Dharma Centre of Canada

Jacks last online meditation and class in 2020 is coming up Monday December 14th. All are welcome.

Celebrating the wish for World Peace.

Awareness is the home of the mind, so we must stay at home. ~ Sayadaw U Tejaniya

Silence is essential. We need silence, just as much as we need air. If our minds are crowded with words and thoughts, there is no space for us. Silence is something that comes from your heart, not from outside. It doesn’t mean not talking and not doing things; it means that you are not disturbed inside. If you’re truly silent, then no matter what situation you find yourself in you can enjoy the silence. There are moments when you think you’re silent and all around is silent,... but talking is going on all the time inside your head. That’s not silence. The practice is how to find silence in all the activities you do." ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

Some people say that they are too busy to practice the Dharma. But if they want to, they can turn every aspect of their life to the path, no matter where they are, or what they are doing. It is OK to be busy. But be busy with the Dharma. ~ Chamtrul Rinpoche

MEDITATION When you come to meditation it is important to realize that you are entering into a practice which has been in existence for many thousands of years.... The meditation tradition with which we are involved here goes back at least 2500 years to the time of Gautama, the historical Buddha, and probably much further than that. So don't get the idea that you are doing something that hasn't been done before: meditation is nothing new. But perhaps we should not say that, because in reality meditation is everything new. It involves joy, wonderment and discovery, and its practice will bring a newness and freshness into your life. Somehow, you have to reconcile these seemingly opposite views and walk with joy on a path that can sometimes be extremely difficult. Be assured that countless beings have triumphantly trodden this path before you, and that if you persist, you will eventually and inevitably attain to a new type of consciousness that you will not have experienced before. Namgyal Rimpoche Lake Rotoiti, New Zealand 1973 From An Introduction To Meditation

Join DCC Resident Teachers Terry Hagan & Mala Sikka Wednesday evening for an online Meditation and Dharma class.

Mala and Terry continue their online movement and meditation classes this Wednesday night. All are welcome.

For those who study and retreat with Lama Lena, this may be of interest. Lama Lena will be hosting Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche for a teaching on Dream Yoga in the Bön tradition this Saturday.

Happy Bodhi Day! In the Zen tradition, the Buddha's great awakening is said to have occurred on the morning of the 8th day of the 12th month. Legend says that a...fter meditating through the night, he awakened upon seeing the rising morning star. In the Japanese tradition, the day is called Rhatsu , which means the 8th day of the 12th month, and since Japan adopted the solar calendar, it has been celebrated by many on December 8th. In recognition of the Buddha's marathon of meditation leading up to his awakening, Zen practitioners will often spend many hours meditating in the week leading up to Bodhi Day, possibly even meditating all night long on the 7th night. However, some in Japan and most in China still recognize it on 8th day of the 12th month of the lunar calendar, which usually falls in late January (in 2021 it will be on the 20th). In China, it is called Làb , and it is a festival day that combines the recognition of the Buddha's awakening with an ancient harvest festival. It also marks the beginning of preparation for the lunar new year (Feb 12th, in 2021). But whenever and however we choose to commemorate it, may we all be grateful to the Buddha for showing us the way, and may we all discover what he discovered that Awakening is our own essential nature, and that it has been from the very beginning. Homage to the Buddha in each of us. ~Fa Hsing

'For the traveler today Among the Zen parables, one koan is called "Just Drinking Tea". Tea represents Zen spirit: he who tastes it tastes Zen. . Hot plum tea i...s offered to a visitor arriving from afar. Honey and sugar are dissolved in hot water and a pickled plum with the seed removed is proffered between the points of chopsticks. The visitor first steeps the plum briefly in the honey water. He then removes and eats it before drinking the tea. The sourness of the plum and the sweetness of the tea relieve the fatigue of the journey. . For the cook today The three spirits of zen cooking - First, the heart of pleasure. Second, the heart of kindness. Third, it's a big deep heart. Pay attention to everything. . These are Dogen's three spirits of zen cooking. The happy spirit feels joy and gratitude at the privilege of being assigned the worthy task of cooking, an opportunity to follow the true way. The venerable spirit calls upon a kind heart in the pursuit of food that will please the diner. The great spirit does not flinch from the smallest detail and offers unwavering help in the unshakable quest for improvement. . For all of us today "Taste as much of this as you can. Swallow what you need and spit out the rest."' . Taizan Maezumi

Join Terry & Mala this Wednesday for an online class.

Join Terry & Mala for an in person retreat this November at the Dharma Centre rural retreat property. Then continue with online Wednesday meditations with them through the Autumn and Winter to deepen your practice.

Jack Connelly’s online class today has been canceled. All are welcome to join Jack on Monday November 30th for his next scheduled class.

There is nothing but Mind. Mind transcends birth and death. ~ Niguma

Terry & Mala, DCC Resident Teachers, will be online with a movement and meditation class Wednesday Oct 14th.

