanasutta.htm

Samaññaphala Sutta (DN 2) ³The Discourse on the Fruits of the Contemplative
Life²
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/samannaphala.htm

May you dwell in the joyful home of the way
(Di.t.thadhammasukhavihaaraa)

Sotapanna Jhanananda (Jeffrey S, Brooks)
the Great Western Vehicle
PO Box 41795
Tucson, AZ 85717-1795



%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

The intention of this newsletter is to provide timely information to the
Southwestern community of contemplatives. This newsletter offers a monthly
calendar of meditation retreats and other related activities.  You are
welcome to forward, reproduce or copy in anyway or part this newsletter for
helping others to lead a contemplative life. I only ask that you give credit
to the newsletter and publisher.

This newsletter is a service of Jhanananda (Jeffrey S. Brooks) of the Great
Western Vehicle.  The editor/publisher alone takes responsibility for this
newsletter and its content.

To Subscribe: SWI_E_letter-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Access to the archive of all back issues is at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SWI_E_letter/

Please direct all comments or submissions to the editor: Jhanananda (Jeffrey
S. Brooks) at: Jhanananda@...

Great Western Vehicle Ordination Program
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/gwvordinationprogram.htm

If you find the services of the Great Western Vehicle of value then please
consider supporting the Great Western Vehicle
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/support.html


May you become enlightened in this very life-time,

Jeff Brooks
Jhanananda
the Great Western Vehicle
PO Box 41795
Tucson, AZ 85717-1795
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/index.html

June 1, 2005


^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^
^:^:^       THE SOUTHWEST INSIGHT E'LETTER      ^:^:^
^:^:^                        Vol. 05.06                       ^:^:^
^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^

a service of the Great Western Vehicle,
a 4th wheel Buddhist tradition
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/index.html


!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Jhana Meditation Sitting Groups !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"And what is skilful meditation (sama-samadhi)? There is a case where an
aspirant who is withdrawn from sensory experience, withdrawn from unskillful
mental states -- enters & remains in the first meditative absorption
(jhana)"...
Maha-satipatthana Sutta (DN 22.21)
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/mahasatipatthanasutta.htm

There are Jhana sensitive meditation groups starting in your area.
Email us for the nearest location.

"Tucson Jhana, Satipatthana and Sutta Discussion Group."
8:30 AM to 10:00 AM on either Saturday or Sunday mornings
2506 E. Drachman, Tucson, 85716.
Contact Mark Pirtle at mark@... or (520) 250-9027

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Buddhist Meetup !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

First Thursdays most Buddhist Meetup Groups meet.  To find the meeting in
your area click on this link http://buddhism.meetup.com/

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


%%%%%%% A CONTEMPLATIVE¹S CALENDAR %%%%%%

%%%%%%%%%% JUNE ­ JULY %%%%%%%%

Retrograde Planets in June Jupiter, Uranus Neptune and Pluto

June 1st Spring Council, Rainbow Gathering planning
<http://welcomehere.org/> for reliable rainbow information. If you have any
further questions send them to <trin@...>  For general gathering
information, visit: <http://welcomehere.org/cgi-bin/calendar.pl>

JUNE 2, Tucson Buddhist Meetup Group First Thursday @ 7:00 PM at the Epic
Cafe 745 N 4th Av  Tucson, AZ  520-624-6844  *
<http://buddhism.meetup.com/10/>

JUNE 2-7, Emotion Meets Spirit: Integrating Mindfulness, Psychotherapy, and
Neurobiology at Mt. Madonna Center, Watsonville, California. Daniel Siegel,
Bobrow, Anne Klein, Polly Young Eisendrath. Lama Palden Drolma and Jason
Siff. Registration at http://www.deepstreams.org/inst/  or call
415-487-8742.

JUNE 3-5: Khenpo Sherab Odzer Rinpoche teaching on ³Shantideva¹s Bodhisattva
Way of Life², and Prajnaparamita Empowerment. At Garchen Buddhist Institute,
P.O. Box 4318, Chino Valley, AZ. 86323-1237 call: 928-925-1237
garchen@...

JUNE 4 Jupiter goes direct.

JUNE 4, 10am to 1pm, Theory and practical experience of Sant Mat and the
meditation on the inner Light and Sound at the Ada Peirce McCormick Bldg.,
Library Room, 1401 E. 1st. St. (on U of A campus). info: 520-544-8139 or
520-762-5188 or visit  www.knowthyselfassoul.org

JUNE 5, 9 - 11  A.M. Sunday Morning Meditation Retreat, Tucson Sufi
Community call (520) 577-6474, at 4835 E. Placita Abrevadero, Tucson, AZ.

JUNE 6 New Moon

JUNE 6, 7 PM Tucson BPF meeting at Martin's house, 701 E. Mabel, Tucson.
(520) 320-5883. bpf_Tucson@yahoogroups.com
HTTP://groups.yahoo.com/groups/bpf_Tucson/cal

JUNE 6- JULY 1 Yoga Kids Camp in two-week session
Session 1: 6/6-6/17 Session 2: 6/20-7/1 Monday-Friday 9:30am-12:30pm 15540
N. 7th Street, Phoenix, AZ 85022 www.yogapura.com or (602) 843-PURA
http://www.yogapura.com/email/kidscamp/kids_camp.html

June 9th, 6-7:30pm Course 1: Level One-Meditation, A Tool for Prayer Star in
the East, St. Paul's Episcopal Church, 2331 E Adams St, Tucson, 85719 -
(520) 327-6857. call (520) 792-6585 or email <starintheeast@...>

JUNE 11, 10am to 1pm, Theory and practical experience of Sant Mat and the
meditation on the inner Light and Sound at the Columbus Library, 4350 E.
22nd St. info: 520-544-8139 or 520-762-5188 or visit
www.knowthyselfassoul.org

JUNE 12, 6:15 to 7:15 p.m. Children's Dharma Class, Ages 5 to 10, 2nd Sunday
of each month. 931 N. 5th Ave., (Friend's Meeting House, Tucson).
Activities will include Jataka tales, art projects, sharing and mindful
snacking.  For more information call Katherine at (520) 290-1722.

JUNE 13, Shavout

JUNE 14, Uranus goes retrograde.

JUNE 17 we will have a celebration of the first Urs of Pir Vilayat Inayat
Khan 5:30 to share a supper potluck and at 6:30 our Universal Worship at
1494 E. Prospect Lane #A. Tucson, AZ. call (520) 577-6474

JUNE 18 7 PM Dances of Universal at Yoga Oasis, 2631 N. Campbell, Tucson,
AZ. call (520) 577-6474

JUNE 19, Father¹s Day

JUNE 20 Summer Solstice

JUNE 20, 7 PM Tucson BPF meeting at Martin's house, 701 E. Mabel, Tucson.
(520) 320-5883. bpf_Tucson@yahoogroups.com
HTTP://groups.yahoo.com/groups/bpf_Tucson/cal

JUNE 21 Full Moon

JUNE 22, Leigh Brasington will lead the sit and present a Dharma Talk.  This
evening is in cooperation with the Open Heart Sangha. Taos Mountain Sangha
Meditation Center, 107 Garcia Plaza, Suite C. Taos, New Mexico 87571, e-mail
tmsangha@... or telephone 505-737-2383

JUNE 25, Zen Desert Sangha Potluck and Poetry night; 6 PM - 7 PM,
food-sharing; 7:00 PM - 9:30 PM, Poetry, stories, music, songs, puppets,
???. All welcome. Bring food to share and poems to read or music to perform;
bring musical instruments! Or, just come to eat and listen and check out the
happenings; get to know your fellow sangha members. at 3226 North Martin
Avenue, Tucson, AZ (one block west of Campbell Avenue and about 100 yards
north of Fort Lowell) contact Bob Wallin (520) 620-6347.
http://www.zendesertsangha.org

JUNE 26, at 2:00 PM (4th Sunday of each month) Antigone's Buddhist reading
group Antigone's bookstore at, 411 N. 4th Ave. Tucson, AZ. They can be
reached at (520) 792-3715 to find out the book they are currently working
with or www.antigonebooks.com

JUNE 26, 6:15 to 7:15 p.m. 4th Sundays Children's Dharma Class, for older
kids, ages 10-14 info. 931 N. 5th Ave., (Friend's Meeting House, Tucson).
For more information call Katherine at (520) 290-1722.

JULY 3 - August 7:2005 SUMMER TEACHINGS At Garchen Buddhist Institute, P.O.
Box 4318, Chino Valley, AZ. 86323-1237 call: 928-925-1237
garchen@...

JULY 4; Annual Fourth of July Party/Barbecue, 5 PM at Zen Desert Sangha;
3226 North Martin Avenue, Tucson, AZ (one block west of Campbell Avenue and
about 100 yards north of Fort Lowell) contact Bob Wallin (520) 620-6347.
http://www.zendesertsangha.org

JULY 6 New Moon

JULY 10 - AUG 7: 2005 SUMMER TEACHINGS. At Garchen Buddhist Institute, P.O.
Box 4318, Chino Valley, AZ. 86323-1237 call: 928-925-1237
garchen@...

JULY 17, 2005, 1:30pm to 4:30pm, Theory and practical experience of Sant Mat
and the meditation on the inner Light and Sound at the Wilmot Library, 530
N. Wilmot Rd. info: 520-544-8139 or 520-762-5188 or visit
www.knowthyselfassoul.org

JULY 21 Full Moon

JULY 22 Sun enters Leo

JULY 22 Mercury goes retrograde

JULY 22 - 30, Wilderness retreat HIGH SIERRA VIPASSANA BACKPACKING RETREAT,
Sequoia National Park, California Led by Eric Kolvig. Info: Terry Gustafson,
7125 W 27th Ave, Wheat Ridge, CO 80033, (303) 239-9917, terry@...
or http://www.rainbow2.com/

JULY 22- Scott Kalechstein will be offering a workshop/concert called A
Course In Miracles- THE MUSICAL! at the Rocky Mountain Miracle Center,
DENVER, COLORADO. Call 303-759-3409 < scott@...> or <
http://www.scottsongs.com>

JULY 23- Scott Kalechstein will be giving an all day workshop called the
Song Portrait Circle at the High Country Unity Church in Englewood,
COLORADO. Call (303) 798-2295 < scott@...> or <
http://www.scottsongs.com>

JULY 24- Scott Kalechstein will be giving a talk and guest music at the High
Country Unity Church in Englewood, COLORADO. Following the service a
workshop of some sort, soon to be determined. Call (303) 798-2295 <
scott@...> or < http://www.scottsongs.com>

JULY 10 - AUG 7: 2005 SUMMER TEACHINGS. At Garchen Buddhist Institute, P.O.
Box 4318, Chino Valley, AZ. 86323-1237 call: 928-925-1237
garchen@...

JULY 24, at 2:00 PM (4th Sunday of each month) Antigone's Buddhist reading
group Antigone's bookstore at, 411 N. 4th Ave. Tucson, AZ. They can be
reached at (520) 792-3715 to find out the book they are currently working
with or www.antigonebooks.com

JULY 24, 6:15 to 7:15 p.m. 4th Sundays Children's Dharma Class, for older
kids, ages 10-14 info. 931 N. 5th Ave., (Friend's Meeting House, Tucson).
For more information call Katherine at (520) 290-1722.

JULY 30-Aug. 6 - Women's Retreat at Vallecitos Mountain Refuge in northern
New Mexico with Marcia Rose assisted by Jean Smith & Bonnie Duran. Contact
Vallecitos Mtn. Refuge  refuge@... for more info.

