Since the beginning of the pandemic, we have moved many of our offerings online, including our weekday morning meditation. We’ve discovered that for many sangha members, gathering online has increased accessibility and ease of participation. For the foreseeable future, we will make decisions about holding events virtually or in person based on current conditions and the needs of the sangha.
All events are offered freely, with donations welcome. If you are a teacher or practitioner interested in collaborating to create an offering with us, please contact us.
Morning Meditation
We have morning sitting in community via Zoom every weekday from 7:30-8am, followed by a brief practice discussion. Contact us below to request the link. We ask that all community members abide by these guidelines for this offering.
Our monthly in-person meditation offering continues to rotate at the homes of different sangha members. Our February sit will be on the peninsula in Portland. We will send the location and more details to all registrants the week prior to the gathering.
We welcome all sangha members and their families to join our winter in-person gathering, with much gratitude to Jean F for hosting once again at her home in Scarborough. Please bring any vegetarian snacks/food for a light early dinner. For this gathering, we'll begin with an optional meditation (inside), then chat and eat, and if there’s interest we'll close the gathering together outside by the fire. Please RSVP here for the address and any weather-related updates.
Join us for a community letter-writing event to ask Portland city officials for a permanent warming center for homeless residents.
Following our silent meditation and practice discussion, we’ll take a short break, and beginning at 8:20 will share brief background about the current situation, an opportunity for questions, and then simple instructions for contacting city officials. Click View Event, below, for additional information.
Our monthly in-person meditation offering continues to rotate at the homes of different sangha members. Our December sit will be on the peninsula in Portland. We will send the location and more details to all registrants the week prior to the gathering.
In-person and online event, led by sangha members Rebecca and Laura
Register here.
We invite sangha members to gather for a group discussion about our collective reliance on digital devices, and how this reliance impacts our lives. How does our screentime infiltrate our days, our minds, and our socially engaged spiritual practice? How can we mindfully engage with our devices to support rather than hinder our spiritual growth? And how can we navigate this in community? This event is offered both in-person and via Zoom.
Our monthly in-person meditation offering continues to rotate at the homes of different sangha members. Our November sit will be on the peninsula in Portland. We will send the location and more details to all registrants the week prior to the gathering.
This gathering for our BIPOC community will offer practices of deep nurturing and self-compassion for building nervous system capacity. We’ll create an embodied sense of Sangha (community) to practice in Circle, co-create a culture of belonging and allow wisdom to emerge from the collective. Together we'll rest, dream, move, journal, connect, share and deeply listen to ourselves and each other.
Drop in welcome for all those who identify as Black, Indigenous, or a Person of Color (BIPOC). This gathering is offered freely, in collaboration with Open Door Meditation Community. Dana is welcome for both the space and teacher. For more information, contact Lynn at lynn@lynnteoacupuncture.com.
Our fall dharma discussion group is on Frank Ostaseski’s book The Five Invitations. This offering will be facilitated by sangha members Max, Susan K and Liz, and will delve deeply into the rich wisdom practice of contemplating death.
In our sangha, we often speak of socially engaged practice. What does this really mean in our day to day lives? How might we meet the challenges of our world skillfully and sustainably? In this interactive gathering, we will discuss socially engaged Buddhism, and explore together how we may be called to practice in this time of uncertainty and change. The session will draw on Joanna Macy’s Work That Reconnects, and will be an opportunity to reflect on the many forms engagement may take. All are welcome, including those new to meditation or the dharma. This event is offered freely, and dana is welcome. Please register here to receive the Zoom link.
We invite all sangha members to join our in-person fall potluck, in Scarborough. This will be an indoor and outdoor event (weather-permitting), with family members of all ages welcome. We'll begin with an optional meditation, then socialize and eat. Please bring a vegetarian dish or non-alcoholic drink to share. RSVP here for the address and any updates.
Register here for our fall dharma discussion group, on Frank Ostaseski’s book The Five Invitations. This offering will be facilitated by sangha members Max, Susan K and Liz, and will delve deeply into the rich wisdom practice of contemplating death. Participants will meet online starting on Sept 19 (with another session the following Thursday, and then every two weeks until Dec. 5).
