Ongoing POC Sangha
Meditation Class Series
POC Retreats
Contact Ordinary Dharma

When we walk a path of liberation we begin a life-long journey. As we walk that road we may get a few stones in our shoes. We can keep walking along that path with the rocks in our shoes, and still reach our destination. We can also stop to remove the stones.

Ongoing first (or second) Wednesday of every month.

NEXT MEETING
Please email manzanita@ordinarydharma.org and request to be put on the POC list
Call 760-782-9223 or 310-339-1660

7:30pm - 9:30pm
Usually in Los Angeles - sometime Long Beach

"If you do not have a destination, a goal, then how can ever arrive? At the same time, if you have a goal, but are fixated on arriving there, without really know where you are right now, then you cannot fully know the steps you must take. To pursue your dreams and goals, AND to live fully in the present, THAT is key." 

Location: Los Angeles/Yaunee's House
Click Here For Directions

Open to Beginners
If you have questions or would like to be informed of future meditations evenings
Contact: Michele Benzamin-Miki 310-339-3531 mbm@fivechanges.org

Buddhist teaching and practice lead us to the recognition that there is no separation between 'self' and 'other'. Let's find ways to implement this understanding in a way that truly nourishes and strengthens us? These evenings are a time of sharing for People of Color who come together to heal and to celebrate. Silent and guided meditation, walking meditation, with Dharma talk and discussion, and Council.

Michele Benzamin-Miki is the guiding teacher. She is of Japanese, and mixed Middle-eastern and Anglo origin. She is rooted in the Buddhist traditions of Southeast Asian Vipassana as well as Vietnamese Zen. For fourteen years she was a student of Thich Nhat Hahn and taught within his tradition and lineage. She has practiced both meditation and martial arts for over 25 years, with many teachers from Asia, Europe and North America. She has an array of tools developed and adapted to her own form-from deep-ecology practices, theater, non-violence and diversity training, as well as from her own background as an artist-painter. She holds a 5th degree Black belt in Aikido and Iaido sword forms and is a guiding Sensei to several dojos throughout the country. Since the early 1980's she has been co-leading retreats in North America and Europe with her partner Caitríona Reed. She has taught meditation to high-risk youth at Central Juvenile hall and within the probation systems of Los Angeles. She is co-founder of Ordinary Dharma and Manzanita Village retreat Center in Southern California. She is also currently working with the Santa Ysabel reservation teaching non-violence, meditation and aikido.  

See Teachers

 

A Buddhist Meditation Class for People of Color

Central Teachings of Buddhism with guidance and instruction in Meditation Practices.
Topics for discussion and councils will be specifically related to People of Color.

The Teachings for the Six Weeks will be:

1. The Four Noble Truths and the Sutra on the Full Awareness of Breathing
2.  The Noble Eightfold Path and the Bodhisattva Practices
3. The Four Foundations of Mindfulness and the 5 Aggregates
4. The Six Realms of Existence and the Five Hindrances
5. Teachings of Mutual Causality and Interdependence and Engaged Buddhism and Social Activism
6. The Brahma Viharas - Loving Kindness, Compassion, Joy, Equanimity, and Teachings on Ahimsa - non violence and Practice in Daily Life

Cost: $150. Some partial scholarships available. Please call Michele for details 310-339-3531.
Register by sending the full amount to the address below.

Registration:
Class Registration by Check or Online by Credit Card through PayPal  

By Mail - Please mail your check payable to Ordinary Dharma please write POC Introductory Meditation on check ( payment is tax deductible)
Send to: Michele Benzamin-Miki, Ordinary Dharma/Manzanita Village PO Box 67, Warner Springs CA 92086
760-782-9223

Contact information for Ordinary Dharma, based in Los Angeles, as well as Manzanita Village Retreat Center in Warner Springs,

Ordinary Dharma,
PO Box 67,
Warner Springs,
CA 92086

760-782-9223 Manzanita Village
760-782-0655 Fax

manzanita@ordinarydharma.org