AUG 3rd, 6-7:30pm Course 2: Level Two--Switching Me & You, St. Paul's
Episcopal Church, 2331 E Adams St, Tucson, 85719 - (520) 327-6857. call
(520) 792-6585 or email <starintheeast@...>

AUG 5-11 A Meeting of the Ways, an annual Sufi retreat bringing together
teachers from the Sufi, Jewish, Christian, Hindu and Native American sacred
traditions.  Experience the Beloved we seek is the same beloved for all
people through Shabbat, Meditation, Prayer and Zikerm at Voice of the Turtle
Retreat Center rashadwilson@... (505) 538-1798

AUG 8-12 Level 1: Introduction to the Tibetan Scriptural Language Tibetan
Language Institute, Tibetan Language Institute, P.O. Box 2037, Hamilton, MT
59840 USA 406/ 961-5131  Email: <info@...> or
<www.tibetanlanguage.org>

AUG 15-19 Level 2: Grammar and the Basics of Learning to Read Tibetan Texts,
Tibetan Language Institute, Tibetan Language Institute, P.O. Box 2037,
Hamilton, MT 59840 USA 406/ 961-5131  Email: <info@...> or
<www.tibetanlanguage.org>

AUG 19-21 Weekend Sesshin: by Pat Hawk Roshe:  Zen Desert Sangha, Tucson,
AZ. For more information  www.zendesertsangha.org

AUG 22-26 Level 3: Reading Seminar: Reading and Translating Dharma Texts
With Tulku Thubten Rinpoche, Tibetan Language Institute, P.O. Box 2037,
Hamilton, MT 59840 USA 406/ 961-5131  Email: <info@...> or
<www.tibetanlanguage.org>

AUG 31 7-8:00 PM. Evening Dharma Talk by Pat Hawk Roshe:  Zen Desert Sangha,
Tucson, AZ. For more information  www.zendesertsangha.org

SEPT 7th, 6-7:30pm Course 3: Jesus and Tibet: A Historical Overview, St.
Paul's Episcopal Church, 2331 E Adams St, Tucson, 85719 - (520) 327-6857.
call (520) 792-6585 or email <starintheeast@...>

SEPT 19, at 3pm the Dalai Lama will give a Public Talk, at the Tucson
Convention Center. Arizona Teachings, Inc. at www.arizonateachings.org or
Arizona Friends of Tibet. http://www.arizona-friends-of-tibet.org/ or
contact@...
Tickets can be purchased through Ticketmaster, by phone (520-321-1000), or
online www.ticketmaster.com

DEC. 3-10 - Metta Retreat with Marcia Rose   Mabel Dodge Luhan House - Taos,
NM Contact Mabel@...   or  www.mabeldodgeluhan.com


+++++++++++++++ EDITORIAL +++++++++++++++++

A Proposed Unifying Theory for the Experience of Gnosis

Hello friends, I have just finished an article in which I endeavor to bring
together a conceptual umbrella under which I hope to embrace 4 distinctly
different subjective experiences within a single framework by utilizing the
concepts embodied within the Discourse of the Buddha and the Yoga Sutras of
Patañjali. That article is, however, too big to post with this newsletter.
If you are interested in reading that article please go to this URL:

A Proposed Unifying Theory for the Experience of Gnosis  Within a Structure
of Placing the Phenomena Associated with the Concept of Access Concentration
(upacara-samadhi), The luminous Orb, and the Out-of-Body (OOB) experience
within the Buddha¹s 8 stages of Meditative Absorption (jhana)
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/transitionalabsorption.htm

The premise that I have worked on all along in my 3 decades of contemplative
life has simply been whatever went on subjectively in my contemplative life
must have some component that is common to all people in all times. In
support of this premise are the writings of the mystics of the world from
Zarathustra to the present. If there is a commonality to the experience of
gnosis then it is relevant to read the writings of the mystics. If there is
no common experience of gnosis, or method to it, then it is irrelevant to
read or study the writings of the mystics.

When I read the Discourses of the Buddha I found a great deal that was
common to my experiences in meditation. That was also true when I read the
works of Teresa of Avila and John of the Cross. In fact I have found I can
use my experience as a determining factor for whether someone is speaking
from personal experience or writing fiction.

Please consider reading that article and expressing your opinion.

May you dwell in the joyful home of the way (Di.t.thadhammasukhavihaaraa)

Sotapanna Jhanananda (Jeffrey S, Brooks)
the Great Western Vehicle
PO Box 41795
Tucson, AZ 85717-1795

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

The intention of this newsletter is to provide timely information to the
Southwestern community of contemplatives. This newsletter offers a monthly
calendar of meditation retreats and other related activities.  You are
welcome to forward, reproduce or copy in anyway or part this newsletter for
helping others to lead a contemplative life. I only ask that you give credit
to the newsletter and publisher.

This newsletter is a service of Jhanananda (Jeffrey S. Brooks) of the Great
Western Vehicle.  The editor/publisher alone takes responsibility for this
newsletter and its content.

To Subscribe: SWI_E_letter-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Access to the archive of all back issues is at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SWI_E_letter/

Please direct all comments or submissions to the editor: Jhanananda (Jeffrey
S. Brooks) at: Jhanananda@...

Great Western Vehicle Ordination Program
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/gwvordinationprogram.htm

If you find the services of the Great Western Vehicle of value then please
consider supporting the Great Western Vehicle
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/support.html


May you become enlightened in this very life-time,

Jeff Brooks
Jhanananda
the Great Western Vehicle
PO Box 41795
Tucson, AZ 85717-1795
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/index.html

May 1, 2005


^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^
^:^:^       THE SOUTHWEST INSIGHT E'LETTER      ^:^:^
^:^:^                        Vol. 05.05                       ^:^:^
^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^

a service of the Great Western Vehicle,
a 4th wheel Buddhist tradition
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/index.html

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"Tucson Jhana, Satipatthana and Sutta Discussion Group."

At 8:30 to 10am on either Saturday or Sunday mornings at 2506 E. Drachman,
Tucson, 85716. Contact Mark Pirtle at mark@...  or (520) 250-9027
will be held from 8:30 to 10:00am

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Buddhist Meetup !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

First Thursdays most Buddhist Meetup Groups meet.  To find the meeting in
your area click on this link http://buddhism.meetup.com/

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


%%%%%%% A CONTEMPLATIVE¹S CALENDAR %%%%%%

%%%%%%%%%% MAY ­ JUNE %%%%%%%%



APR. 15 - 17; Weekend Sesshin, with Pat Hawk Roshi, at Zen Desert Sangha at
3226 North Martin Avenue, Tucson, AZ (one block west of Campbell Avenue and
about 100 yards north of Fort Lowell) contact Bob Wallin (520) 620-6347, or
email Bob: wallinrw@...

APR 23, Zen Desert Sangha Potluck and Poetry night; 6 PM - 7 PM,
food-sharing; 7:00 PM - 9:30 PM, Poetry, stories, music, songs, puppets,
???. All welcome. Bring food to share and poems to read or music to perform;
bring musical instruments! Or, just come to eat and listen and check out the
happenings; get to know your fellow sangha members. at 3226 North Martin
Avenue, Tucson, AZ (one block west of Campbell Avenue and about 100 yards
north of Fort Lowell) contact Bob Wallin (520) 620-6347.
http://www.zendesertsangha.org

APR 29, 6:00 ­ 8 PM Discover the Joy of Meditation, Jhana. Understanding the
8th Fold of the Noble Eightfold Path. A lecture with discussion led by
Jeffrey S. Brooks at the Science of Mind Church, 781 S. 2nd Ave. Yuma, AZ.
for appointments & interviews call 376-6955
jhanananda@...
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/GWV.html

APRIL 29–MAY 1, Omega at The Crossings, Austin, Texas GRIEF, FAITH, AND
LIVING WITH GRACE Retreat with Sharon Salzberg and Anne Klein. For more
information or to register: www.eomega.org  877 944-3003, or
registration@...

MAY Retrograde planets:, Jupiter, Neptune, Pluto

MAY 1 May Day

MAY 2, Sharon Salzberg will give a teaching at the De Menil Museum Houston,
TX   www.dawnmountain.org  or phone 713 630-0354

MAY 2, 7 PM Tucson BPF meeting at Martin's house, 701 E. Mabel, Tucson.
(520) 320-5883. bpf_Tucson@yahoogroups.com
HTTP://groups.yahoo.com/groups/bpf_Tucson/cal

MAY 5 Cinco De Mayo, Ascension Day, Eta Aquarids Meteor Shower

MAY 5, Tucson Buddhist Meetup Group First Thursday @ 7:00 PM at the Epic
Cafe 745 N 4th Av  Tucson, AZ  520-624-6844  *
http://buddhism.meetup.com/10/

MAY 5, 6:30 pm: "Endless Practice: The Cycle of Relative and Absolute," talk
by Henry C. Finney Taos Mountain Sangha Meditation Center, 107 Garcia, Suite
C Taos, New Mexico 87571. For more information, e-mail tmsangha@...
or telephone 505-737-2383

MAY 6-15. Vipassana Retreat (AH) led by Yanai  Postelnik, Sharda
Rogell,  Myoshin Kelley &  Eugene Cash at IMS. Insight Meditation Society,
1230 Pleasant St. Barre, MA 01005 Or  www.dharma.org  Or call 978-355-4378

May 7 Bob Parker will lead a meditation retreat in Noble Silence at Taos
Mountain Sangha, 107 Garcia, Suite C Taos, New Mexico 87571. For more
information, e-mail tmsangha@... or telephone 505-737-2383

MAY 7-14; Sat-Sat (7 days) Bhavana Program: ³Dependent Origination²
Andrew Olendzki and Gloria Taraniya Ambrosia at the Barre Center for
Buddhist Studies, Barre, MA. www.dharma.org/bcbs

MAY 8th Mother¹s Day, New Moon

MAY 8th, 6:15 to 7:15 p.m. Children's Dharma Class, Ages 5 to 10, 2nd Sunday
of each month. 931 N. 5th Ave., (Friend's Meeting House, Tucson).
Activities will include Jataka tales, art projects, sharing and mindful
snacking.  For more information call Katherine at (520) 290-1722.

MAY 10-12- H.E. Bontrul Rinpoche: Heart Drupchen Empowerment of Guru
Rinpoche and Teaching on Drupchen (Great Accomplishment) Practice. At
Garchen Buddhist Institute, P.O. Box 4318, Chino Valley, AZ. 86323-1237
call: 928-925-1237 garchen@...

MAY 11, 3:30 pm: Sangha Council Circle, the Board of Directors' preliminary
meeting to discuss the role of a Guiding Teacher for Taos Mountain Sangha.
All Sangha members please attend if possible. 107 Garcia, Suite C Taos, New
Mexico 87571. For more information, e-mail tmsangha@... or telephone
505-737-2383

May 12, 6:30 pm: "Compassion," talk by Julie Tato Taos Mountain Sangha
Meditation Center, 107 Garcia, Suite C Taos, New Mexico 87571. For more
information, e-mail tmsangha@... or telephone 505-737-2383

MAY 13 ­ 14 Wisdom Teachings with Dhyani Ywahoo, spiritual director of
Sunray and lineage holder in Drikung Kagyu and Nyingma traditions of Tibetan
Buddhism at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Phoenix 4027 East
Lincoln Drive, Paradise Valley, AZ 85253 INFO: Email azbeautyway@...
or call 480-488-6442. Website www.sunray.org

MAY 13-15: Khenpo Tsultrim Tenzin Rinpoche Teaching on the 7 Taras. At
Garchen Buddhist Institute, P.O. Box 4318, Chino Valley, AZ. 86323-1237
call: 928-925-1237 garchen@...

MAY 13-15, teachings and empowerments from Choejor Rinpoche, 37 Bodhisattva
Practices, Vajrakilaya and Three Kayas for DHARMAKIRTI COLLEGE at Ada Peirce
McCormick Building 1401 East First Street at Highland Ave. Underpass. For
Complete Details visit Dharmakirti.ORG

MAY 13-15 "Recognizing the View" Khetsun Sangpo Rinpoche, Khetsun Sangpo
Rinpoche, for Dawn Mountain at Spectrum Center, 4615 Post Oak Place, Suite
188, Houston 77027, near West Loop I-610 and San Felipe, Info:
www.dawnmountain.org, phone 713 630-0354,or email info@....

MAY 14 & 15 AWARE Conference 2005 ³A cross-cultural exploration of
healthcare practices integrating mind, body, and spirit² at the Southwest
College of Naturopathic Medicine 2140 E. Broadway Rd., Tempe, AZ
www.worldaware.org/conference2005.html

MAY 15 Whit Sunday, Pentecost

MAY 18, 7 PM Tucson BPF meeting at Martin's house, 701 E. Mabel, Tucson.
(520) 320-5883. bpf_Tucson@yahoogroups.com
HTTP://groups.yahoo.com/groups/bpf_Tucson/cal

MAY 19 Neptune goes retrograde

MAY 19, 6:30 pm: "Reconciliation with Self and Nature," talk by Bob Parker
Taos Mountain Sangha Meditation Center, 107 Garcia, Suite C Taos, New Mexico
87571. For more information, e-mail tmsangha@... or telephone
505-737-2383

MAY 20 Sun Enters Gemini

MAY 20 -  21 The Art & Practice of Kirtan with Jai Uttal and tabla master
Daniel Paul. At Yoga Pura 15440 N. 7th Street, Phoenix, AZ (602) 843-PURA
FAX (602) 843-7875 www.yogapura.com  -  www.yogapura.com/kirtanemail.html

MAY 20-22 "Entering the Expanse" Khetsun Sangpo Rinpoche, Khetsun Sangpo
Rinpoche, for Dawn Mountain at Spectrum Center, 4615 Post Oak Place, Suite
188, Houston 77027, near West Loop I-610 and San Felipe, Info:
www.dawnmountain.org  phone 713 630-0354,or email info@...