Namgyal Rinpoche "The Vision sees humans as being open to all possibilities - to all views or theories, to the vast amount of knowledge - and yet clinging to no...ne." Namgyal Rinpoche was born in Toronto, Canada as Leslie George Dawson - on October 11th 1931 - to parents of Irish-Scottish descent. On leaving a Christian Seminary College due to a 'crisis of conscience' he became actively involved with Socialism and the 'Peace Movement' for some time. After a trip to Russia as part of a Canadian Youth Delegation he became disillusioned with politics upon encountering the Soviet version of Socialism. He then travelled to England where he pursued his interest in the sciences and arts - especially music; healing, modern psychology, metaphysics and the Western Mystery Schools, particularly the Rosicrucian. In the late 1950's, he met a Burmese Buddhist Meditation Master named Sayadaw U Thila Wanta and travelled with him to Bodh Gaya in India, the place of the Buddha's Enlightenment, where he received the novice ordination of a Buddhist monk. He then travelled on to Burma and received the full ordination as a Buddhist Monk and was given the name Ananda Bodhi. After exploring intensive meditation practices in Burma, Thailand and Sri Lanka for several years he was acknowledged as Awakened and received the Therevadin [Southern School of Buddhism] title Acariya - meaning an Awakened Meditation Master of the Buddhist Tranquillity and Insight meditations. Invited by the English Buddhist Community to teach meditation, he returned to England in 1962 and while there founded several retreat centres, including Johnston House in Scotland, which became the first Tibetan centre in the West, re-named as Samye Ling. He returned to Canada in 1965 and a year later, with a group of students, established the Dharma Centre of Canada in Toronto, Canada's largest city. They also established the first Western Meditation Retreat Centre in Canada, near Kinmount, Ontario. For the next five years, Rinpoche taught in Canada - mostly in Toronto - and conducted deep meditation retreats for his students at the Kinmount Retreat Centre. During this period he also travelled all over the world, accompanied by up to as many as over 100 of his students, for retreats and studies at the planet's energy centres. In the late sixties and early seventies, during visits to the principal Tibetan Vajrayana Buddhist monasteries in India and Sikkim, he met H.H. the Dalai Lama, H.H. Sakya Trizin, H.H. Dudjom Rinpoche and H.H. the XVIth Karmapa - the heads of the major Buddhist Lineages of Tibet. He was recognised by H.H. Sakya Trizin as a Non-Sectarian Master of all the Tibetan Lineages. H.H. the Karmapa, on their first encounter, recognized him as a long-missing 'Tulku' [the Tibetan word for a Fully Enlightened Reincarnation of a very high master] of the previous generation in Tibet - the first Westerner to be so acknowledged publicly. He was then 'Enthroned' as a Vajra Acariya - Tantric Meditation Master and Initiator. The Tibetan title of Rinpoche [Precious Awakened Resource] was conferred upon him by H.H. Gyalwa Karmapa and he was given the Dharma name Karma Tenzing Dorje Namgyal. He was known and honoured by Tibetans and Westerners as Namgyal Rinpoche. Namgyal Rinpoche was unique in his ability to elucidate and transmit the traditional meditation practices of Buddhism and Western Forms of Unfoldment - communicating and manifesting the Path of Awakening in Universal and Traditional modes according to beings' interests and proclivities. He travelled extensively throughout the world giving teaching - frequently at centres established by his students in Canada; United States, Guatemala, Britain, Ireland, France, Germany, Switzerland, Japan, New Zealand and Australia. His love of travel and over 40 years of teaching - which after the early years meant mainly by flying - finally took its toll on his health, which was first affected by tuberculosis when he was a young man in the East. On the last day of a Dzogchen Meditation Retreat at one of his favourite places in Switzerland he told the meditators, "There is nothing else to say". He returned to the small private cottage on a lake where was staying on October 22, 2003 and, in a final demonstration of impermanence, he manifested the passing away

Join Jack Connelly Monday Oct 12th at 7:30pm for an online meditation and talk.

Mind, which is like lightning, a breeze, or passing clouds, is coloured by its various thoughts of everything under the sun, but when examined thoroughly is fou...nd to lack a basis or origin. Just like a mirage on the horizon, it is devoid of essential nature. While being empty, it appears; and while appearing, it is empty. ~ Mipham Rinpoche

Imagine that you will live to be one hundred years old. Now make a list of things that you would like to do in your life. Now imagine that you have only a few y...ears left to live. You will probably want to make changes to that list, so that you would be doing more dharma practice instead. If you really understand impermanence, you would always want to do as much dharma practice as possible, because not only is your precious human life running out, but the time of its death is uncertain. Please practice now while you have the chance! ~ Chamtrul Rinpoche (Image of White Tara - associated with long life)

It is a beautiful time to be at the Dharma Centre of Canada.

Have you been benefiting from Monday night online classes with Jack Connelly? Consider this upcoming retreat with Jack at the DCC. Open Mind Retreat Oct 23-28, 2020...Continue reading

Resident Teachers, Terry and Mala are online tonight for a movement and meditation class. All welcome.

Red Chenresi Retreat and Empowerment with Lama Sonam Gyatso October 30 to November 3, 2020 ...Continue reading

Contemplation on No Coming, No Going This body is not me. I am not limited by this body. I am life without boundaries.... I have never been born, and I have never died. Look at the ocean and the sky filled with stars, manifestations from my wondrous true mind. Since before time, I have been free. Birth and death are only doors through which we pass, sacred thresholds on our journey. Birth and death are a game of hide-and-seek. So laugh with me, hold my hand, let us say good-bye, say good-bye, to meet again soon. We meet today. We will meet again tomorrow. We will meet at the source every moment. We meet each other in all forms of life. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh