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Please join us tomorrow evening at Urban Dharma fo

Please join us tomorrow evening at Urban Dharma for our Sunday Sangha Integrated Dharma.
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Tomorrow's session will be hosted by local dharma teacher Jogen Salzberg.
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We look forward to sitting in sangha with you.
🙏🏼

Live from Southern Dharma Tonight at Urban Dharma!

Live from Southern Dharma Tonight at Urban Dharma!
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Come join us tonight along with Jon Orr
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We look forward to seeing you there.

Please join us tonight at Urban Dharma for our Sun

Please join us tonight at Urban Dharma for our Sunday Sangha Integrated Dharma.
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Tonight's session will be hosted by Southern Dharma's Executive Director, Sonia Marcus.
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We look forward to sitting with you.
🙏🏼

This Monday June 6th at 7:30pm: Reverend Teijo Mun

This Monday June 6th at 7:30pm: Reverend Teijo Munnich of Great Tree Zen Temple will be leading a live in-person and online session from Urban Dharma in West Asheville. The topic will be “Transitions”.

Live from Southern Dharma is a bi-weekly event that is offered both in person at Urban Dharma in West Asheville as well as streamed online. This series features local and traveling Buddhist teachers and will include a guided meditation period, some social time, and a dharma offering with some Q&A. In light of the spike in Covid cases recently, masks are currently required for attendees. Teacher dana is gratefully accepted, no one turned away for lack of funds.

Get the Zoom link by clicking on “Asheville and Online Programs” in our bio. See you then!

Posted @withregram • @firestormcoop To celebrate

Posted @withregram • @firestormcoop To celebrate the release of "Black Buddhists and the Black Radical Tradition," our co-op is teaming up with Southern Dharma Retreat Center to host a special hybrid event (in-person and live-streamed online!) with author and scholar Rima Vesely-Flad in conversation with local Black trans storyteller Spike. The event will take place just down the road from our bookstore in West Asheville at Urban Dharma (697c Haywood Road) and those wishing to watch virtually can request a link during registration to attend on Zoom.

In "Black Buddhists and the Black Radical Tradition" Rima Vesely-Flad examines the distinctive features of Black-identifying Buddhist practitioners and includes discussions of the Black Power movement, the Black feminist movement, and the Black prophetic tradition. It also offers a nuanced discussion of how the Black body, which has historically been reviled, is claimed as a vehicle for liberation. In so doing, the book explores how the experiences of non-binary, gender non-conforming, and transgender practitioners of African descent are validated within the tradition. The book also uplifts the voices of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and queer Black Buddhists.

You can find "Black Buddhists and the Black Radical Tradition" on our website, or pick up a copy by following the link in our bio and registering for the event. We hope to see you there! (-Ash)

#BlackBuddhists #BlackRadicalTradition #BlackPower #BlackPropheticTradition #RadicalDharma #AuthorEvent #WhatToRead #IndieBookstore #FeministBookstore #WorkerCoop #FirestormCoop

Registration link: https://firestorm.coop/events/2977-black-buddhists-and-the-black-radical-tradition.html

Posted @withregram • @mindfullivingrevolution Wa

Posted @withregram • @mindfullivingrevolution Watching the moon at midnight,
solitary, mid-sky,
I knew myself completely
No part left out.

—Izumi Shikibu

Please join me on the full moon for a virtual evening meditation and dharma talk on Befriending the Night: The Radiant Teachings of Darkness, 7:30pm EST. This will be hosted by @southerndharma You can join us via livestream. All are welcome.

Monday, May 16th, 7:30pm EST.

Link in bio.

Happy Buddha Day! Join the greater Asheville Buddh

Happy Buddha Day! Join the greater Asheville Buddhist community TOMORROW to celebrate the birth, enlightenment, and death of the Buddha.

3-6pm at Urban Dharma in West Asheville. Enjoy a telling of the story of the Buddha’s life, traditional bathing of the baby Buddha, group meditation, chanting, tea, and food. Many blessings!