MAY 20-22: Women¹s Dharma Retreat with Lopon Barbara DuBois, PhD: ³The
Liberating Dharma: Conversations Among Women,² At Garchen Buddhist
Institute, P.O. Box 4318, Chino Valley, AZ. 86323-1237 call: 928-925-1237
garchen@...

MAY 21-22 Level 2 Shambhala Training, The Shambhala Phoenix Meditation
Center, 6360 East Thomas Rd., Suite 100, Scottsdale.  For more information
please contact Lisa Greenacre at lisagreenacre@...

MAY 22, at 2:00 PM (4th Sunday of each month) Antigone's Buddhist reading
group Antigone's bookstore at, 411 N. 4th Ave. Tucson, AZ. They can be
reached at (520) 792-3715 to find out the book they are currently working
with or www.antigonebooks.com

MAY 22, 6:15 to 7:15 p.m. 4th Sundays Children's Dharma Class, for older
kids, ages 10-14 info. 931 N. 5th Ave., (Friend's Meeting House, Tucson).
For more information call Katherine at (520) 290-1722.

MAY 26, 6:30 pm: Practice and the Sangha forum, led by Selah Chamberlain
Taos Mountain Sangha Meditation Center, 107 Garcia, Suite C Taos, New Mexico
87571. For more information, e-mail tmsangha@... or telephone
505-737-2383

MAY 28-30: Guru Rinpoche Million Mantra Accumulation. At Garchen Buddhist
Institute, P.O. Box 4318, Chino Valley, AZ. 86323-1237 call: 928-925-1237
garchen@...

MAY 30 Memorial Day

JUNE 2-7, Emotion Meets Spirit: Integrating Mindfulness, Psychotherapy, and
Neurobiology at Mt. Madonna Center, Watsonville, California. Daniel Siegel,
Bobrow, Anne Klein, Polly Young Eisendrath. Lama Palden Drolma and Jason
Siff. Registration at http://www.deepstreams.org/inst/  or call
415-487-8742.

JUNE 3-5: Khenpo Sherab Odzer Rinpoche teaching on ³Shantideva¹s Bodhisattva
Way of Life², and Prajnaparamita Empowerment. At Garchen Buddhist Institute,
P.O. Box 4318, Chino Valley, AZ. 86323-1237 call: 928-925-1237
garchen@...

JUNE 6- JULY 1 Yoga Kids Camp in two-week session
Session 1: 6/6-6/17 Session 2: 6/20-7/1 Monday-Friday 9:30am-12:30pm 15540
N. 7th Street, Phoenix, AZ 85022 www.yogapura.com or (602) 843-PURA
http://www.yogapura.com/email/kidscamp/kids_camp.html

JULY 22 - 30, Wilderness retreat HIGH SIERRA VIPASSANA BACKPACKING RETREAT,
Sequoia National Park, California Led by Eric Kolvig. Info: Terry Gustafson,
7125 W 27th Ave, Wheat Ridge, CO 80033, (303) 239-9917, terry@...
or http://www.rainbow2.com/

JULY 10 - AUG 7: 2005 SUMMER TEACHINGS. At Garchen Buddhist Institute, P.O.
Box 4318, Chino Valley, AZ. 86323-1237 call: 928-925-1237
garchen@...

JUL 30-Aug. 6 - Women's Retreat at Vallecitos Mountain Refuge in northern
New Mexico with Marcia Rose assisted by Jean Smith & Bonnie Duran. Contact
Vallecitos Mtn. Refuge  refuge@... for more info.

AUG 5-11 A Meeting of the Ways, an annual Sufi retreat bringing together
teachers from the Sufi, Jewish, Christian, Hindu and Native American sacred
traditions.  Experience the Beloved we seek is the same beloved for all
people through Shabbat, Meditation, Prayer and Zikerm at Voice of the Turtle
Retreat Center rashadwilson@... (505) 538-1798

AUG 19-21 Weekend Sesshin: by Pat Hawk Roshe:  Zen Desert Sangha, Tucson,
AZ. For more information  www.zendesertsangha.org

AUG 31 7-8:00 PM. Evening Dharma Talk by Pat Hawk Roshe:  Zen Desert Sangha,
Tucson, AZ. For more information  www.zendesertsangha.org

SEPT 19, at 3pm the Dalai Lama will give a Public Talk, at the Tucson
Convention Center. Arizona Teachings, Inc. at www.arizonateachings.org or
Arizona Friends of Tibet. http://www.arizona-friends-of-tibet.org/ or
contact@...
Tickets can be purchased through Ticketmaster, by phone (520-321-1000), or
online www.ticketmaster.com

DEC. 3-10 - Metta Retreat with Marcia Rose   Mabel Dodge Luhan House - Taos,
NM Contact Mabel@...   or  www.mabeldodgeluhan.com


+++++++++++++++ EDITORIAL +++++++++++++++++

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
the Great Western Vehicle PALI R E S O U R C E Guide
for the Study of the, Tipitaka, P A L I Language and Literature
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/palisources.htm

Edited By Jhanananda (Jeffrey S. Brooks):
Updated 04-23-05


Regardless of whether one is a Buddhist or from some other religion a study
of the Pali canon can only enhance one¹s spiritual journey.  The Pali Canon
is reputed to be a record of the spoken word of the historic Buddha,
Sidharta Gotama (c 563-483 BCE).  It is at least the oldest extant document
of the words that are attributed to the Buddha.

The Pali Canon is also known as the ³Tipitaka² in Pali, which means the
³Three Baskets.² The Three Baskets were first written during the reign of
King Ashoka around 250 BCE.  Therefore no other canon of Buddhist literature
has a better claim of authenticity.  It may also be worth pointing out that
the other canons of Buddhist literature are based upon first century CE
Sanskrit translations of the Pali canon, which are called the ³Tripitaka² in
Sanskrit.  Thus, as the West begins to build its own canon of Buddhist
literature it might as well begin with a translation of the original Pali
Canon into the various Western Languages.

Western scholarship in the Pali canon began in 1850 with the work of the
Finish scholar, Viggo Fausböll (1821-1908), who published the first
scholarly translation of the Dhammapada. Pali studies arrived in English
with the work of Robert Caesar Childers (1838-1876), who translated Viggo
Fausböll¹s Dhammapada into English.  In 1876 the first Pali to English
dictionary was published posthumously for Childers.

F. Max Muller (1823-1900) began the translation of Pali literature into
German at about the same time Viggo Fausböll was working on his Finish
translations.  In 1881 Muller came to England to help found the Pali Text
Society. Muller¹s English translation of Viggo Fausböll¹s Dhammapada was
published by the Pali Text Society in volume 10 of their series the ³Sacred
Books of the East.²

From 1899 to 1910 the Long Discourses of the Buddha (Digha Nikaya) first
appeared in English.  They were published in volumes 2 through 4 of the
³Sacred Books of the Buddhists,² and were translated by Rhys Davids and
edited by F. Max Muller for the Pali Text Society.

Reading the Pali canon is an excellent way to come to understand the central
concepts of Buddhism.  While the canon has a reputation for being a weighty
tome, I have found it readable and accessible.  Much of it is even online at
various websites that you will find in the Great Western Vehicle Pali
Resource Guide.

The GWV Pali Resource Guide is available at this URL:
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/palisources.htm

One must, however, keep in mind translator bias when reading translated
literature, thus please examine the following document:

³Exposing Translator Bias in the translation of Buddhist Literature, as
revealed in a comparative analysis of 24 translations of Dhammapada Verse
372.²

May you become enlightened in this very life-time,

Sotapanna Jhanananda (Jeffrey S, Brooks)
the Great Western Vehicle
PO Box 41795
Tucson, AZ 85717-1795



%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

The intention of this newsletter is to provide timely information to the
Southwestern community of contemplatives. This newsletter offers a monthly
calendar of meditation retreats and other related activities.  You are
welcome to forward, reproduce or copy in anyway or part this newsletter for
helping others to lead a contemplative life. I only ask that you give credit
to the newsletter and publisher.

This newsletter is a service of Jhanananda (Jeffrey S. Brooks) of the Great
Western Vehicle.  The editor/publisher alone takes responsibility for this
newsletter and its content.

To Subscribe: SWI_E_letter-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Access to the archive of all back issues is at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SWI_E_letter/

Please direct all comments or submissions to the editor: Jhanananda (Jeffrey
S. Brooks) at: Jhanananda@...

Great Western Vehicle Ordination Program
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/gwvordinationprogram.htm

If you find the services of the Great Western Vehicle of value then please
consider supporting the Great Western Vehicle
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/support.html


May you become enlightened in this very life-time,

Jeff Brooks
Jhanananda
the Great Western Vehicle
PO Box 41795
Tucson, AZ 85717-1795
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/index.html

April 1, 2005


^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^
^:^:^       THE SOUTHWEST INSIGHT E'LETTER      ^:^:^
^:^:^                        Vol. 05.04         ^:^:^
^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^ ^:^:^

a service of the Great Western Vehicle,
a 4th wheel Buddhist tradition
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http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Tucson_Dharma_News/

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First Thursdays most Buddhist Meetup Groups meet.  To find the meeting in
your area click on this link http://buddhism.meetup.com/

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


%%%%%%% A CONTEMPLATIVE¹S CALENDAR %%%%%%

%%%%%%%%%% APRIL ­ May %%%%%%%%

MAR 30-April 20, Wednesdays, 6-7pm Star in the East ³A Course in Christian
Practice, Level Two² a five-week course exploring the Eastern branch of
Christianity through meditation and discussion with Mercedes Bahleda & Will
Duncan. Grace Saint Paul's Episcopal Church, 2331 East Adam Street, Tucson,
AZ. To register or for information email StarInTheEast@...  or call
520-792-6585.

April Retrograde planets: Mercury, Jupiter, Pluto

APR 1, Moon, last quarter

APR 1, Fridays 6:30 ­ 8 PM A Meditation class with Jeffrey S. Brooks ³Jhana,
Understanding the 8th Fold of the Noble Eightfold Path² in the ³Little
Chapel² of the Ada Peirce McCormick Building near UA. (Cherry & Speedway)
Directions provided if needed.  Free parking is available.  Open enrolment,
but please RSVP 247-5587 jhanananda@...
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/GWV.html

APR 1-3 - Friday evening through Sunday afternoon: The Vajra  Songs of Lord
Jigten Sumgon with Gape Lama. at Garchen Buddhist Institute, P.O. Box 4318,
Chino Valley, AZ. 86323-1237 call: 928-925-1237 garchen@...

APR 2, 7-9PM Prescott Dances of World Peace, Join Carolynn and Daniel for an
evening of singing, poetry, dance and more in the Wisdom Exchange Pyramid
upstairs next to the Grove Studio on Saturday. Call Carolynn at 717-2017
http://prescottdances.org/calendar.htm

APR 2, 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. ONE DAY METTA MEDITATION RETREAT, WITH  Kate
O¹Neill at Taos Mountain Sangha Meditation Center - Plaza Garcia St. TMS
Box 2854   Ranchos de Taos,  NM   87557

APR 3 Daylight savings time begins

APR 3 at 9:00 a.m. Paranirvana celebration: Chogyam Trunpa Rinpoche. Tucson
Shambhala. practice and celebrate this day with meditation, readings, video
presentations and a reception.
www.tucsonshambhala.org or info@...

