Common Ground Meditation Center

All programs are offered free of charge in the spirit of generosity. The Center, however, is completely dependent on your gifts.  Your contributions pay for all the Center's expenses as well as the  livelihood of the teachers. You may leave donations in the bowl in the entranceway. All contributions to Common Ground are tax deductible.

Summer 2010 Newsletter

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Ongoing Programs

Courses

Quarterly Community Gathering

Workshops

Monthly Evening Dharma

Retreats

Community Practice Groups

Yoga and Qigong

Mindfulness in the Twelve-Steps

 

ONGOING PROGRAMS

Weekly Practice Groups
Common Ground offers drop-in practice groups three times a week: Wednesday and Sunday evenings and Sunday morning. These weekly groups are designed to be a cornerstone for one’s practice by providing ongoing instruction and teachings that help illuminate the simple but challenging practice of mindfulness. The Buddha taught that mindfulness is the way to go beyond habits of distraction and grasping. To walk this path of wisdom and compassion, we need the support of a community that shares this intention. Each session includes a guided meditation, dharma talk, and discussion. Both experienced and beginning meditators are welcome. Led by Mark Nunberg.
Wednesdays, 7:30 – 9:00 p.m.
Sundays, 10:30 – 11:40 a.m.

Sundays, 7:00 – 8:30 p.m.

Sunday Morning Children’s Practice
10:30 – 11:40 a.m.

Please join us for this weekly drop-in opportunity for families, led by community volunteers. The practice for children ages 1 through 8 years is held in the community room during Sunday Morning Weekly Practice Group. Parents should plan on staying with their child until she or he has settled in. In addition, one parent should assist the teacher every second visit. When not assisting, parents are expected to join other community members in the meditation hall. Please contact Kate Needleman at okneedleman@gmail.com, for more information.

Pre-Teen Practice

Please contact the center for information about programs for children 9 to 13.

 

Teen Practice

Please contact the center for information about programs for teenagers 14 through 19.

 

Open Meditation Sessions
Open meditation is available on a drop-in basis for anyone wishing to practice silent sitting or walking meditation. Stay for as many 30-minute periods as you would like. Please arrive and depart with the bells, which are rung every half hour.
Monday – Saturday Mornings 7:00 – 9:00 a.m.
Sunday Mornings 8:00 – 10:00 a.m.
Tuesday Evenings 7:30 – 9:00 p.m.

Metta Practice Group
This practice group is for people interested in developing the heart by training in the four beautiful emotions of lovingkindness (metta), compassion, empathetic joy, and equanimity. Each session includes instruction, a guided meditation, a short dharma talk, and time for questions and discussion. This monthly drop-in group meets on the first Friday of each month. Led by Mark Nunberg and Gail Iverson.

Fridays, June 11, July 2, August 6; 7:00 – 8:30 p.m.

 

Practice Meetings
People interested in meeting with Mark Nunberg to discuss their practice can call to set up an appointment. These practice meetings are usually scheduled for 30 minutes and are available to people with specific questions about their meditation practice or for people who are interested in deepening their practice through regular meetings with a spiritual friend.

COURSES

Please contact the center to register.

Introduction to Mindfulness Meditation: The Way of Awareness
Mindfulness meditation leads to insight into the nature of our hearts and minds, revealing an inherent clarity, openness, and ease. This course includes an introduction to the intention behind practice, an introduction to insight (vipassana) meditation techniques, instructions for working with common obstacles, an overview of the practices of lovingkindness, and a discussion of how mindfulness can be part of one’s daily life. Please register by contacting the center.

Intro Class with Mark Nunberg, Six Tuesdays, June 8 – July 13, 7:30 – 9:00 p.m. or

Intro Workshop with Gail Iverson, Sunday August 8, 1:30 – 5:00 p.m.

Buddhist Studies Program

The Buddhist Studies Program is designed for people who have attended three or more mindfulness meditation retreats and have a commitment to daily meditation practice. Participants will be expected to use the teachings as a focus of their meditation and daily practice. Led by Mark Nunberg.

The Wisdom of Lovingkindness

This three-week course will explore the Buddha’s teachings on metta or lovingkindness. We will practice the formal lovingkindness meditation as well as methods for integrating metta into daily life and mindfulness meditation.

Three Mondays, June 14 – June 28, 7:30 – 9:00 p.m.

Optional sitting period, 7:00 – 7:30 p.m.

 Mindfulness of the Mind

This seven-week course is a continuation of our year-long study of the Buddha’s discourse on the four foundations of mindfulness. With mindfulness of the mind, the Buddha invites us to notice whether the mind is with or without greed, anger, or delusion. We can discern whether the mind is contracted and distracted or open and concentrated. Learning to recognize the shape of the mind is the first step toward freeing the mind from the weight of identification and attachment.