Posted @withregram • @mindfullivingrevolution I

Posted @withregram • @mindfullivingrevolution I look forward to teaching in Asheville (also offered online) on Monday, May 16th from 7:30-9pm EST.

I want to thank Sonia Markus at @southerndharma for beautifully organizing a rotation of local teachers in Asheville on Monday evenings. Most of my teaching has been online since the pandemic began, and I'm grateful to be meeting, practicing in person, and cross-pollinating with local community again.

All are welcome!

Link to register in bio.

Happy Buddha Day! Southern Dharma is joining with

Happy Buddha Day! Southern Dharma is joining with our local community to invite you to join Buddhists, local sanghas, and other heart-centered folks from all over the greater Asheville area for a celebration of the birth, life, and death of the Buddha.

The event will take place on the afternoon of May 15th from 3:00 to 6:00 at @urban_dharma_nc in West Asheville (697c Haywood Rd). During that time local teachers representing a variety of traditions, along with anyone who wishes to attend, will gather to honor the Buddha and the teachings he brought into this world. The event will include a telling of the story of the Buddha's life, the traditional ritual of bathing the baby Buddha, optional group meditation sessions, tea and food, and beautiful group chanting at the end.

All are welcome! It is not required that you call yourself a Buddhist or that you have experience with Buddhist practices. This will simply be a time to celebrate in community a life and the teachings that have brought so much peace, joy, compassion, and clarity into the world. If you would enjoy participating, and we hope you will, just come to Urban Dharma any time between 3:00 and 6:00pm on May 15th and join in!

More information at udharmanc.com/buddhaday

This week we are hosting Gisela Konrad and Jeff Co

This week we are hosting Gisela Konrad and Jeff Collins for The Marriage of Yoga and Meditation retreat. Many of these folks have been coming to this retreat for years but there are always newcomers too. Great to have such close friends back in our midst.

Tomorrow (Sunday) at 7:30pm at Urban Dharma: Our n

Tomorrow (Sunday) at 7:30pm at Urban Dharma: Our new weekly Sunday series kicks off! Join us *in person* for Integrated Dharma, hosted by Jogen Salzberg. Integrated Dharma offers teaching and tools from a variety of Buddhist traditions, as well as psychological and embodiment practices, to support a full span freedom – relief from suffering, personal flourishing, and the means to translate that into a heart-centered response to the joys and challenges of our world.

These gatherings will begin with sangha building over tea, continue with a part guided, part silent meditation, and conclude with a talk and discussion on Buddhist practice. Hosted by Jogen Salzberg, with guest teaching from other local and traveling Southern Dharma teachers:

May 1: David Chernikoff
May 22nd: Mark Nunberg
August 14th: Lisa Ernst
October 9th: Donald Rothberg

Jogen Salzberg, Sensei began practicing meditation in the 90’s and spent 15 years in residential training at Great Vow Zen Monastery of Oregon. He is a fully authorized teacher in the Soto Zen lineage and has worked with teachers across Buddhist traditions. His teaching synthesizes those teachings and practices as well as drawing from his study and practice of Jungian psychology, Voice Dialogue, Paratheatre and more.

See you there! 697c Haywood Rd

Please join us in person or online for practice, t

Please join us in person or online for practice, talk and Q+A with Jeff Collins for "Live from Southern Dharma" at Urban Dharma in Asheville.

Jeff Collins a full-time psychotherapist and Insight Meditation teacher with over 30 years leading retreats will present on:

OUT OF NOWHERE – INSTANT BY INSTANT – THIS WHOLE WORLD COMES FORTH

Being sparked by an intuition of generosity is the heart of the joyous living freedom that Buddha said is our birthright as flowers now blooming in this ever-blooming universe. We are of the universe, and we are its way – its only way – of walking, talking, writing a poem, raising a child, and placing a mindful foot on the ground of each moment.