APR 4, 7 PM Tucson BPF meeting at Martin's house, 701 E. Mabel, Tucson.
(520) 320-5883. bpf_Tucson@yahoogroups.com
HTTP://groups.yahoo.com/groups/bpf_Tucson/cal

APR 7, Tucson Buddhist Meetup Group First Thursday @ 7:00 PM at the Epic
Cafe 745 N 4th Av  Tucson, AZ  520-624-6844  *
http://buddhism.meetup.com/10/

APR 7, 6:45 pm. public talk by Don Alejandro the President of the National
Mayan Council of Elders at the JCC for the Inner Connection
www.theinnerconnection.org

April 8th Solar Eclipse and New Moon

April 8th FREE: 6pm meal - 7pm music Charlie King & Karen Brandow in concert
at the Unitarian Universalist Church 4831 E. 22nd St For more information
one can call 623 1688.  Or check www.charlieking.org

APR 9 & 10 The 37 Practices of the Bodhisattva, Bodhisattva Vow, and Tonglen
With Khenpo Sherab Özer Rinpoche at the Historic Y Building 738 N. 5th
Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85705. Information:
Frank Cole (520) 321-9689.  Drikung Kagyu Buddhist Center of Tucson.
frank@...
www.drikungkagyutucson.org

APR 10th, 6:15 to 7:15 p.m. Children's Dharma Class, Ages 5 to 10, 2nd
Sunday of each month. 931 N. 5th Ave., (Friend's Meeting House, Tucson).
Activities will include Jataka tales, art projects, sharing and mindful
snacking.  For more information call Katherine at (520) 290-1722.

APR 11th, 18th, and 25th, 7-8:30 pm Introduction to the Tibetan Language
Class at Tucson Shambhala Meditation Center 3250 N. Tucson Blvd for The
Tucson Shambhala Center and Drikung Namgyal Ling

APR 12th Mercury goes direct

APR 14th Pan American Day

APR 15, Fridays 6:30 ­ 8 PM A Meditation class with Jeffrey S. Brooks
³Jhana, Understanding the 8th Fold of the Noble Eightfold Path² in the
³Little Chapel² of the Ada Peirce McCormick Building near UA. (Cherry &
Speedway) Directions provided if needed.  Free parking is available.  Open
enrolment, but please RSVP 247-5587 jhanananda@...
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/GWV.html

APR. 15 - 17; Weekend Sesshin, with Pat Hawk Roshi, at Zen Desert Sangha at
3226 North Martin Avenue, Tucson, AZ (one block west of Campbell Avenue and
about 100 yards north of Fort Lowell) contact Bob Wallin (520) 620-6347, or
email Bob: wallinrw@...

APR 15-17. A Weekend for New Students  (NSW) with Narayan &
Michael Liebenson Grady at IMS. Insight Meditation Society, 1230 Pleasant
St. Barre, MA 01005 Or  www.dharma.org  Or call 978-355-4378

APR 16 Moon, first quarter

APR 16 & 17 The 37 Practices of the Bodhisattva, Bodhisattva Vow, and
Tonglen With Khenpo Sherab Özer Rinpoche at the Historic Y Building 738 N.
5th Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85705. Information:
Frank Cole (520) 321-9689.  Drikung Kagyu Buddhist Center of Tucson.
frank@...
www.drikungkagyutucson.org

APR 18, 7 PM Tucson BPF meeting at Martin's house, 701 E. Mabel, Tucson.
(520) 320-5883. bpf_Tucson@yahoogroups.com
HTTP://groups.yahoo.com/groups/bpf_Tucson/cal

APR 18 ­ 24 Vipassana Support International Meditation Retreat, Led by
SHINZEN YOUNG. Mary & Joseph Retreat Center, 5300 Crest Rd., Rancho Palos
Verdes, CA 90275    310-377-4867
Website:  www.maryjoseph.org

APR 19 Sun enters Taurus

APR 21 - 30, Wilderness retreat VIPASSANA BACKPACKING RETREAT ON THE RAINBOW
TRAIL, Navajo Nation, Utah, Led by Mark Coleman (Spirit Rock Teacher). Info:
Terry Gustafson, 7125 W 27th Ave, Wheat Ridge, CO 80033, (303) 239-9917,
terry@... or http://www.rainbow2.com/

APR 22, Earth Day

APR 22, Fridays 6:30 ­ 8 PM A Meditation class with Jeffrey S. Brooks
³Jhana, Understanding the 8th Fold of the Noble Eightfold Path² in the
³Little Chapel² of the Ada Peirce McCormick Building near UA. (Cherry &
Speedway) Directions provided if needed.  Free parking is available.  Open
enrolment, but please RSVP 247-5587 jhanananda@...
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/GWV.html

APR 22-24- Scott Kalechstein performs contemplative music at an
International Celebration and Tribute Conference on A Course In Miracles
SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH, Call Rev. Sue Borg at 801-261-2227 or email
sueborg@...  ()  http://www.scottsongs.com/

APR 23rd, 10-6pm Tucson's Community Earth Day at Himmel Park for more info.
mhartwell@...  or P.O. Box 710 Tucson, AZ 85702.

APR 23, Zen Desert Sangha Potluck and Poetry night; 6 PM - 7 PM,
food-sharing; 7:00 PM - 9:30 PM, Poetry, stories, music, songs, puppets,
???. All welcome. Bring food to share and poems to read or music to perform;
bring musical instruments! Or, just come to eat and listen and check out the
happenings; get to know your fellow sangha members. at 3226 North Martin
Avenue, Tucson, AZ (one block west of Campbell Avenue and about 100 yards
north of Fort Lowell) contact Bob Wallin (520) 620-6347.
http://www.zendesertsangha.org

APR 23 & 24 The 37 Practices of the Bodhisattva, Bodhisattva Vow, and
Tonglen With Khenpo Sherab Özer Rinpoche at the Historic Y Building 738 N.
5th Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85705. Information:
Frank Cole (520) 321-9689.  Drikung Kagyu Buddhist Center of Tucson.
frank@...
www.drikungkagyutucson.org

APR 23 and 24, Level 1 meditation training, Shambhala Phoenix. The Art of
Being Human. Carol Lovett, will direct the program. shambhala@... or
calling Julie at 480-756-0570.

APR 23-27- Annual Chenrezig Drupchen with Traga Rinpoche, Gape Lama and all
the Lamas. At Garchen Buddhist Institute, P.O. Box 4318, Chino Valley, AZ.
86323-1237 call: 928-925-1237 garchen@...

APR 24 Passover, Lunar Eclipse

APR 24, at 2:00 PM (4th Sunday of each month) Antigone's Buddhist reading
group Antigone's bookstore at, 411 N. 4th Ave. Tucson, AZ. They can be
reached at (520) 792-3715 to find out the book they are currently working
with or www.antigonebooks.com

APR 23-27 Annual Chenrezig Drupchen with all the Lamas at Garchen Buddhist
Institute, P.O. Box 4318, Chino Valley, AZ. 86323-1237 call: 928-925-1237
garchen@...

APR 29, 6:00 ­ 8 PM Discover the Joy of Meditation, Jhana. Understanding the
8th Fold of the Noble Eightfold Path. A lecture with discussion led by
Jeffrey S. Brooks at the Science of Mind Church, 781 S. 2nd Ave. Yuma, AZ.
for appointments & interviews call 376-6955
jhanananda@...
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/GWV.html

APRIL 29–MAY 1, Omega at The Crossings, Austin, Texas GRIEF, FAITH, AND
LIVING WITH GRACE Retreat with Sharon Salzberg and Anne Klein. For more
information or to register: www.eomega.org  877 944-3003, or
registration@...

MAY Retrograde planets:, Jupiter, Neptune, Pluto

MAY 1 May Day

MAY 2, Sharon Salzberg will give a teaching at the De Menil Museum Houston,
TX   www.dawnmountain.org  or phone 713 630-0354

MAY 2, 7 PM Tucson BPF meeting at Martin's house, 701 E. Mabel, Tucson.
(520) 320-5883. bpf_Tucson@yahoogroups.com
HTTP://groups.yahoo.com/groups/bpf_Tucson/cal

MAY 5 Cinco De Mayo, Ascension Day, Eta Aquarids Meteor Shower

MAY 5, Tucson Buddhist Meetup Group First Thursday @ 7:00 PM at the Epic
Cafe 745 N 4th Av  Tucson, AZ  520-624-6844  *
http://buddhism.meetup.com/10/

MAY 6-15. Vipassana Retreat (AH) led by Yanai  Postelnik, Sharda
Rogell,  Myoshin Kelley &  Eugene Cash at IMS. Insight Meditation Society,
1230 Pleasant St. Barre, MA 01005 Or  www.dharma.org  Or call 978-355-4378

MAY 7-14; Sat-Sat (7 days) Bhavana Program: ³Dependent Origination²
Andrew Olendzki and Gloria Taraniya Ambrosia at the Barre Center for
Buddhist Studies, Barre, MA. www.dharma.org/bcbs

MAY 8th Mother¹s Day, New Moon

MAY 8th, 6:15 to 7:15 p.m. Children's Dharma Class, Ages 5 to 10, 2nd Sunday
of each month. 931 N. 5th Ave., (Friend's Meeting House, Tucson).
Activities will include Jataka tales, art projects, sharing and mindful
snacking.  For more information call Katherine at (520) 290-1722.

MAY 10-12- H.E. Bontrul Rinpoche: Heart Drupchen Empowerment of Guru
Rinpoche and Teaching on Drupchen (Great Accomplishment) Practice. At
Garchen Buddhist Institute, P.O. Box 4318, Chino Valley, AZ. 86323-1237
call: 928-925-1237 garchen@...

MAY 13 ­ 14 Wisdom Teachings with Dhyani Ywahoo, spiritual director of
Sunray and lineage holder in Drikung Kagyu and Nyingma traditions of Tibetan
Buddhism at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Phoenix 4027 East
Lincoln Drive, Paradise Valley, AZ 85253 INFO: Email azbeautyway@...
or call 480-488-6442. Website www.sunray.org

MAY 13-15: Khenpo Tsultrim Tenzin Rinpoche Teaching on the 7 Taras. At
Garchen Buddhist Institute, P.O. Box 4318, Chino Valley, AZ. 86323-1237
call: 928-925-1237 garchen@...

MAY 15 Whit Sunday, Pentecost

MAY 18, 7 PM Tucson BPF meeting at Martin's house, 701 E. Mabel, Tucson.
(520) 320-5883. bpf_Tucson@yahoogroups.com
HTTP://groups.yahoo.com/groups/bpf_Tucson/cal

MAY 19 Neptune goes retrograde

MAY 20 Sun Enters Gemini

MAY 20 -  21 The Art & Practice of Kirtan with Jai Uttal and tabla master
Daniel Paul. At Yoga Pura 15440 N. 7th Street, Phoenix, AZ (602) 843-PURA
FAX (602) 843-7875 www.yogapura.com
www.yogapura.com/kirtanemail.html

MAY 22, at 2:00 PM (4th Sunday of each month) Antigone's Buddhist reading
group Antigone's bookstore at, 411 N. 4th Ave. Tucson, AZ. They can be
reached at (520) 792-3715 to find out the book they are currently working
with or www.antigonebooks.com

MAY 28-30: Guru Rinpoche Million Mantra Accumulation. At Garchen Buddhist
Institute, P.O. Box 4318, Chino Valley, AZ. 86323-1237 call: 928-925-1237
garchen@...

MAY 30 Memorial Day

JUNE 2-7, Emotion Meets Spirit: Integrating Mindfulness, Psychotherapy, and
Neurobiology at Mt. Madonna Center, Watsonville, California. Daniel Siegel,
Bobrow, Anne Klein, Polly Young Eisendrath. Lama Palden Drolma and Jason
Siff. Registration at http://www.deepstreams.org/inst/  or call
415-487-8742.

JUNE 3-5: Khenpo Sherab Odzer Rinpoche teaching on ³Shantideva¹s Bodhisattva
Way of Life², and Prajnaparamita Empowerment. At Garchen Buddhist Institute,
P.O. Box 4318, Chino Valley, AZ. 86323-1237 call: 928-925-1237
garchen@...

JUL 22 - 30, Wilderness retreat HIGH SIERRA VIPASSANA BACKPACKING RETREAT,
Sequoia National Park, California Led by Eric Kolvig. Info: Terry Gustafson,
7125 W 27th Ave, Wheat Ridge, CO 80033, (303) 239-9917, terry@...
or http://www.rainbow2.com/

JUL 10 - August 7: 2005 SUMMER TEACHINGS. At Garchen Buddhist Institute,
P.O. Box 4318, Chino Valley, AZ. 86323-1237 call: 928-925-1237
garchen@...

