sittings | retreats

engaged dharma

SPUD Patrol, Saturday, Feb 4
Sangha members are invited to take part in an event organized monthly by an organization called SPUD Patrol. You can bake potatoes at home and bring them (warm, wrapped in foil, plus separately fixings such as butter and sour cream, greatly needed) down to one block west of Main on Hastings (north side of the street) where tables are set up to distribute them to the homeless and hungry.
 
When: Saturday, February 4
Where: 1 block west of Main on Hastings Street, in front of the community garden
 
You can go to spudpatrol.com to check out the website. Or you can contact Karen Lawrie at 604-565-0379 or by email.
 
Note: The next SPUD Patrol will be Saturday, March 10
 
This is a wonderful opportunity to practice generosity.
 
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Update on the Metta Clinic in Burma

Thank you for your support, present and past, of the Metta Dana Free Medical and Dental Clinic in Burma.

I have sent $7000 in dana to Steve Armstrong, who can guarantee the reliable transfer of this dana to Burma. Your dana  will support the work of the doctors, dentists and nurses who donate their Saturdays and Sundays to help poor village children and adults, young and old, as well as monks and nuns recover their health and well-being. We cover all medical equipment, drugs and medicines as well as travel expenses, emergency procedures and hospital stays in Yangon. This dana will continue to support the activities of the Metta Clinic in 2012. Please see the brochure here, The Aye Metta Ayudana Clinic's First Birthday.

Recently, an umbrella foundation has been formed called Metta in Action, which not only oversees and supports the Metta Clinic, but also works to promote education and to support nunneries because nunneries, unlike monasteries, generally receive very little financial support in Burma. Nunneries and the nuns often care for many orphans and abandoned children, providing love, parenting and the opportunity to get an education. So, our activities have expanded to support education as many parents cannot afford school fees, books or uniforms. Without access to an education, the children are resigned to a life of poverty.

So, I want each of you to understand how much your dana means to every child and father and mother in the three villages of 14,000. This dana of medicine and education provides hope and brings joy. More information and wonderful pictures are in the attached brochure, MIA Update.

Sadhu! Sadhu! Sadhu! for your generosity!

Judy Witheford
Community Dharma Leader

 
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Compassionate Action
Bringing the dharma into daily life is how we manifest the naturally compassionate and altruistic heart. When we are aware of the abundance in which we live, it’s easy to to do this and to take advantage of the many opportunites available beyond the home and workplace.
 
BCIMS encourages and supports volunteering and involvement in existing groups that further the values of generosity and heartfulness. We encourage involvement in community projects such as those under the banner of Engaged Buddhism, Food Banks, Community Kitchens, and ”Runs”; as well as initiating specific projects in the dharma community, such as sit-a-thons, car-washes, and social fund raisers (usually in support of overseas Buddhist communities).
 
 
Easy Ways to Take Action Now
  • Sign up for Canada Post's e-post and help save even more paper by getting your bills online. 
  • Protect forests by reducing junk mail - stop junk mail delivery to your home. For more information, visit Red Dot Campaign. 
  • Join BC Hyrdo's Team Powersmart and commit to cutting your electricity use by 10% while helping BC toward energy self-sufficiency by 2016.
  • Take the Suzuki Foundation's Nature Challenge to find out how you can have a big impact on moving us all toward a greener future by the individual choices you make each day.
  • The Buddhist tradition has a long history of respectful attitude towards the environment. Read the 17th Karmapa's Environmental Guidelines for dharma practitioners (PDF).
 
Green Sangha
Green Sangha is an organization that brings spiritual practice and environmental work together to heal our planet. Their mission is to bring healing to ourselves, one another, and the earth through thoughts, words, and actions rooted in love. Below are some of Green Sangha's current/ongoing campaigns and actions:
 
Compassionate Action Sites
  • The Breast Cancer Site Donate mammograms for free just by visiting this site.
  • The Hunger Site: Donate Food for Free to Hungry People in the World Every 3.6 seconds someone dies of hunger; 75% are children. Donate food for free just by visiting this site.
  • Free Rice Give free rice to hungry people by playing a simple word game.
  • Save the Rainforest It is estimated that we are losing 2 acres of rain forest every single second. The rain forests produce 40% of the oxygen we breathe. Help the rain forests by visiting this site.
  • Greater Vancouver Food Bank Volunteer with or donate to the GVFB, which helps feed more than 26,000 people each week.
  • Buddhist Peace Fellowship Through BPF, Buddhists of many different traditions are developing individual and group responses to socially conditioned suffering.
  • Sakyadhita An international network of Buddhist women, monastic and lay, engaged in peacework throughout the world.
  • Zen Peacemaker Community A global civil society of organizations and individuals around the world working for social transformation.
  • Global Volunteer Network A great organization that offers volunteer opportunities in community projects throughout the world.
  • Sign the Buddhist Declaration for Climate Change All concerned members of the international Buddhist community are invited to study the document and add their voice by signing the Declaration.
  • The Simple Living Network Ideas, encouragement, and resources for those trying to live more simply.