When: Monday May 2nd 7:30p
In person: 697C Haywood Rd, Asheville NC
Virtual: Link can be found at southerndharma.org in “Programs in Asheville and Online”
Rsvp: not required, but appreciate at southerndharma.org in “Programs in Asheville and Online”

#meditation #dharma #mindfulnessmeditation

What a treat to have David Chernikoff from Insight

What a treat to have David Chernikoff from Insight Community of Colorado back at Southern Dharma again. A beautiful start to the retreat, thanks in part to Kitchen Manager Anthony Pranger’s artistry. Interested in cooking at Southern Dharma? We have a position posted now!

Dear friends, Rima Vesely-Flad, our presenting aut

Dear friends, Rima Vesely-Flad, our presenting author, has unfortunately become ill in the last few days. As a result, we are rescheduling this event to a later date in June, TBD.

If you’d like to pick up a copy of the book from our event co-sponsor @firestormcoop in the meantime, you have a few options: Visit the store or purchase it through the Firestorm website for home delivery. Firestorm is located at 610 Haywood Rd and they are open Thursdays through Mondays from 11am to 6pm. To purchase through their website, visit firestorm.coop.

Be well, all! We will provide further details when they are available.

Southern Dharma Staff

We are thrilled to be co-hosting an event this Sun

We are thrilled to be co-hosting an event this Sunday @ 3pm with @firestormcoop featuring local West Asheville author Rima Vesely-Flad in conversation with local Black trans storyteller Spike. Rima's latest book is entitled, "Black Buddhists and the Black Radical Tradition: The Practice of Stillness in the Movement for Liberation" (NYU Press, 2022).

This is an in-person ticketed event, sliding scale ($0 - $20) donation. All proceeds benefit the author. Location: Urban Dharma, 697C Haywood Rd, West Asheville (right next door to Ingles).

To register, click the link in our bio, or visit www.southerndharma.org and choose "Programs in Asheville and Online".

Our Live from Southern Dharma series relaunches in

Our Live from Southern Dharma series relaunches in person and online beginning Monday, April 18th at 7:30pm and continuing every 1st and 3rd Mondays thereafter. Please note that masks are required for in-person attendance. RSVP's for each session are appreciated but not required.

This Monday, we welcome Asheville Insight Meditation's founding teacher, Ronya Banks, for a program of guided meditation, dharma talk, and Q&A.

Topic: That Still Quiet Place

How can we access stillness and quietude amidst the chaos and noise of the world? Join Ronya Banks, Asheville Insight Meditation's guiding teacher as she explores how each of us can use our practices to access that still, quiet place within that is not moved by life's turbulent storms.

Program is freely offered, teacher dana is deeply appreciated.

Board retreat this weekend at Southern Dharma. We

Board retreat this weekend at Southern Dharma. We always start with a shared meal with members of the staff.

Interested in board service? There are two on-site weekend board retreats per year (April and Oct) and another via Zoom in July. Travel assistance is available. We ❤️ our Board members!

Check out the Board page at our website if you’d like to learn more.

Kicked off our drop-in silent sit this morning! Ev

Kicked off our drop-in silent sit this morning! Every Monday through Friday from 9-10am @urban_dharma_nc

All practitioners welcome! Just take off your shoes, find a good spot (cushions and other seating options provided) and settle in for the time that you have.

Many thanks to the dedicated volunteers who are making this possible. And to Urban Dharma for offering their amazing space!

Posted @withregram • @firestormcoop To celebrate

Posted @withregram • @firestormcoop To celebrate the release of "Black Buddhists and the Black Radical Tradition," our co-op is teaming up with Southern Dharma Retreat Center to host author and scholar Rima Vesely-Flad in conversation with local Black trans storyteller Spike. This will be an in-person event taking place at Urban Dharma (697c Haywood Road) in West Asheville, just down the street form our bookstore!