JUL 30-Aug. 6 - Women's Retreat at Vallecitos Mountain Refuge in northern
New Mexico with Marcia Rose assisted by Jean Smith & Bonnie Duran. Contact
Vallecitos Mtn. Refuge  refuge@... for more info.

SEPT 19, at 3pm the Dalai Lama will give a Public Talk, at the Tucson
Convention Center. "Arizona Friends of Tibet."
http://www.arizona-friends-of-tibet.org/ or contact@...
Tickets can be purchased through Ticketmaster, by phone (520-321-1000), or
online www.ticketmaster.com

DEC. 3-10 - Metta Retreat with Marcia Rose   Mabel Dodge Luhan House - Taos,
NM Contact Mabel@...   or  www.mabeldodgeluhan.com


+++++++++++++++ EDITORIAL +++++++++++++++++

A Practice Regimen (Magga)
That Can Lead To Enlightenment (Phala)
In This Very Lifetime

March 28, 2005

By Jhanananda (Jeffrey S. Brooks):


Someone intent upon enlightenment in this very lifetime recently asked me to
prescribe for him a practice strategy that would bring him to enlightenment
in this very life.  I can only speak about my contemplative practice
strategy (magga).  This is it:

In meditation (sati) practice:

In the morning arise when your awareness first becomes aware of the physical
world.  Wash your face and mouth out, empty your bladder and drink a little
water, then sit in meditation as if you will never get up again.  Allow the
absorption states (jhanas) to arise. Do not end any absorption.  Let the
absorption end on it¹s own.  Often times an absorption will appear to be
ending, but this contemplative has found if I just sit with the absorption
until I am sure it is done, then occasionally there has been a second wave
front that was many, many times more power than the first.  So, stick with
it until you really know its is done.

Sometimes the absorption is of such intensity that it feels as though the
body will be destroyed, good, let the body die, because if you are intent
upon enlightenment in this very lifetime then you are done with it and you
are not coming back.

When in meditation remain observant of the signs of absorption
(jhana-nimitta).  Once jhana-nimitta arises sensory phenomena is no longer
relevant.  Allow yourself to become utterly and completely saturated in the
signs of absorption.  This is relevant for jhanas 1-4.  Allow all
absorptions to sweep you away as far as they will take you.  Cling to
nothing.

You will eventually find while in meditation the signs of absorption will
efface the physical phenomena (rupa-nimitta) this will bring you to the
non-material absorptions (arupa-jhanas).  Cling to nothing.  There is a
transitional phase in absorption that is neither material absorption, nor is
it absorption in an infinite dimension (arupa-jhana).  This transitional
phase is characterized by a single luminous sphere that is often called a
kasina.  Do not try to resolve it into anything. If it becomes a tunnel then
you will be propelled out of body.  If so, just fly wherever it takes you.
Cling to nothing.

When you eventually enter infinite space (5th jhana), it will be because the
kasina opened into an infinite domain. At this time give up all attachment
to ever having had a body, or ever having another one.  If you can remain in
infinite space for a considerable amount of time, then absorption into
Infinite time (6th jhana) will occur

When you enter into the infinite time dimension (6th jhana) then let go of
ever having been born at any time or ever returning again.  From the
infinite dimension of time and space you may see an ocean of stars.  You may
realize these stars are all beings.  Open yourself up to them.  Resist
noting. If you can remain in infinite time and space for an infinity, then
you may become all of those infinite beings of light (7th jhana).  When you
become all of those light beings (7th jhana) then let go of ever having been
a being or ever becoming one again

If you can let go of ever having been a being or ever becoming again, then
you arrive at no longer being able to tell who you are (8th jhana), then
give up ever having been someone.  When the universe collapses around you
into a black hole (nibbana) from which you can never escape, then love it
utterly and completely.  If you return, you will be the Maitreya.

Each time you sit, you sit with no agenda, no intention to ever get up
again.  Only rise from meditation when the body is fatigued, or sore or
hungry.  Meditate thus at least 3 times a day, or more often.  Only keep
track of the beginning time and ending time of any given sit, and never,
ever set an end time for the session.  If your sessions gradually increase
to more than an hour to 2 hours, or more, then you are doing well.

If you are intent upon enlightenment in this very lifetime, then you are now
ready for death to occur at any time.  If you have any loose ends, then tie
them up. Leave nothing pending for the next day.  You are now finished, you
are ready to die

Lying down meditation:

If your body feels fatigue during the day, then lie in shivassana and allow
absorption to take you away.  When you lie down day or night, say silently,
³I am ready, take me now.²  When you rest the body endeavor to remain
conscious at all times. Deal with sleep as if it is simply a long period of
lying down meditation.  Gradually you will become conscious throughout the
sleep cycle.  When you no longer lose consciousness during the sleep cycle
then you can say, ³The holly life has been lived, death has been conquered
there is no more coming to being.²

Lying Down Meditation (May 26, 2004)
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/lyingdownmeditation.htm

Daily mindfulness:

Endeavor to remain mindful and alert at all times.  If any of the signs of
absorption persist after your sitting session is over then be mindful of
them throughout the day.  Endeavor to keep the signs of absorption
(jhana-nimitta) present with you at all times.  This is what is called
³saturation.²  If you can maintain the signs of absorption (jhana-nimitta)
throughout the day, then you can say, ³I have arrived in the joyful house of
the way (Di.t.thadhammasukhavihaaraa).

Whenever anxiety arises, let it go, be ever mindful of any arising of
tension, stress or anxiety, and become skillful in letting them go as soon
as they arise.  Live your life in such a way that you have no stress, no
anxiety, and no tension even if that means dumpster diving for subsistence
and sleeping under a tree at night.

Ethics:

Live your life for the benefit of all beings.  Do nothing for yourself.
Harm no one in body, speech or mind.

Sila, Understanding Ethics In Buddhism
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/ethics.htm

Study:

Read the teachings of all enlightened ones.  Read the Discourse of the
Buddha until you have read all 5 volumes.  Then read the Christian mystics,
then the Sufi mystics, then the Kabbalists, etc.  Keep reading the teachings
and biographies of the enlightened ones, and keep living the ethics and keep
meditating as described above until this body is dead.  Do not ever assume
that you need not maintain the Noble Eightfold Path after you have had all
of these absorption experiences listed above.  Because if you stop living
the Noble Eightfold Path your absorptions will eventually dissipate.

If you diligently engage in the contemplative life you will become
enlightened in this very life-time,

Sotapanna Jhanananda (Jeffrey S, Brooks)
the Great Western Vehicle
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/index.html



This article may be retrieved at this URL:
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/practiceregimen.htm


%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

The intention of this newsletter is to provide timely information to the
Southwestern community of contemplatives. This newsletter offers a monthly
calendar of meditation retreats and other related activities.  You are
welcome to forward, reproduce or copy in anyway or part this newsletter for
helping others to lead a contemplative life. I only ask that you give credit
to the newsletter and publisher.

This newsletter is a service of Jhanananda (Jeffrey S. Brooks) of the Great
Western Vehicle.  The editor/publisher alone takes responsibility for this
newsletter and its content.

To Subscribe: SWI_E_letter-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Access to the archive of all back issues is at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SWI_E_letter/

Please direct all comments or submissions to the editor: Jhanananda (Jeffrey
S. Brooks) at: Jhanananda@...

Great Western Vehicle Ordination Program
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/gwvordinationprogram.htm

If you find the services of the Great Western Vehicle of value then please
consider supporting the Great Western Vehicle
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/support.html


May you become enlightened in this very life-time,

Jeff Brooks
Jhanananda
the Great Western Vehicle
PO Box 41795
Tucson, AZ 85717-1795
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/index.html

March 1, 2005


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^:^:^       THE SOUTHWEST INSIGHT E'LETTER      ^:^:^
^:^:^                        Vol. 05.03                       ^:^:^
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a service of the Great Western Vehicle,
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An event calendar for contemplatives in and around Tucson, AZ. USA
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First Thursdays most Buddhist Meetup Groups meet.  To find the meeting in
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############################################

%%%%%%% A CONTEMPLATIVE¹S CALENDAR %%%%%%

%%%%%%%%%% MARCH ­ APRIL %%%%%%%%


MAR 3, Tucson Buddhist Meetup Group First Thursday @ 7:00 PM at the Epic
Cafe 745 N 4th Av  Tucson, AZ  520-624-6844  *
http://buddhism.meetup.com/10/

MAR 3, 6:30: "Faith," a Dharma talk by Selah Chamberlain at Taos Mountain
Sangha Meditation Center 107 Garcia Plaza, Suite C Taos, New Mexico 87571
505-737-238 or tmsangha@...

MAR 4, Fridays 6:30 ­ 8 PM A Meditation class with Jeffrey S. Brooks ³Jhana,
Understanding the 8th Fold of the Noble Eightfold Path² in the ³Little
Chapel² of the Ada Peirce McCormick Building near UA. (Cherry & Speedway)
Directions provided if needed.  Free parking is available.  Open enrolment,
but please RSVP 247-5587 jhanananda@...
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/GWV.html

MAR 4 - 5 Andrew Harvey and Laurence Freeman weekend conference for the
Inner Connection at Church of the Apostles, on LaCholla Boulevard. Register
online at www.theinnerconnection.org or call 322-7689

MAR 4-6  Maitreya Project's Heart Shrine Relic Tour at Desert Song Yoga
Center, 4811 N. 7th Street, Phoenix AZ 85014 Contact: Victoria Crawford (+1)
602 870-0060
http://www.maitreyaproject.org/en/index.html

MAR 4 - 6, SPIRIT & NATURE spring gathering of the Prescott Dance and Sufi
Circle at the The Grove Studio, 119 Grove Ave. Prescott,AZ.
http://prescottdances.org/calendar.htm Contact: Suzanna at 928-771-2408 or
Suzanna@...  or Majid at registrar@... or
928-778-2543

MAR 5-6. Connecting to Core, a mindfulness and Inner Bonding workshop led by
Karen Kral http://www.innerbonding.com/ Info. Karen Kral 505.466.2999, 47
Encantado Loop, Santa Fe, NM  87508

MAR 6, Magha Puja, This event commemorates the spontaneous assembly of 1,250
arahants in the Buddha's presence. One thousand of the gathered monks had
previously achieved Awakening upon hearing the Buddha's delivery of the Fire
Sermon; the remaining 250 were followers of the elder monks Ven. Moggallana
and Ven. Sariputta. To mark this auspicious gathering, the Buddha delivered
the Ovada-Patimokkha Gatha, a summary of the main points of the Dhamma,
which the Buddha gave to the assembly before sending them out to proclaim
the doctrine.
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/thai/lee/everyone.html

MAR 7, 7 PM Tucson BPF meeting at Martin's house, 701 E. Mabel, Tucson.
(520) 320-5883. bpf_Tucson@yahoogroups.com
HTTP://groups.yahoo.com/groups/bpf_Tucson/cal

MAR 9 6:30 PM Gathering of Dervishes, Tucson SUFI ORDER at 46 N. Tucson
Blvd. Tucson, AZ: Contact RAFIA WILCOX 3344 EAST LEE STREET TUCSON,  AZ
85716 (520) 444-9189

MAR 10, 6:30: "The Brahma-viharas: Metta," a Dharma talk by Julie Tato at
Taos Mountain Sangha Meditation Center 107 Garcia Plaza, Suite C Taos, New
Mexico 87571 505-737-238 or tmsangha@...

MAR 11, Fridays 6:30 ­ 8 PM A Meditation class with Jeffrey S. Brooks
³Jhana, Understanding the 8th Fold of the Noble Eightfold Path² in the
³Little Chapel² of the Ada Peirce McCormick Building near UA. (Cherry &
Speedway) Directions provided if needed.  Free parking is available.  Open
enrolment, but please RSVP 247-5587 jhanananda@...
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/GWV.html

MAR 11-13-Friday evening thru Sunday afternoon: Women's Dharma Retreat with
Lopon Barbara DuBois. at Garchen Buddhist Institute, P.O. Box 4318, Chino
Valley, AZ. 86323-1237 call: 928-925-1237
garchen@...

MAR 11-13 Maitreya Project's Heart Shrine Relic Tour at Wat Pomkunaram,
17212 W. Maryland Avenue, Waddell AZ 85355. Contact: Venerable Tayan (+1)
623 935-1174
http://www.maitreyaproject.org/en/index.html

MAR 13, UMDZE TRAINING CLASS ON Tucson Shambhala www.tucsonshambhala.org or
info@...

