Friends, we are delighted to announce that our next 7-month deep dive dharma program is open for registration. Living the Dharma in Community (LDC) supports participants to deepen their formal practice and to integrate the dharma into their daily life through study, reflection, and community practice.
Our theme this year will be The Path to Awakening: Exploring the Seven Factors of Enlightenment. The Seven Factors of Awakening are important qualities both on retreat and in daily life. Cultivating and balancing these factors support insight and freedom, understood as the highest happiness. We will also explore liberation teachings themselves, including Liberative Dependent Origination, emptiness, awareness, and not-self. This course will be situated in the context of our lives: how can these teachings support us in wisdom in the midst of all that is happening in the world.
Living the Dharma in Community combines the wisdom of study, reflection, and practice together. The course includes:
- 7 two-hour monthly-ish sessions (in-person or online) combining dharma talks, small group reflections, and relational practice. Participants have shared that one of the highlights of this course is the relational practice, which truly supports dharma friendship.
- Monthly home reflections, including sutta study, reading, audio resources, practice suggestions and reflection questions following each session.
- Connecting with dharma buddies.
- Optional daily support for integration during the month of January with Andrea Grzesina.
- Optional practice talks with Jeanne Corrigal.
Hear Jeanne and Andrea talk more about this program:
https://youtu.be/Xkv9BUa2uA0
Dates and times
For online folks, click links for conversion into other time zones.
| In person (Thursdays) 7-9 pm | Online (Thursdays) 7-9 pm Sask time (links other time zones) |
|---|---|
| Sep 26 | Oct 3 (6-8 PDT/9-11 EDT) |
| Oct 24 | Nov 7 (5-7 PST/8-10 EST) |
| Nov 28 | Dec 5 (5-7 PST/8-10 EST) |
| Jan 30 | Feb 6 (5-7 PST/8-10 EST) |
| Feb 27 | Mar 6 (5-7 PST/8-10 EST) |
| Mar 27 | Apr 3 (6-8 PDT/9-11 EDT) |
| Apr 24 | May 8 (6-8 PDT/9-11 EDT) |
Course fees
Administration fee:
The administration fee paid at the time of registration helps cover the administrative costs for SIMC.
Teacher dana/donation:
The registration fee does not include teacher support – there will be an opportunity to offer dana to our teacher Jeanne Corrigal. Jeanne will also share your generosity with our supporting dharma leader, Andrea Grzesina. See dana information below.
Registration
Register for the in-person offering
https://saskatooninsight.com/forms/view.php?id=75982
Register for the online offering
https://saskatooninsight.com/forms/view.php?id=76943
Course Teacher
Jeanne Corrigal is the guiding teacher for the Saskatoon Insight Meditation Community, and a graduate of the 2017-2021 IMS teacher training program. She has trained primarily in the Burmese lineage of Venerable Mahasi Sayadaw, with a great affinity for the Thai Forest Tradition of Ajahn Buddhadasa and for the teachings of Thich Nhat Hanh. She is a certified MBSR teacher, is certified with Indigenous Focusing Oriented Trauma Therapy (IFOT), and she has trained with Mindful Schools and Somatic Experiencing. She has taught with Mindfulness Magazine, Lion’s Roar and Tricycle’s online programs, and teaches across North America. She is Metis, and one of her first teachers in loving presence was Cree Elder Jim Settee.
Some words about the practice of dana
We often have queries about what might be an appropriate range for any financial dana offering to the teachers, that you might wish to make. Before we consider this, it is really important to know that the teaching of dana is a liberation teaching, because it is an intentional opportunity to practice generosity, which can directly erode the habit in the mind of grasping. The Buddha invites us to tune into the joy of dana, the joy of giving, before, during and after… so please, see this as a joy and liberation practice!
One of the gifts of dana is that it is optional, and if people decide to give in this way, they can give according to their means. And at the same time, asking about a range is a reasonable question… in Asia, folks often have an idea of how much is needed to support a teacher’s “requisites”, but in the west, we don’t have the same kind of guidelines, and folks in the west can be left a little bit out at sea in this area.
Offering guidance can be sensitive, as everyone’s circumstances are different. That said, in order to support the teachings, we offer these guidelines as a place to start, and those who wish to give in this way can move up or down on the scale, according to their means.
One guideline is to give the amount that brings you joy, knowing that your dana is supporting the Dharma to carry on (while being aware of not breaking the bank 🙂). One may also seek guidance by looking at the fees that are charged for similar events of workshops in our culture. Movies now cost $15 or more; yoga classes often $15/hour; in addition, workshop leaders are often compensated in recognition of the time it takes to prepare materials, the presentation, as well as their expertise.
Perhaps a helpful starting point for our sessions would be $30 – $40 per class. (This would be a range of something like $210 – $280 for the program). For one-on-one practice talks with Jeanne, a range of $35 – $50 per meeting could be a good range to consider.
Please feel free to offer less than this in order to ensure your participation, knowing that your presence and any financial contribution are valued. Please feel free to offer more, if you are able, and it brings you joy to support others and the program in this precious way. Feel free to offer monthly or once or twice during the course – whatever works for you. And, please know that we are very grateful for both the dana of your presence in the program, and your financial dana; both danas contribute to our capacity to continue teaching. You can feel that your support is supporting the Dharma. Thank you.
If you wish to offer your generosity to support Jeanne and our community, please visit our dana page to find details.
More information about the LDC
This program supports a shift from seeing the dharma as something we fit into our lives, to seeing our life through the lens of the dharma: the movement from having a spiritual practice to having a spiritual life. This is not about changing our lives, but rather changing our relationship with life. This program is offered in support of each of us living fully, with an open heart, expanding kindness, and wisdom and care for the world. Living the Dharma in Community combines the wisdom of study, reflection, and practice together.
This annual course is designed both for new participants and as a progressive deepening for those who join over multiple years. Currently we plan a rotation over 6 years, spiralling round to the first themes again in year 7. You can join in any year, and deepen through more than one 6 year cycle, coming to the first themes again with lived understanding. This can be a way of really seeing the deepening of our practice, over time. There are in-person and online options.