Seven Mondays, July 12 – August 23, 7:30 – 9:00 p.m.

Optional sitting period, 7:00 – 7:30 p.m

Healing in the Present Moment:

Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction

This eight-week program is an introduction to mindfulness meditation practice. Participants will learn and practice mindfulness meditation techniques, including body scan, sitting and walking meditation, gentle yoga, and qigong. Sessions will include formal meditation practice and large and small group discussions. The course is appropriate for people seeking to use mindfulness meditation techniques to improve their general health and well-being. It is open to those willing to commit to the eight-week course and a daily practice.

Debbie Norgaard has over 25 years experience in the healthcare field as an RN/Nurse Practitioner and is certified as a Healing Touch and Shiatsu Practitioner. Her formal meditation practice began 11 years ago. In addition to formal retreat practice, she has completed the seven-day MBSR professional training program with Jon Kabat-Zinn and Saki Santorelli.

Eight Thursdays, July 15 – September 2, 6:30 – 9:00 p.m.

Day long retreat:  Saturday, August 21, 9:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.

 

Quarterly Community Gathering

 

Please join us for this wonderful opportunity to meet the community that practices at Common Ground and recommit to living a life dedicated to kindness, generosity, and the awakening of wisdom and compassion. Mark Nunberg will give a dharma talk, then the community will recite the Refuges and Precepts. A potluck will begin at 11:45 am. Feel free to bring along family and friends. If you plan to come to the sit or talk, you can store food in the refrigerator until the potluck begins. No registration necessary.

 

The quarterly gathering replaces the regular weekly practice group on this Sunday. The Sunday Morning children’s program will be held as regularly scheduled, as will the open sitting time from 8:00 to 10:00 a.m.

Sunday, June 20, 10:30 – 11:45 a.m.

 

WORKSHOPS

Please contact the center to register.

Buddhist Ethics: The Practice of Becoming a Better Person

This workshop explores the basic Buddhist models of human nature and the plasticity of personality. By better understanding the dynamics of cause and effect and the role of intention, we can diminish unhealthy states and strengthen healthy states of mind. Led by Andrew Olendzki.

 

Andrew Olendzki, Ph.D., was trained in Buddhist Studies at Lancaster University in England, as well as at Harvard and the University of Sri Lanka. The former executive director of IMS, he is currently the executive director and senior scholar at the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies and is editor of Insight Journal.

Sunday, July 18, 1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.

 

 

Living the Practice: Trusting Uncertainty and Change

This world is uncertain, only change can be expected. This is the world we live in. This daylong workshop will include talks, guided meditations, guided reflections, and large and small group discussions designed to deepen our understanding of impermanence and develop the perspectives to more fully integrate it. Uncertainty does not have to be a burden that we must bear; it can be the ground of freedom. The lunch break will allow for informal discussions and social time. Led by Mark Nunberg.

Saturday, August 14, 9:30 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

 

Mindfulness and Physical Pain

Mindfulness meditation can help practitioners understand the complex nature of pain and provide tools to reduce the suffering associated with it. This half-day workshop will include guided meditation, lectures, and group discussions. It is open to everyone, but may be especially useful for people experiencing physical pain and those (professional and otherwise) who help people in pain. Led by Gail Iverson and Ramesh Sairam.

Gail Iverson has been practicing mindfulness meditation since 1987.  For  eight years she worked at the Vipassana Support Institute with Shinzen Young, the author of Break Through Pain: A Step-by-Step Mindfulness Meditation Program for Transforming Chronic and Acute Pain. Gail has been practicing at Common Ground since 2002 and currently serves as Chair of the Board of Directors.

Ramesh Sairam is a practicing psychiatrist in St. Paul.  His interests include the psychological management of chronic pain and geriatrics.  He has been practicing mindfulness meditation at Common Ground Meditation Center for five years. 

Sunday, August 22, 1:00 – 5:00 p.m.

 

MONTHLY EVENING DHARMA

Please join us for these special evenings of dharma (spiritual teachings) and connection with the Common Ground community. This monthly drop-in program is an opportunity to hear guest teachers and experienced community members speak about their practice. The evening begins with a 30-minute meditation period followed by a talk and discussion. The evening concludes with informal social time, tea, and treats.