MAR 17,  6:30: "Metta: A Practitioner's Perspective," a Dharma talk by John
Lankford at Taos Mountain Sangha Meditation Center 107 Garcia Plaza, Suite C
Taos, New Mexico 87571 505-737-238 or tmsangha@...

MAR 18, Fridays 6:30 ­ 8 PM A Meditation class with Jeffrey S. Brooks
³Jhana, Understanding the 8th Fold of the Noble Eightfold Path² in the
³Little Chapel² of the Ada Peirce McCormick Building near UA. (Cherry &
Speedway) Directions provided if needed.  Free parking is available.  Open
enrolment, but please RSVP 247-5587 jhanananda@...
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/GWV.html

MAR 18-20: Traga Rinpoche teaching ³Patrul Rinpoche¹s Practice of the
Essence of the Sublime Heart Jewel: View, Meditation and Action.² at Garchen
Buddhist Institute, P.O. Box 4318, Chino Valley, AZ. 86323-1237 call:
928-925-1237  or garchen@...

MAR 18-20; Fri-Sun (Weekend) ³Understanding Meditation and the Meditative
Process² Jason Siff at the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies, Barre, MA.
www.dharma.org/bcbs

MAR 18-20 Retreat with Aziza Scott for the Tucson SUFI ORDER at The Pavilion
3705 N. Old Sabino Canyon Rd. Tucson, AZ, (520) 795-9250

MAR 19, 7 P.M. Dances of Universal Peace for the Tucson SUFI ORDER at Yoga
Oasis 2631 N Campbell 743-0851

MAR 21, 7 PM Tucson BPF meeting at Martin's house, 701 E. Mabel, Tucson.
(520) 320-5883.  bpf_Tucson@yahoogroups.com
HTTP://groups.yahoo.com/groups/bpf_Tucson/cal

MAR 23-April 1 Vision Quest place just outside of the Chiricahua Mountains
will be led by Carol Parker, who has a PhD psychologist and is a long-time
TM practitioner. Pam Bagot, who has been honored as a "Pipe Carrier" in the
Lakota tradition, will co-facilitate. Info. Karen Kral 505.466.2999, 47
Encantado Loop, Santa Fe, NM  87508

MAR 23 ­ April 20, 2005 ONE-MONTH HERMITAGE RETREAT with THE MOUNTAIN
HERMITAGE Guiding Teachers Marcia Rose, Annie Nugent and Patricia
Genoud-Feldman, Taos, NM contact 505-758 0633 or hermit@... or see
the Spring 2005 Hermitage page at  www.mountainhermitage.org

MAR 24, 6:30: "Thurman and Tibetan Buddhism," a Dharma talk by Meri Lehtinen
at Taos Mountain Sangha Meditation Center 107 Garcia Plaza, Suite C Taos,
New Mexico 87571 505-737-238 or tmsangha@...

MAR 24-27; Thur-Sun (3 days) ³Insight Dialogue: Personal and Interpersonal
Suffering and Freedom² Gregory Kramer at the Barre Center for Buddhist
Studies, Barre, MA. www.dharma.org/bcbs

MAR 25, Fridays 6:30 ­ 8 PM A Meditation class with Jeffrey S. Brooks
³Jhana, Understanding the 8th Fold of the Noble Eightfold Path² in the
³Little Chapel² of the Ada Peirce McCormick Building near UA. (Cherry &
Speedway) Directions provided if needed.  Free parking is available.  Open
enrolment, but please RSVP 247-5587 jhanananda@...
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/GWV.html

MAR 25-April 3. Vipassana Retreat (CW)  with Carol Wilson, Guy
Armstrong & Rodney Smith at IMS. Insight Meditation Society, 1230 Pleasant
St. Barre, MA 01005 Or  www.dharma.org  Or call 978-355-4378

MAR 26, Zen Desert Sangha Potluck and Poetry night; 6 PM - 7 PM,
food-sharing; 7:00 PM - 9:30 PM, Poetry, stories, music, songs, puppets,
???. All welcome. Bring food to share and poems to read or music to perform;
bring musical instruments! Or, just come to eat and listen and check out the
happenings; get to know your fellow sangha members. at 3226 North Martin
Avenue, Tucson, AZ (one block west of Campbell Avenue and about 100 yards
north of Fort Lowell) contact Bob Wallin (520) 620-6347.
http://www.zendesertsangha.org

MAR 27, at 2:00 PM (4th Sunday of each month) Antigone's Buddhist reading
group Antigone's bookstore at, 411 N. 4th Ave. Tucson, AZ. They can be
reached at (520) 792-3715 to find out the book they are currently working
with or www.antigonebooks.com

MAR 31, 6:30: Practice and the Sangha, led by Donna Dufresne at Taos
Mountain Sangha Meditation Center 107 Garcia Plaza, Suite C Taos, New Mexico
87571 505-737-238 or tmsangha@...

APR 1, Fridays 6:30 ­ 8 PM A Meditation class with Jeffrey S. Brooks ³Jhana,
Understanding the 8th Fold of the Noble Eightfold Path² in the ³Little
Chapel² of the Ada Peirce McCormick Building near UA. (Cherry & Speedway)
Directions provided if needed.  Free parking is available.  Open enrolment,
but please RSVP 247-5587 jhanananda@...
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/GWV.html

APR 1-3 - Friday evening through Sunday afternoon: The Vajra  Songs of Lord
Jigten Sumgon with Gape Lama. at Garchen Buddhist Institute, P.O. Box 4318,
Chino Valley, AZ. 86323-1237 call: 928-925-1237 garchen@...

APR 4, 7 PM Tucson BPF meeting at Martin's house, 701 E. Mabel, Tucson.
(520) 320-5883. bpf_Tucson@yahoogroups.com
HTTP://groups.yahoo.com/groups/bpf_Tucson/cal

APR 8, Fridays 6:30 ­ 8 PM A Meditation class with Jeffrey S. Brooks ³Jhana,
Understanding the 8th Fold of the Noble Eightfold Path² in the ³Little
Chapel² of the Ada Peirce McCormick Building near UA. (Cherry & Speedway)
Directions provided if needed.  Free parking is available.  Open enrolment,
but please RSVP 247-5587 jhanananda@...
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/GWV.html

APR 15, Fridays 6:30 ­ 8 PM A Meditation class with Jeffrey S. Brooks
³Jhana, Understanding the 8th Fold of the Noble Eightfold Path² in the
³Little Chapel² of the Ada Peirce McCormick Building near UA. (Cherry &
Speedway) Directions provided if needed.  Free parking is available.  Open
enrolment, but please RSVP 247-5587 jhanananda@...
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/GWV.html

APR. 15 - 17; Weekend Sesshin, with Pat Hawk Roshi, at Zen Desert Sangha at
3226 North Martin Avenue, Tucson, AZ (one block west of Campbell Avenue and
about 100 yards north of Fort Lowell) contact Bob Wallin (520) 620-6347, or
email Bob: wallinrw@...

APR 15-17. A Weekend for New Students  (NSW) with Narayan &
Michael Liebenson Grady at IMS. Insight Meditation Society, 1230 Pleasant
St. Barre, MA 01005 Or  www.dharma.org  Or call 978-355-4378

APR 18, 7 PM Tucson BPF meeting at Martin's house, 701 E. Mabel, Tucson.
(520) 320-5883. bpf_Tucson@yahoogroups.com
HTTP://groups.yahoo.com/groups/bpf_Tucson/cal

APR 18 ­ 24 Vipassana Support International Meditation Retreat, Led by
SHINZEN YOUNG. Mary & Joseph Retreat Center, 5300 Crest Rd., Rancho Palos
Verdes, CA 90275    310-377-4867
Website:  www.maryjoseph.org

APR 21 - 30, Wilderness retreat VIPASSANA BACKPACKING RETREAT ON THE RAINBOW
TRAIL, Navajo Nation, Utah, Led by Mark Coleman (Spirit Rock Teacher). Info:
Terry Gustafson, 7125 W 27th Ave, Wheat Ridge, CO 80033, (303) 239-9917,
terry@... or http://www.rainbow2.com/

APR 22, Fridays 6:30 ­ 8 PM A Meditation class with Jeffrey S. Brooks
³Jhana, Understanding the 8th Fold of the Noble Eightfold Path² in the
³Little Chapel² of the Ada Peirce McCormick Building near UA. (Cherry &
Speedway) Directions provided if needed.  Free parking is available.  Open
enrolment, but please RSVP 247-5587 jhanananda@...
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/GWV.html

APR 22-24- Scott Kalechstein performs contemplative music at an
International Celebration and Tribute Conference on A Course In Miracles
SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH, Call Rev. Sue Borg at 801-261-2227 or email
sueborg@...  ()  http://www.scottsongs.com/

APR 23, Zen Desert Sangha Potluck and Poetry night; 6 PM - 7 PM,
food-sharing; 7:00 PM - 9:30 PM, Poetry, stories, music, songs, puppets,
???. All welcome. Bring food to share and poems to read or music to perform;
bring musical instruments! Or, just come to eat and listen and check out the
happenings; get to know your fellow sangha members. at 3226 North Martin
Avenue, Tucson, AZ (one block west of Campbell Avenue and about 100 yards
north of Fort Lowell) contact Bob Wallin (520) 620-6347.
http://www.zendesertsangha.org

APR 23-27- Annual Chenrezig Drupchen with Traga Rinpoche, Gape Lama and all
the Lamas. At Garchen Buddhist Institute, P.O. Box 4318, Chino Valley, AZ.
86323-1237 call: 928-925-1237 garchen@...

APR 24, at 2:00 PM (4th Sunday of each month) Antigone's Buddhist reading
group Antigone's bookstore at, 411 N. 4th Ave. Tucson, AZ. They can be
reached at (520) 792-3715 to find out the book they are currently working
with or www.antigonebooks.com

APR 23-27 Annual Chenrezig Drupchen with all the Lamas at Garchen Buddhist
Institute, P.O. Box 4318, Chino Valley, AZ. 86323-1237 call: 928-925-1237
garchen@...

APR 29, Fridays 6:30 ­ 8 PM A Meditation class with Jeffrey S. Brooks
³Jhana, Understanding the 8th Fold of the Noble Eightfold Path² in the
³Little Chapel² of the Ada Peirce McCormick Building near UA. (Cherry &
Speedway) Directions provided if needed.  Free parking is available.  Open
enrolment, but please RSVP 247-5587 jhanananda@...
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/GWV.html

MAY 6-15. Vipassana Retreat (AH) led by Yanai  Postelnik, Sharda
Rogell,  Myoshin Kelley &  Eugene Cash at IMS. Insight Meditation Society,
1230 Pleasant St. Barre, MA 01005 Or  www.dharma.org  Or call 978-355-4378

MAY 7-14; Sat-Sat (7 days) Bhavana Program: ³Dependent Origination²
Andrew Olendzki and Gloria Taraniya Ambrosia at the Barre Center for
Buddhist Studies, Barre, MA. www.dharma.org/bcbs

May 10-12- H.E. Bontrul Rinpoche: Heart Drupchen Empowerment of Guru
Rinpoche and Teaching on Drupchen (Great Accomplishment) Practice. At
Garchen Buddhist Institute, P.O. Box 4318, Chino Valley, AZ. 86323-1237
call: 928-925-1237 garchen@...

May 13-15: Khenpo Tsultrim Tenzin Rinpoche Teaching on the 7 Taras. At
Garchen Buddhist Institute, P.O. Box 4318, Chino Valley, AZ. 86323-1237
call: 928-925-1237 garchen@...

May 20 -  21 The Art & Practice of Kirtan with Jai Uttal and tabla master
Daniel Paul. At Yoga Pura 15440 N. 7th Street, Phoenix, AZ (602) 843-PURA
FAX (602) 843-7875 www.yogapura.com
www.yogapura.com/kirtanemail.html

May 28-30: Guru Rinpoche Million Mantra Accumulation. At Garchen Buddhist
Institute, P.O. Box 4318, Chino Valley, AZ. 86323-1237 call: 928-925-1237
garchen@...

