FāVS News News and Commentary about Religion and Ethics in Eastern Washington and North Idaho
“Meditation,” an often misunderstood Buddhist practice, is the topic of the June 3 Sharing the Dharma Day at Sravasti Abbey, the Buddhist monastery near Newport.
The program will be from 9:45 a.m. to 3 p.m. and will include guided meditation, followed by a talk on the topic of the day, a vegetarian potluck lunch and facilitated discussion, according to a press release.
“Nowadays meditation is sometimes confused with other activities,” said Sravasti Abbey founder Venerable Thubten Chodron. “Meditation is not simply relaxing the body and mind. Nor is it imagining being a successful person with wonderful possessions, good relationships, appreciation from others, and fame. Nor is it simply being aware of what we are doing at any particular moment.”
“The Tibetan word for meditation is 'gom',” she explained, “which suggests 'to habituate' or 'to familiarize.' Meditation means habituating ourselves to constructive, realistic, and beneficial emotions and attitudes. Meditation is used to transform our thoughts and views so that they are more compassionate and correspond to reality.”
Sravasti Abbey invites people of all faiths and backgrounds who are curious about meditation or would like to know more about the Buddha's teachings.
For information and directions call (509) 447-5549, email office.sravasti@gmail.com or visit the program website.
Tracy Simmons is an award-winning journalist specializing in religion reporting and digital entrepreneurship. In her approximate 20 years on the religion beat, Simmons has tucked a notepad in her pocket and found some of her favorite stories aboard cargo ships in New Jersey, on a police chase in Albuquerque, in dusty Texas church bell towers, on the streets of New York and in tent cities in Haiti. Simmons has worked as a multimedia journalist for newspapers across New Mexico, Texas, Connecticut and Washington. She is the executive director of SpokaneFāVS.com, a digital journalism start-up covering religion news and commentary in Spokane, Washington. She also writes for The Spokesman-Review and national publications. She is a Scholarly Assistant Professor of Journalism at Washington State University.
