South County Meditation Group

The South County Meditation Group meets in Oceano on Sunday mornings from 9:00am  ‑  10:15am for meditation in the Gudrun Hus Studio at Tierra Nueva Cohousing, adjacent to the town of Halcyon (see Maps) (see Brochure).

Our meditation practice is informed by the wisdom tradition of Buddhism. All levels of meditation experience are welcome, and it is not necessary to be a member of White Heron Sangha to attend. If someone is new to meditation, and new to the group, the facilitator, or one of our group members, may guide the meditation for the first 10 minutes or so.

We are a peer-led group, in the tradition of kalyanamittata ("admirable friendship", or "spiritual friends").

The usual meeting format is: start with reading the Beginning Practice, meditate for 30 minutes, read the Ending Practice, then announcements and discussion. On the first and third Sundays of each month, we extend the meditation period to 45 minutes.

We do not meet when there is a White Heron Sangha weekend retreat.

Generally, after the first sitting of each month, for those who are so inclined, we have a casual social time with tea and light refreshments.

Books that we have read include:

• Dhamma Everywhere: Welcoming each moment with Awareness+Wisdom by Sayadaw U Tejaniya
  
• Emptiness: A Practical Guide for Meditators by Guy Armstrong
• No Time Like the Present: Finding Freedom, Love, and Joy Right Where You Are by Jack Kornfield
  
• The One Who Is Not Busy: Connecting with Work in a Deeply Satisfying Way by Darlene Cohen
  
• Parami, Ways to Cross Life's Floods by Ajahn Sucitto
  
• The Sound of Silence: The Selected Teachings of Ajahn Sumedho by Ajahn Sumedho and Ajahn Amaro
  
• Tonglen: The Path of Transformation by Pema Chödrön
  
• True Refuge: Finding Peace and Freedom in Your Own Awakened Heart by Tara Brach
  
• The Work of This Moment by Toni Packer
  

The book that we are currently reading is:

• Food for the Heart: The Collected Teachings of Ajahn Chah by Ajahn Chah and Ajahn Amaro
  
  

Date	Opener	Facilitator	Program  (updated 4/17/2019)
Apr 21	David	David	Extended Meditation (45 minutes), followed by free-form discussion and social time
Apr 28		Sharon	Food for the Heart METHODS OF TRAINING | 30      Teaching the Laity and Teaching Monastics | 31      Counteracting Superstition | 33      Humor | 34      Last Years | 35 Chapter 1 ABOUT THIS MIND | 41 (for online preview, click/tap here)
May 4 & 5	n/a	n/a	WHS Weekend Retreat with Guy Armstrong Emptiness: A Practical Introduction for Meditators
May 12			Continue with Food for the Heart
May 19	Candia	Candia	Extended Meditation (45 minutes), followed by free-form discussion and social time
May 26			Continue with Food for the Heart
Jul 14			Nancy Hilyard | Talk, Question & Answer (Nancy co-founded the WHS South County Meditation Group in 2007)

The Book Queue  This is the list of the final six books that were being considered by the group in March, 2019. The book that was selected is Food for the Heart.

• Approaching the Buddhist Path by Bhiksu Tenzin Gyatso, the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, and Bhiksuni Thubten Chodron
• The Buddha's Teachings on Social and Communal Harmony: An Anthology of Discourses from the Pali Canon by Bhikkhu Bodhi, forward by the Dalai Lama
• The Dhammapada: A New Translation of the Buddhist Classic with Annotations, Translated by Gil Fronsdal
• Food for the Heart: The Collected Teachings of Ajahn Chah by Ajahn Chah and Ajahn Amaro
• Samadhi is Pure Enjoyment by Ajahn Sucitto
• The Sound of Silence: The Selected Teachings of Ajahn Sumedho by Ajahn Sumedho and Ajahn Amaro

In addition to our regular Sunday morning meditation, we also have other get‑togethers from time to time.

The Google Group White Heron Sangha - South County Meditation Group [whsscmg] is at http://goo.gl/zxJXUD

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For further information on the South County Meditation Group, feel free to contact any of these WHSSCMG members: Lois Richerson <thelois@gmail.com>, Kathy Headtke <kheadtke@sbcglobal.net>, Harry Hōetsu Heck <hoetsu@icloud.com>