June 3-5: Khenpo Sherab Odzer Rinpoche teaching on ³Shantideva¹s Bodhisattva
Way of Life², and Prajnaparamita Empowerment. At Garchen Buddhist Institute,
P.O. Box 4318, Chino Valley, AZ. 86323-1237 call: 928-925-1237
garchen@...

JUL 22 - 30, Wilderness retreat HIGH SIERRA VIPASSANA BACKPACKING RETREAT,
Sequoia National Park, California Led by Eric Kolvig. Info: Terry Gustafson,
7125 W 27th Ave, Wheat Ridge, CO 80033, (303) 239-9917, terry@...
or http://www.rainbow2.com/

July 10 - August 7: 2005 SUMMER TEACHINGS. At Garchen Buddhist Institute,
P.O. Box 4318, Chino Valley, AZ. 86323-1237 call: 928-925-1237
garchen@...

JUL 30-Aug. 6 - Women's Retreat at Vallecitos Mountain Refuge in northern
New Mexico with Marcia Rose assisted by Jean Smith & Bonnie Duran. Contact
Vallecitos Mtn. Refuge  refuge@... for more info.

DEC. 3-10 - Metta Retreat with Marcia Rose   Mabel Dodge Luhan House - Taos,
NM Contact Mabel@...   or  www.mabeldodgeluhan.com


+++++++++++++++ EDITORIAL +++++++++++++++++

Walking Meditation

February 23, 2005

By Sotapanna Jhanananda (Jeffrey S, Brooks)


³Can one be in absorption (jhana) during walking or standing meditation?²
The answer is, yes of course, as long as we are speaking of the material
absorptions (rupa-jhanas).  I have done it many times, and I have taught my
students to do it.  When I was visiting Millennium Twain last summer, in
Santa Monica, we practiced various forms of walking and standing meditation.
I also took the class through Surya Namaskar (sun worshiper), which is a
Hatha Yoga set. We did the set in a very slow and contemplative form to
support entry into absorption while in movement.  We also engaged in some
simplified Tai Chi movement, which I have found is very conducive to
supporting jhana while in motion and with the eyes open.

When I teach moving jhana I begin with the Bahiya Sutta (U 1.10). I believe
the central concept in this sutta is getting to a place were one does not
objectify the objects of the senses. That means allowing oneself to sense
without the mind engaging in the act of sensing.  What I mean by this is
simply allowing the sensory data to stream in without an attempt of the mind
to interpret that data.

Bahiya Sutta (U 1.10).
³When (Bahiya) for you there will be only the seen in reference to the
seenŠthen, Bahiya, there is no you (there)Š When there is no you there, you
are neither here nor yonder nor between the two. This, just this, is the end
of dissatisfaction (dukkha)."
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/bahiyasutta.htm

In the next phase of this training we engage in kasina meditation.  With
kasina meditation we extend the concepts of the Bahiya Sutta to the practice
of Kasina meditation.  In this practice we gaze upon a simple circular
object and defocus the sight so that we simply sample the luminance, or the
quality of light, without resolving the individual components of the object.
For more on Kasina meditation, please see this article:

The use of the Visual Meditation Object, Kasina (April 5, 2004)
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/kasina.htm


It is the sense of sight that we all have the facility to defocus from and
observe the light streaming in without focusing on the object.  This is
defocused from of seeing is observing just the luminance of an object.  This
idea of defocused sensing can be extended to the other senses as well, but
³defocusing² from the other senses is rather difficult to get at for most
people until they arrive at absorption (jhana).

The next step in this training is to take the kasina, open-eyed meditation
practice, to standing meditation.  This practice is especially useful for
meditating upon the rising moon or sun, but can be used with a simplified
meditation object such as a disk or sphere.
Using the Moon as a visual meditation object, Kasina (August 11, 2004)
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/kasinamoon.htm

The next step in this series is to collect all of these practices and
concepts together and apply them to walking meditation.  In walking
meditation, then, the object is to endeavor to remain in absorption (jhana)
while walking.  The practice begins with standing meditation, and one simply
stands in meditation until one can withdraw from the sense of sight
sufficiently to the point of sampling the whole visual field equally.  When
this is established then the contemplative begins to walk very slowly,
because remember one is no longer focusing on anything, which means one wont
actually be looking at the ground.  It would be useful here to make sure one
has an unobstructed path so one does not trip or fall over something in the
path.

Next sun worshiper, which is a yoga series called Surya Namaskar is
practiced.  Here we attempt to go through a series of postures while
remaining defocused from the visual field, and of course attempting to
remain in absorption.  In this case repetition becomes an aid.  It is the
repeated movement through a series of postures very slowly, in silence and
defocused from the visual field that allows us to remain in absorption.

The final phase in this movement training for absorption is to instruct the
students in some basic Tai Chi movements.  Once these basic forms are
established, then we all enter into defocused sight and move freely through
space silently and very slowly moving in and around each other without ever
touching or leaving absorption.

You may find reading this article on posture of some additional use:
Posture for the Skillful Practice of Meditation
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/posture.htm


May you become enlightened in this very life-time,

Sotapanna Jhanananda (Jeffrey S, Brooks)
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/jhanananda.html


%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

The intention of this newsletter is to provide timely information to the
Southwestern community of contemplatives. This newsletter offers a monthly
calendar of meditation retreats and other related activities.  You are
welcome to forward, reproduce or copy in anyway or part this newsletter for
helping others to lead a contemplative life. I only ask that you give credit
to the newsletter and publisher.

This newsletter is a service of Jhanananda (Jeffrey S. Brooks) of the Great
Western Vehicle.  The editor/publisher alone takes responsibility for this
newsletter and its content.

To Subscribe: SWI_E_letter-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Access to the archive of all back issues is at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SWI_E_letter/

Please direct all comments or submissions to the editor: Jhanananda (Jeffrey
S. Brooks) at: Jhanananda@...

Great Western Vehicle Ordination Program
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/gwvordinationprogram.htm

Supporting the Great Western
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/support.html


May you become enlightened in this very life-time,

Jeff Brooks
Jhanananda
the Great Western Vehicle
PO Box 41795
Tucson, AZ 85717-1795
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/index.html

February 1, 2005


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^:^:^       THE SOUTHWEST INSIGHT E'LETTER      ^:^:^
^:^:^                        Vol. 05.02                       ^:^:^
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a service of the Great Western Vehicle,
a 4th wheel Buddhist tradition
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/index.html

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                    TUCSON DHARMA NEWS

An event calendar for contemplatives in and around Tucson, AZ. USA
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Tucson_Dharma_News/

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##### BPF TUCSON, MONTHLY COMMUNITY-WIDE POTLUCK ######
                                   February 6, 4-7 PM,
This month¹s potluck, hosted by the Zen Desert Sangha

at 3226 North Martin Avenue, Tucson, AZ
(one block west of Campbell Avenue and about 100 yards north of Fort Lowell)
please contribute a vegetarian or vegan dish or beverage

############################################

%%%%%%% A CONTEMPLATIVE¹S CALENDAR %%%%%%

%%%%%%%%%% FEBRUARY ­ MARCH %%%%%%%%

JAN 23, at 2:00 PM (4th Sunday of each month) Antigone's Buddhist reading
group Antigone's bookstore at, 411 N. 4th Ave. Tucson, AZ. They can be
reached at (520) 792-3715 to find out the book they are currently working
with or www.antigonebooks.com

JAN 31- February 9 Yamantaka Retreat for the Lamas at Garchen Buddhist
Institute, P.O. Box 4318, Chino Valley, AZ. 86323-1237 call: 928-925-1237
garchen@...

FEB 4, Fridays 6:30 ­ 8 PM A Meditation class with Jeffrey S. Brooks ³Jhana,
Understanding the 8th Fold of the Noble Eightfold Path² in the ³Little
Chapel² of the Ada Peirce McCormick Building near UA. (Cherry & Speedway)
Directions provided if needed.  Free parking is available.  Open enrolment,
but please RSVP 247-5587 jhanananda@...
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/GWV.html

FEB 5, 7-9 PM The Prescott Dances of Universal Peace at The Grove Studio,
119 Grove Ave, Prescott, AZ. http://prescottdances.org/calendar.htm

FEB 5 One day Zen retreat at Zen Desert Sangha led by Pat Hawk Roshi at 3226
North Martin Avenue, Tucson, AZ (one block west of Campbell Avenue and about
100 yards north of Fort Lowell) contact Bob Wallin (520) 620-6347.

FEB 6 BPF Buddhist Community-wide potluck, hosted by Zen Desert Sangha at
3226 North Martin Avenue, Tucson, AZ (one block west of Campbell Avenue and
about 100 yards north of Fort Lowell) please contribute a vegetarian or
vegan dish or beverage

Feb. 6 - 7:30 p.m. Tina Malia - An evening of inspirational songs and
sanskrit devotional chants with full acoustic instrumentation from around
the world.  Tina¹s heavenly voice combines with musician Shimshai for close
harmonies and intricate guitar work.  Tina and Shimshai have recently
released their new CD ³Jaya Bhagavan².  Bring a pillow for comfortable floor
seating at the Tucson Yoga Center, 148 S. 4th Ave., Tucson, AZ.

FEB 7, 7 PM Tucson BPF meeting at Martin's house, 701 E. Mabel, Tucson.
(520) 320-5883.   bpf_Tucson@yahoogroups.com
HTTP://groups.yahoo.com/groups/bpf_Tucson/cal

FEB 9, 8:30 a.m. Shambhala Day:  Year of the Wood Bird/Rooster Address by
Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche Festivities begin at Brunch will be served. 742-7895
or info@... www.tucsonshambhala.org

FEB 9  traditional Tibetan New Year Celebration, feast starting at 12:00 pm
at Garchen Buddhist Institute, P.O. Box 4318, Chino Valley, AZ. 86323-1237
call: 928-925-1237 garchen@...

Feb. 9 -  8 p.m. Shimshai - Original compositions from ancient, modern and
indigenous spiritual traditions performed by a multi-instrumentalist with
the voice of an angel who sings from his heart.  Formally trained on piano,
flute and guitar, Shimshai delivers his own flavor of reggae and jazzy-folk
oriented material with sacred songs from all over the world. Casbah Tea
House, 628 N. 4th Ave., Tucson, AZ.

FEB 11, Fridays 6:30 ­ 8 PM A Meditation class with Jeffrey S. Brooks
³Jhana, Understanding the 8th Fold of the Noble Eightfold Path² in the
³Little Chapel² of the Ada Peirce McCormick Building near UA. (Cherry &
Speedway) Directions provided if needed.  Free parking is available. Open
enrolment, but please RSVP 247-5587 jhanananda@...
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/GWV.html

FEB 12, Shambhala Day Dinner at the Desert Museum Car pools leave the Center
at 3:00 p.m. Museum tour 3:45 p.m. Ironwood Gallery and reception 5:00 p.m.
Dinner and festivities:  6:00 p.m. RSVP by 2/7/05
shaywood@...

February 12-19; Sat-Sat (7 days) Bhavana Program: ³The 3 Characteristics²
Andrew Olendzki and Gloria Taraniya Ambrosia at the Barre Center for
Buddhist Studies, Barre, MA. www.dharma.org/bcbs

FEB 13th, 6:15 to 7:15 p.m. Children's Dharma Class, Ages 5 to 10, 2nd
Sunday of each month. 931 N. 5th Ave., (Friend's Meeting House, Tucson).
Activities will include Jataka tales, art projects, sharing and mindful
snacking.  For more information call Katherine at (520) 290-1722.

FEB 13-15. Tucson Shambhala Meditation Group 2 1/2 day Meditation workshop
with Arawana Hayashi. Contact: Maria Delores Diaz 520-469-7473;
doctordiaz@... or Whit Jones 520-299-2116; whitj@...
info@...   www.tucsonshambhala.org

FEB 16th "Gathering of Dervishes" chanting, zikr, poetry readings etc.
Tucson Dances of Universal Peace. One block North of Broadway on the East
Side of the street turn on 10th.  Turn into the first parking lot on the
Right.  Look for the door on the South side of the building.  We will put a
sign up.  48 North Tucson Blvd.  Suite 106. (520) 444-9189

FEB 17, 6:30 ­ 8:30 Matthew Flickstein speaking on ŒThe Seven Concentric
Circles of Spiritual Development¹ at Taos Mountain Sangha, 107 Garcia Plaza
Suite C, Taos, NM. Call 751-1685 or e-mail:  tmsangha@...