Our once a month in-person meditation offering will be outside in the month of August. We’ll meet in Portland. Exact location and details will be sent to all registrants beforehand.
Rain date: August 26
We are grateful for the generosity of sangha members Amanda and Sarah F for opening their home in Old Orchard Beach for a summer gathering. Attendees are welcome to join earlier for some afternoon beach time, and/or come later for the meditation and potluck dinner. Family members of all ages are welcome. We'll send the address and more details to those who register.
2pm and on - beach time
5:30 - meditation
6pm - potluck dinner
Our once a month in-person meditation offering will be outside in the month of July. We’ll meet in Portland. Exact location and details will be sent to all registrants beforehand.
Rain date: July 22
All sangha members are welcome to participate this longer period of community meditation practice via Zoom. Marissa Schneiderman will steward the group in silent sitting and walking, leading into our usual morning sit and practice discussion. No registration is necessary, and you are welcome to join at any point in the schedule below. A bell will be rung to indicate the transitions between sitting and walking.
Register here
Former Dharma House residents Jake Fahey and Gwendolyn Forrest are organizing a weekend of deep canvassing learning and action on race and immigration. Connecting with people through deep canvassing has been shown to lastingly reduce prejudice, inoculate people against fear-messaging, and change hearts and minds. If you want to learn the powerful art of deep canvassing through in person training and doorknocking, to be in community with other Mainers who believe in making Maine a place of belonging for all, and to eat good food together, this is for you!
These trainings are co-sponsored by Portland Dharma House and Greater Portland Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ).
Our monthly in-person meditation offering continues to rotate at the homes of different sangha members. On June 2, John will host a group sit in South Portland. We will send the location and more details to all registrants the week prior to the gathering.
Register here
Former Dharma House residents Jake Fahey and Gwendolyn Forrest are organizing a weekend of deep canvassing learning and action on race and immigration. Connecting with people through deep canvassing has been shown to lastingly reduce prejudice, inoculate people against fear-messaging, and change hearts and minds. If you want to learn the powerful art of deep canvassing through in person training and doorknocking, to be in community with other Mainers who believe in making Maine a place of belonging for all, and to eat good food together, this is for you!
A second training will be offered June 21-22, and participants are welcome to sign up for one or both. These trainings are co-sponsored by Portland Dharma House and Greater Portland Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ).
On May 10, we will host a longer period of community meditation practice via Zoom. Stewarded by Marissa Schneiderman, all are welcome to participate in up to 2 additional hours of silent sitting and walking, leading into our usual morning sit and practice discussion. No registration is necessary, and you are welcome to join at any point in the schedule. A bell will be rung to indicate the transitions between sitting and walking.
Our once a month in-person meditation offering continues to rotate at the homes of different sangha members. On May 5, Cathie will host a group sit in the West End in Portland. We will send the location and more details to all registrants the week prior to the gathering.
We are continuing to experiment with a once a month in-person meditation offering, at the homes of different sangha members. On April 7, Rebecca will host a group sit in Portland. We will send the location and more details to all registrants the week prior to the gathering.
Our next dharma book group, facilitated by Joan Quinn and Liz Farmer, will explore Lama Rod Owens’ newly published The New Saints: From Broken Hearts to Spiritual Warriors: “Saints are ordinary and human, doing things any person can learn to do,” teaches Lama Rod Owens. “Our era calls for saints who are from this time and place, speak the language of this moment, and integrate both social and spiritual liberation. I believe we all can and must become New Saints."
This event will take place via Zoom. Register here.
Sangha members Max Bowen, Susan Kohaut, and Rebecca Layton will offer a conversation and practice on the the 3 Characteristics (impermanence, suffering, and not-self). The Three Characteristics, also known as the three marks of existence, are fundamental to Buddhist dharma practice. The insight that all conditioned things are impermanent, unsatisfying, and without essence or self can help us to get out of delusion and the endless cycle of samsara (meaning "wandering"). We can experience directly the arising and passing of phenomena in many forms--while sitting observing the mind and body in meditation practice, and throughout our daily lives. This will be an interactive discussion woven with short periods of practice.
