*special* DAYLONG RETREAT Sun April 2 with Ayya Sobhana, Great Woods (10am-4pm)
Sunday Retreat – A special time for meditation and invigoration in nature.
Ayya Sobhana Bhikkhuni, Abbess of Awakening Forest Monastery and member of the Dhammadharini Buddhist nuns’ community in California, has kindly agreed to come share Dhamma teachings. She will be visiting Charlotte Buddhist Vihara for a few days after leading a 5-day retreat at Southern Dharma Center. (See “More on Today’s Teacher” below.)
On Sunday April 2nd you can join her and Ayya Sudhamma at Great Woods Zen retreat center (not far from the Vihara) for a day of meditation and teachings. (Ayya Sudhamma will be newly re-surfacing from a month of silent meditation.)
Great Woods center is nestled in 28 beautiful acres of woods out Hickory Grove Rd – a lovely oasis in the City.
Schedule 10 am – 4 pm. (Please bring your own lunch.)
There will be periods of sitting and walking meditation, Dhamma reflections, and time for questions and answers.
Retreat Theme: “Ideas are Powerful — becoming aware of the beliefs that lead to bright, happy and energetic life; letting go of beliefs that sap our energy and lead to misery.”
BRING YOUR OWN MEDITATION CUSHION if you have one, as there are not many cushions at Great Zen. Also bring a cloth or mat to sit on outside. And bring your own brown bag lunch (in a cooler if needed, as the ‘fridge is reserved for residents), and a mug for tea.
More About Our Visiting Teacher
Ayya Sobhana Bhikkhuni is the Prioress of Aranya Bodhi, a community for monastic women located on the Sonoma Coast of California. Together with Ayya Tathaaloka Theri, Ayya Sobhana has been deeply involved in the recent restoration of Bhikkhuni full ordination in the Theravada tradition. She meditated and trained with Bhante Henepola Gunaratana since 1989 and stayed at the Bhavana Society in West Virginia from 2003 to 2010. She ordained in 2003 and obtained full Bhikkhuni ordination in 2006.
Her primary practice is the Eightfold Noble Path-i.e., integration of meditation with ethical living and compassionate relationships for the sake of liberation. During the past decade, Ayya Sobhana has been developing the crosswalk between the Buddha’s teachings and our western understanding of emotion, as it has been transformed by recent developments in neuroscience, evolutionary biology and philosophy of mind.
Want to attend her 5-day retreat at Southern Dharma Center March 25-30? https://www.southerndharma.org/schedule.shtml#/event/159/guided-meditation-on-the-elements
Advice on getting to Great Woods Zen:
For those who are new to the center, go right at the fork onto the gravel road. Go onto the gravel road. Watch out for potholes.