FEB 18, Fridays 6:30 ­ 8 PM A Meditation class with Jeffrey S. Brooks
³Jhana, Understanding the 8th Fold of the Noble Eightfold Path² in the
³Little Chapel² of the Ada Peirce McCormick Building near UA. (Cherry &
Speedway) Directions provided if needed.  Free parking is available. Open
enrolment, but please RSVP 247-5587 jhanananda@...
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/GWV.html

FEB 18-20 - friday evening through sunday afternoon - manjushri   teachings
by Ven.Traga Rinpoche. He will also give the  lung or transmission of a text
on Manjushri's Teaching by Buddha Shakyamuni. at Garchen Buddhist Institute,
P.O. Box 4318, Chino Valley, AZ. 86323-1237 call: 928-925-1237
garchen@...

FEB 19, 7PM Dances of Universal Peace, Tucson Sufis, 2631 N. Campbell,
Tucson, AZ (520) 743-0851

FEB 19, 9:30-5 pm ŒThe Four Foundations of Mindfulness, Working with
Afflictive Emotions, and Living in the Present¹ Taos Mountain Sangha, 107
Garcia Plaza Suite C, Taos, NM. Call 751-1685 or e-mail:
tmsangha@...

FEB 19, 7PM Sufi Zhikr, Dances of Universal Peace, poetry, and meditation at
The Grove Studio, 119 Grove Ave. in Prescott, AZ. Kris Rogers (928) 778-1606
or tigermoon@... or http://prescottdances.org/calendar.htm

FEB 19, Tempe Dances of Universal Peace 3rd Saturdays 7:30-9:30 at the
Bodyworks Studio,1801 S. Jentilly Ln., Suite B8, Tempe
Terry Matthews (480) 998-9331 or (602)368-6784 Terryamat@...

FEB 21, 7 PM Tucson BPF meeting at Martin's house, 701 E. Mabel, Tucson.
(520) 320-5883.  bpf_Tucson@yahoogroups.com
HTTP://groups.yahoo.com/groups/bpf_Tucson/cal

FEB 24 - 7:00-8:30 pm Free Lecture on Heart Rhythm Meditation, for the
Tucson Dances of Universal Peace in the Meeting House at 931 N. 5th Avenue,
Tucson, Arizona

FEB 25-27 Heart Rhythm Meditation for the Tucson Dances of Universal Peace.
local contact: Doug Johnson 795-7229 http://www.appliedmeditation.org

FEB 25, Fridays 6:30 ­ 8 PM A Meditation class with Jeffrey S. Brooks
³Jhana, Understanding the 8th Fold of the Noble Eightfold Path² in the
³Little Chapel² of the Ada Peirce McCormick Building near UA. (Cherry &
Speedway) Directions provided if needed.  Free parking is available. Open
enrolment, but please RSVP 247-5587 jhanananda@...
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/GWV.html

FEB 27, at 2:00 PM (4th Sunday of each month) Antigone's Buddhist reading
group Antigone's bookstore at, 411 N. 4th Ave. Tucson, AZ. They can be
reached at (520) 792-3715 to find out the book they are currently working
with or www.antigonebooks.com

MAR 4 - 6, SPIRIT & NATURE spring gathering of the Prescott Dance and Sufi
Circle at the The Grove Studio, 119 Grove Ave. Prescott,AZ.
http://prescottdances.org/calendar.htm Contact: Suzanna at 928-771-2408 or
Suzanna@...  or Majid at registrar@... or
928-778-2543

MAR 5-6. Connecting to Core, a mindfulness and Inner Bonding workshop led by
Karen Kral http://www.innerbonding.com/ Info. Karen Kral 505.466.2999, 47
Encantado Loop, Santa Fe, NM  87508

MAR 7, 7 PM Tucson BPF meeting at Martin's house, 701 E. Mabel, Tucson.
(520) 320-5883. bpf_Tucson@yahoogroups.com
HTTP://groups.yahoo.com/groups/bpf_Tucson/cal

MAR 11-13-Friday evening thru Sunday afternoon: Women's Dharma Retreat with
Lopon Barbara DuBois. at Garchen Buddhist Institute, P.O. Box 4318, Chino
Valley, AZ. 86323-1237 call: 928-925-1237
garchen@...

March 18-20: Traga Rinpoche teaching ³Patrul Rinpoche¹s Practice of the
Essence of the Sublime Heart Jewel: View, Meditation and Action.² at Garchen
Buddhist Institute, P.O. Box 4318, Chino Valley, AZ. 86323-1237 call:
928-925-1237  or garchen@...

March 18-20; Fri-Sun (Weekend) ³Understanding Meditation and the Meditative
Process² Jason Siff at the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies, Barre, MA.
www.dharma.org/bcbs

MAR 21, 7 PM Tucson BPF meeting at Martin's house, 701 E. Mabel, Tucson.
(520) 320-5883.  bpf_Tucson@yahoogroups.com
HTTP://groups.yahoo.com/groups/bpf_Tucson/cal

March 23-April 1 Vision Quest place just outside of the Chiricahua Mountains
will be led by Carol Parker, who has a PhD psychologist and is a long-time
TM practitioner. Pam Bagot, who has been honored as a "Pipe Carrier" in the
Lakota tradition, will co-facilitate. Info. Karen Kral 505.466.2999, 47
Encantado Loop, Santa Fe, NM  87508

MAR 23 ­ April 20, 2005 ONE-MONTH HERMITAGE RETREAT with THE MOUNTAIN
HERMITAGE Guiding Teachers Marcia Rose, Annie Nugent and Patricia
Genoud-Feldman, Taos, NM contact 505-758 0633 or hermit@... or see
the Spring 2005 Hermitage page at  www.mountainhermitage.org

March 24-27; Thur-Sun (3 days) ³Insight Dialogue: Personal and Interpersonal
Suffering and Freedom² Gregory Kramer at the Barre Center for Buddhist
Studies, Barre, MA. www.dharma.org/bcbs

March 25-April 3. Vipassana Retreat (CW)  with Carol Wilson, Guy
Armstrong & Rodney Smith at IMS. Insight Meditation Society, 1230 Pleasant
St. Barre, MA 01005 Or  www.dharma.org  Or call 978-355-4378

MAR 27, at 2:00 PM (4th Sunday of each month) Antigone's Buddhist reading
group Antigone's bookstore at, 411 N. 4th Ave. Tucson, AZ. They can be
reached at (520) 792-3715 to find out the book they are currently working
with or www.antigonebooks.com

APRIL 8-10 - friday evening through sunday afternoon: The Vajra  Songs of
Lord Jigten Sumgon with Gape Lama. at Garchen Buddhist Institute, P.O. Box
4318, Chino Valley, AZ. 86323-1237 call: 928-925-1237 garchen@...

April 15-17. A Weekend for New Students  (NSW) with Narayan &
Michael Liebenson Grady at IMS. Insight Meditation Society, 1230 Pleasant
St. Barre, MA 01005 Or  www.dharma.org  Or call 978-355-4378

April 21 - 30, Wilderness retreat VIPASSANA BACKPACKING RETREAT ON THE
RAINBOW TRAIL, Navajo Nation, Utah, Led by Mark Coleman (Spirit Rock
Teacher). Info: Terry Gustafson, 7125 W 27th Ave, Wheat Ridge, CO 80033,
(303) 239-9917, terry@... or http://www.rainbow2.com/

April 22-24- Scott Kalechstein performs contemplative music at an
International Celebration and Tribute Conference on A Course In Miracles
SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH, Call Rev. Sue Borg at 801-261-2227 or email
sueborg@...  ()  http://www.scottsongs.com/

April 23-27 Annual Chenrezig Drupchen with all the Lamas at Garchen Buddhist
Institute, P.O. Box 4318, Chino Valley, AZ. 86323-1237 call: 928-925-1237
garchen@...

May 6-15. Vipassana Retreat (AH) led by Yanai  Postelnik, Sharda
Rogell,  Myoshin Kelley &  Eugene Cash at IMS. Insight Meditation Society,
1230 Pleasant St. Barre, MA 01005 Or  www.dharma.org  Or call 978-355-4378

May 7-14; Sat-Sat (7 days) Bhavana Program: ³Dependent Origination²
Andrew Olendzki and Gloria Taraniya Ambrosia at the Barre Center for
Buddhist Studies, Barre, MA. www.dharma.org/bcbs

July 22 - 30, Wilderness retreat HIGH SIERRA VIPASSANA BACKPACKING RETREAT,
Sequoia National Park, California Led by Eric Kolvig. Info: Terry Gustafson,
7125 W 27th Ave, Wheat Ridge, CO 80033, (303) 239-9917, terry@...
or http://www.rainbow2.com/

July 30-Aug. 6 - Women's Retreat at Vallecitos Mountain Refuge in northern
New Mexico with Marcia Rose assisted by Jean Smith & Bonnie Duran. Contact
Vallecitos Mtn. Refuge  refuge@... for more info.

Dec. 3-10 - Metta Retreat with Marcia Rose   Mabel Dodge Luhan House - Taos,
NM Contact Mabel@...   or  www.mabeldodgeluhan.com


+++++++++++++++ EDITORIAL +++++++++++++++++


Jhana Sources

Hello my good friends who follow a contemplative life, I thought you might
like to have some resources for the meditative absorption states.  Within a
Theravadan Buddhist context the meditative absorption states are known as
³Jhana.² The Christian mystics, like Teresa of Avila, called these altered
states of consciousness religious ecstasies.  In fact one will find every
contemplative tradition has some context for these states.

The Winter 2004 issue of Tricycle has a special section titled 'The Jhanas:
Perfecting States of Concentration'.

Articles and contents are:

       Mary Talbot: WHAT ARE THE JHANAS?
       Bhante Henepola Gunaratana: THE PATH OF SERENITY AND INSIGHT
       Leigh Brasington: A MIND PURE, CONCENTRATED, AND BRIGHT
       Christina Feldman: OPENING THE GATES OF CONSCIOUSNESS
       Thanissaro Bhikkhu: SEEING FOR YOURSELF
       Ajaan Lee Dhammadharo: ABSORBED IN THE BREATH
       plus selection from the Pali Canon

http://www.tricycle.com/new.php?p=articles&id=280


&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
other S O U R C E S for J H A N A

THE JHANA ARCHIVE
  In an effort to provide support for those seeking to cultivate the jhanas
the Great Western Vehicle offers two services to the jhana bound
contemplative.  They provide an archive of articles on the subject of jhana.
The Jhana archive is at this URL:
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/jhanaarticles.htm


JHANA SUPPORT GROUP
A peer level support group for supporting people who have. or think they are
experiencing the symptoms or conditions of ecstatic absorption (jhana) is at
this URL:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Jhanas/

BHAVANA SOCIETY
Maháthera Henepola Gunaratana
http://www.bhavanasociety.org/
Articles on Jhana by Maháthera Henepola Gunaratana
http://www.palikanon.com/english/the_jhanas/jhanas00.htm

LEIGH BRASINGTON's Web site:
http://home.attbi.com/~leighb/

METTA FOREST MONASTERY (WAT METTAVANARAM)
Thanissarro Bhikku (Tan Geoffrey)
http://here-and-now.org/watmetta.html

The Jhanas an e¹book by Ajahn Brahmavamso
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/thejhanas.pdf

May you become enlightened in this very life-time,

Sotapanna Jhanananda (Jeffrey S, Brooks)
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/jhanananda.html


%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

The intention of this newsletter is to provide timely information to the
Southwestern community of contemplatives. This newsletter offers a monthly
calendar of meditation retreats and other related activities.  You are
welcome to forward, reproduce or copy in anyway or part this newsletter for
helping others to lead a contemplative life. I only ask that you give credit
to the newsletter and publisher.

This newsletter is a service of Jhanananda (Jeffrey S. Brooks) of the Great
Western Vehicle.  The editor/publisher alone takes responsibility for this
newsletter and its content.

To Subscribe: SWI_E_letter-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Access to the archive of all back issues is at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SWI_E_letter/

Please direct all comments or submissions to the editor: Jhanananda (Jeffrey
S. Brooks) at: Jhanananda@...

Great Western Vehicle Ordination Program
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/gwvordinationprogram.htm

Supporting the Great Western
http://www.greatwesternvehicle.org/support.html


May you become enlightened in this very life-time,

Jeff Brooks
Jhanananda
the Great Western Vehicle
PO Box 41795
Tucson, AZ 85717-1795