With Santikaro: Sangha for Personal & Social Transformation

We struggle today with the suffering of both our individualism and our society's injustices. Both aspects of suffering are inter-connected. Sangha can be the place where we face this and support each other in following the path of liberation. This means developing forms of Sangha that suit our needs and times, yet are well grounded in the Buddha's teaching and example.  Santikaro will also be teaching the morning and evening weekly practice groups on Sunday, June 6 with a talk entitled Nurturing the Buddha Within.

 

Santikaro is a Dhamma student-practitioner, translator, and Buddhist  meditation teacher who lives with his wife Jo Marie at Liberation Park in southwest Wisconsin.  Inspired by the suttas of early Buddhism and guided by the profound influence of Buddhadasa Bhikkhu, Santikaro seeks

to translate the heart of the Buddha's liberating message into a life free of suffering in the midst of the challenges of modern life. His involvement with socially engaged Buddhism, the Enneagram, and the 12 Steps of AA also shapes his teaching.  Through Liberation Park, he seeks

to support Buddhist study and practice in the Midwest.

Friday, June 4, 7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.

 

With Steve Armstrong and Kamala Masters: The Four Stages of the Eightfold Path
Steve Armstrong has studied the dhamma and practiced insight meditation since 1975. He has served for many years at the Insight Meditation Society in Massachusetts as an Executive Director, board member and senior teacher. As a monk in Burma under the guidance of Sayadaw U Pandita,  he undertook intensive, silent practice of insight and lovingkindness meditations for five years. He continues his practice under the guidance of Sayadaw U Tejaniya at the Shwe Oo Min Meditation Center in Rangoon. Steve is a co-founding teacher of the Vipassana Metta Foundation’s dharma sanctuary and hermitage on Maui.

 

Kamala Masters is one of the founders and teachers of the Vipassana Metta Foundation on Maui, where she is currently developing Ho'omalamalama, a sanctuary-hermitage for long-term meditation practice.  She teaches retreats in the Theravada tradition at venues worldwide and is a core teacher at the Insight Meditation Society at Barre, MA. Practicing since 1975, her teachers have been the late Anagarika Munindra of India and Sayadaw U Pandita of Burma, with whom she continues to practice. 

 Sunday, June 13, 7:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.

 

With Rebecca Bradshaw: Untangling  Our Karmic Knots

Rebecca Bradshaw teaches at the Insight Meditation Society in Barre, MA, at other locations in the United States, and at Kyaswa Monastery in Sagaing, Myanmar. She is a psychotherapist, the guiding teacher of the Insight Meditation Center of Pioneer Valley, MA, and the Buddhist Advisor at Mt Holyoke College.

Sunday, July 11, 7:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.

 

With Myoshin Kelley: Center of the Cyclone

Myoshin Kelley began mediation practice in 1975.  Studying with teachers in both the Theravada and Tibetan Buddhist traditions, she has offered retreats worldwide since 1995.  Her teaching style emphasizes a relaxed, caring, and attentive attitude combined with joyful interest.

Saturday, August 21, 7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.

 

 

MEDITATION RETREATS

For Common Ground retreats, call or email the Center:

(612) 722-8260, info@commongroundmeditation.org.

Or drop in and sign up.

 

The Practice of Tranquility and Insight

Retreating from the distractions of daily life is an essential part of the path of awakening. Please join us for these important opportunities to deepen mindfulness. Those who are new to meditation should attend the intro class or several weekly practice groups before their first retreat. Please contact the center to register for retreats, unless otherwise noted.

 

Half-Day Retreats

with Mark Nunberg:

Saturday, June 12, 1:00 – 5:00 p.m.

Saturday, July 10, 9 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

Saturday, August 7, 1:00 – 5:00 p.m.

 

Day-Long Retreats (Please bring a bag lunch.)

with Santikaro: Sitting and Walking with the Ennobling Truths

See bio under Monthly Dharma.

Saturday, June 5, 9:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.

 

with Mark Nunberg:

Saturday, June 26, 9 a.m. – 6 p.m.

Saturday, July 24, 9 a.m. – 6 p.m.

 

To register for the following retreat, see info below the retreat description.

 

Residential Retreat at Holy Spirit Retreat Center with Mark Nunberg

Thursday, September 2 at 5 p.m. to Monday, September 6 at noon;

REGISTRATION Information

Registration begins July 2.

 

COMMUNITY PRACTICE GROUPS

Full Moon Peace Walks
Please join us for our monthly Full Moon Peace Walk, which includes chanting, a mindful outdoor walk, and sitting meditation. Weather permitting, the walking and sitting take place outdoors, so dress appropriately and bring a flashlight and an old blanket to put on the ground if you would like. No registration necessary.

Friday June 25, 7:30 – 9:00 p.m.

Monday July, 26, 7:30 – 9:00 p.m.