In "Black Buddhists and the Black Radical Tradition," Rima Vesely-Flad examines the distinctive features of Black-identifying Buddhist practitioners, arguing that Black Buddhists interpret Buddhist teachings in ways that are congruent with Black radical thought. The book includes discussions of the Black Power movement, the Black feminist movement, and the Black prophetic tradition. It also offers a nuanced discussion of how the Black body, which has historically been reviled, is claimed as a vehicle for liberation. In so doing, the book explores how the experiences of non-binary, gender non-conforming, and transgender practitioners of African descent are validated within the tradition. The book also uplifts the voices of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and queer Black Buddhists.

You can find "Black Buddhists and the Black Radical Tradition" on our website, or pick up a copy by following the link in our bio and registering for the event. We hope to see you there! (-Ash)

#BlackBuddhists #BlackRadicalTradition #BlackPower #BlackPropheticTradition #RadicalDharma #AuthorEvent #WhatToRead #IndieBookstore #FeministBookstore #WorkerCoop #FirestormCoop

Registration link: https://firestorm.coop/events/2977-black-buddhists-and-the-black-radical-tradition.html

Hey Asheville, we’ve got some very exciting news

Hey Asheville, we’ve got some very exciting news! You may have seen previous posts featuring our new West Asheville location, but allow us to make it official:

Southern Dharma has been invited to share space with a number of local Buddhist groups at Urban Dharma in West Asheville. This beautiful new practice and meeting space is located at 697C Haywood Road, right near the Ingles supermarket.

From this new base, we will host in person Sunday evening “Integrated Dharma” sessions with Jogen Adam Salzberg beginning May 1st, as well as bi-weekly editions of “Live from Southern Dharma” (in person and online) on the first and third Mondays of the month, beginning April 18th with guest teacher Ronya Banks. Both local and traveling Southern Dharma teachers will be featured at our events from a wide range of Buddhist practice traditions.

Our intention with taking this step is to connect with the regional dharma community more regularly and offer opportunities for practice and learning to as many people as possible. With that in mind, we have an invitation for you:

One of the dreams of this shared space is to establish a dharma sanctuary that is open and available for practice throughout the day. This means that we’ll need volunteers to be present for greeting and orienting folks and keeping an eye on things. We’d love your help in bringing this dream into being, and also in your feedback about what you want to see from us regarding this new space. So if you’re interested in sharing more or volunteering, please reach out!

To learn more about the other events taking place at Urban Dharma, including multiple recovery dharma groups, the Drikung Dharmakirti sangha, and a Spanish language gathering, visit https://udharmanc.com/

We’ll be sharing more about our regular West Asheville offerings soon, but if you have questions in the meantime, please reach out. See you there!

Southern Dharma is currently seeking a General Man

Southern Dharma is currently seeking a General Manager to join our community. The General Manager is responsible for all aspects of on-site operations and provides support to Southern Dharma’s Executive Director.

- Directs and coordinates retreat activities to ensure quality and efficiency, and seeks to bring the full potential of the site to life with a balanced focus on Southern Dharma’s mission, guests, and staff satisfaction.
- Oversees a small team of on-site staff, residents, and volunteers.

This is a full-time (40 hours/week) salaried position that includes on-site room and board, paid leave, support for retreat attendance, and medical insurance.

Compensation: $2,400 - $3,200 per month, depending on experience

To apply: Send resume, cover, and three references to info@southerndharma.org. At least two of your references should be professional, and at least one should be able to speak to your interest and background in meditation. Deadline for applications is Monday, March 21st.

We went from summer to winter overnight. Enjoying

We went from summer to winter overnight. Enjoying the gift of stillness and silence the snow brings.

Uncertainty is the homecoming.

Uncertainty is the homecoming.

I Wandered Lonely As a Cloud - William Wordsworth

I Wandered Lonely As a Cloud - William Wordsworth

I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed—and gazed—but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.