On March 22, we will host a longer period of community meditation practice via Zoom. Stewarded by Marissa Schneiderman, all are welcome to participate in up to 2 additional hours of silent sitting and walking, leading into our usual morning sit and practice discussion. No registration is necessary, and you are welcome to join at any point in the schedule. A bell will be rung to indicate the transitions between sitting and walking.
During a recent in-person sangha gathering, we heard many of you share the desire to meditate together in a shared physical space more frequently. We are hoping to offer a monthly in-person meditation moving forward, at the homes of different sangha members.
Susan K. has generously offered to host a group sit on Sunday, March 3 at her home in Cape Elizabeth, near the South Portland border. Please register here and we will send the location and more details the week prior to the gathering.
On February 16, we will be piloting a longer period of community meditation practice via Zoom. Stewarded by Marissa Schneiderman, all are welcome to participate in up to 2 additional hours of silent sitting and walking, leading into our usual morning sit and practice discussion. No registration is necessary, and you are welcome to join at any point in the schedule. A bell will be rung to indicate the transitions between sitting and walking.
We are delighted to offer another dharma book group this winter, facilitated by Joan Quinn and Liz Farmer. We’ll read Lama Rod Owens’ newly published The New Saints: From Broken Hearts to Spiritual Warriors: “Saints are ordinary and human, doing things any person can learn to do,” teaches Lama Rod Owens. “Our era calls for saints who are from this time and place, speak the language of this moment, and integrate both social and spiritual liberation. I believe we all can and must become New Saints."
Dates are set for January 25, February 8 and 22, March 7 and 21, and April 4. And with heartfelt thanks to a generous sangha member, we have extra books available, so that cost is not a barrier to anyone who would like to participate. Please indicate on the registration form if you would like a book provided.
We welcome all sangha members and their families to join our winter in-person gathering, on January 21, with much gratitude to Jean F for hosting once again at her home in Scarborough. Please bring any vegetarian snacks/food for a light early dinner. For this gathering, we'll begin with an optional meditation (inside), then chat and eat, and then we'll close the gathering together outside by the fire. Please RSVP here for the address and any weather-related updates.
Journeys of Trauma, Healing, and Forgiveness explores truth telling and story as avenues out of trauma and into healing and empowerment. We come up against the question of forgiveness when facing trauma, engaging in healing, becoming empowered, and developing a language to articulate painful life experiences. What is forgiveness (and what is forgiveness not)? Is forgiveness necessary? And are there limits to forgiveness? Each session will incorporate the Restorative Practice of creating a sacred container of safety and courage through opening and closing rituals (a moment of silence/sharing of a quote, poem, or song, followed by a check-in/-out question). In between classes, there is an (optional) invitation to journal, and access resources or readings.
8 Wednesdays, starting October 4 and ending November 29 (no class Thanksgiving week)
Location: Zoom
Journeys of Trauma, Healing, and Forgiveness explores truth telling and story as avenues out of trauma and into healing and empowerment. We come up against the question of forgiveness when facing trauma, engaging in healing, becoming empowered, and developing a language to articulate painful life experiences. What is forgiveness (and what is forgiveness not)? Is forgiveness necessary? And are there limits to forgiveness? Each session will incorporate the Restorative Practice of creating a sacred container of safety and courage through opening and closing rituals (a moment of silence/sharing of a quote, poem, or song, followed by a check-in/-out question). In between classes, there is an (optional) invitation to journal, and access resources or readings.
8 Wednesdays, starting October 4 and ending November 29 (no class Thanksgiving week)
Location: Zoom
We invite all sangha members to join our in-person fall potluck. This will be an outdoor event (weather-permitting), with family members of all ages welcome. We invite you to bring whatever food or drink items you'd like to share. We are very grateful to Jean F. for hosting at her home in Scarborough. Please RSVP here for the address and any updates.