Tuesday August 24, 7:30 – 9:00 p.m.

Chant and Song

Will not be meeting over the summer.  Will resume in the fall.

 

Dharma Flicks

Ever frustrated after a good movie with juicy dharma points because no one gets it? Well now you have a choice.  You could directly experience that there are no problems.  Or you might enjoy watching a movie together at Common Ground.    We'll start with the film, Departures.  Contact the center for more details. 

Saturday, June 12, 7:00 p.m.

 

Dharma Friends

Dharma Friends is a drop-in, practice/social group for young adult practitioners (“20-30 somethings”) in the Common Ground community.   We meet at the Groundswell Coffee Shop on the corner of Thomas and Hamline in St. Paul (1342 Thomas Ave).  For more information, contact dharmafriendstc@gmail.com.

Third Saturday of the month, 2:00 – 3:30 p.m.

 

Engaged Mindfulness

This monthly practice group explores the interaction of mindfulness with community service, social justice, environmental work, politics, and activism. We explore how we can respond with mindfulness, compassion, and wisdom to the suffering in the world around us. New participants and ideas welcome. For more information, or to be added to the group's email list, please contact Leigh Rosenberg by emailing the center. Meetings are at River's Way Meditation Center in the Ivy Arts Building, 2637 27th Ave S, Suite 201.

Sundays, July 25, August 22; 4:00 – 6:00 p.m.

 

 

Mindfulness for Educators

The group is for anyone who is committed to mindfulness practice and is currently teaching in a public or private school or educational organization, or providing one-on-one private instruction. The group’s goal is to cultivate a sense of peace, clarity, and wisdom as teachers.

Contact Paul Sackaroff by emailing the center.

Second Saturday of the month at 3:30 p.m. (usually).

 

YOGA AND QIGONG

YOGA AND QIGONG

 

Mindful Yoga Weekly Drop-In Practice

Mindful Yoga is the practice of extending awareness into the physical experience of hatha yoga. The yoga poses provide an opportunity to consciously cultivate a wholesome, joyful relationship with the body.  This series is open to adults of all ages, including those with little or no background in yoga. This class will introduce a basic sequence of yoga poses, emphasizing mindfulness of breathing and sensation. With practice, mindful yoga supports wise attention in all of our daily activities. Led by Nancy Boler.

Wednesdays, 5:30 – 6:45 p.m. and Fridays, 9:30 – 10:45 a.m.  No need to register, just come.

 

Yoga Nidra Workshops

Yoga Nidra is the state where the mind and body are awake and alert but relaxed to the level of deep sleep. These workshops include instruction and explanation of Yoga Nidra, a short practice of yoga poses, then 45 minutes of lying on the floor and being guided into deep relaxation and Yoga Nidra. The effects of practicing Yoga Nidra can be better sleep, freedom from anxiety, and the ability to simply relax when you want to relax. During Yoga Nidra, we gradually let go of repetitive thought patterns, physical tension and emotional tension. Please bring 3 blankets and a yoga mat.

Sundays, June 6, June 20, July 18, August 1, August 15; 3:30 – 5:30 p.m. Attend one or all: please contact the center to register.

 

Yoga Asana Workshops

In these workshops, we learn the asanas practiced during our weekly Mindful Yoga class through discussion and some partner work.  We will learn and practice pranayama (breathing) techniques and end with a long relaxation.

Sundays, June 27, July 25, August 29; 2:00– 5:00 p.m.  Attend one or all: please contact the center to register.

 

All yoga is led by Nancy Boler, who was introduced to yoga in 1994 while in the Peace Corps in Nepal. She began her formal practice in 1997 and was certified in 2000 at the Kripalu Center for Yoga in Lenox, Massachusetts. She continues training at Kripalu and also studies Iyengar yoga in Minneapolis. 

 

Drop-in Qigong

Qigong is a deeply satisfying healing practice that integrates mindful awareness, breath, and movement. This practice develops relaxation, concentration, and vitality. Please join us. Led by Mark Nunberg and Merra Young.

Wednesdays, 9:05 – 10:05 a.m., ongoing

 

MINDFULNESS IN THE TWELVE STEPS

Weekly Practice Group

This ongoing program is for those seeking spiritual development by practicing the principles of the Twelve Steps and the Buddha’s teachings in everyday life. This program supplements recovery and is designed to reveal to us that consistent mindfulness practice is vital to spiritual progress. This practice group meets the second, third, and fourth Friday of each month and is open to all who have an interest in mindfulness and the Twelve Steps. Led by guest teachers Patti S., Emil J., and Elene L.

Fridays, 7:00 – 8:15 p.m. except the first Friday of each month.