February 2022

Ask an AT

Do you have questions about your practice that you'd like to ask an assistant teacher? Email your questions to at-questions@ca.us.dhamma.org. Please avoid theoretical or philosophical questions.

Please include your phone number and the best time to reach you. Depending on their relevance for a general audience, questions and answers may also be published in the "Ask an Assistant Teacher" column in the tri-annual California newsletter without any personally identifying details.

Please note that it can sometimes take up to a week or ten days for us to get back to students who send questions to Ask an AT. This is because we have a pool of ATs who answer the questions and not everyone is available right away. Also, once we get a question, we put a lot of thought into it. Please know that we will always get back to you.

We wish you and all people on the planet the best of health in this time and that your equanimity continues to grow through the trials you may be facing.

Q&A Archive:
http://www.mahavana.dhamma.org/os/qa/
(Username:oldstudent, Password: behappy)

This month's Questions:
1. It feels stuck and I can't move my mind back up.

Bay Area Vipassana Activities
(East Bay, South Bay and San Francisco)

Special Announcement

Recently, the committee working on getting the permit to develop the Bay Area Vipassana Center has reached out to the old student community living in Santa Clara. The committee has asked Santa Clara old students to write emails or letters to the County Planners in support of the project. You may have received an email about this if you live, work, vote, or own property in Santa Clara County. The committee sent around 3,500 emails to this group, but only about 220 emails and 7 letters have been sent to the County in response to the email request.

Your participation in this community effort is necessary and appreciated. BAVC is encouraging individual members of a household to send separate letters or emails of support. Letters can be from both old students and from non-old students as well. The more emails or letters of support that the Planning Commission receives, the more likely they will approve our project because the messages provide an important counterbalance to neighborhood opposition to our project.

Please check your SPAM folder if you haven’t seen this message. To search for this message in your Inbox, look for the title: Letter of Support for BAVC Project #PLN20-0003. If you did not receive this email and live in Santa Clara County, you might contact us at support@santosa.dhamma.org for more information on how to write a message and where to send it.

Center Landscaping and Maintenance Update - Dead Tree Removal

A couple months ago, the Landscaping team noticed a large tree had fallen in the middle portion of the property. The tree stood near to where the Center’s future Dhamma Hall will likely be located.

Pictured below: Committee servers attempt to drag the fallen tree off of the property.

As pictured in the photo above, efforts were made to remove the tree by dragging it off with a truck. However, the attempt proved to be unsuccessful. Subsequent attempts will involve cutting the deadwood into smaller pieces.

Pictures of the Center land

Pictured below: View from inside the Center looking out.

Pictured below: This photo was taken during one of the first work days The area pictured is the northeastern border. Servers are pictured here planting shrubs which will create a natural border between the property and the public road.

Bay Area Dhamma Service Opportunities

There are many opportunities to provide Dhamma service for BAVC from home. You can help with developing Dhamma Santosa, help the Outreach Committee in its various efforts, explore opportunities on the Finance and Landscaping Committee, and much more.

Fill out the Bay Area Dhamma Service Form with your skills and interests, and we will personally get in touch with you.

Note, this form is not an application to serve or sit a course.

Specific Bay Area Announcements

If you live in the Bay Area and would like to receive emails to stay informed of the different Vipassana activities, as well as service opportunities, special events, and children's courses, you can subscribe by sending an email to:

San Francisco Events
announce-sfvh-subscribe@lists.santosa.dhamma.org

South Bay Events
announce-sbvh-subscribe@lists.santosa.dhamma.org

East Bay Events
announce-ebvh-subscribe@lists.santosa.dhamma.org

Santa Cruz Events
announce-sc-subscribe@lists.santosa.dhamma.org

Children's and Teens' Courses
announce-cc-subscribe@lists.santosa.dhamma.org

To stay informed of Vipassana activities and developments in the Bay Area, follow the Bay Area Vipassana Trust on Facebook or Twitter, or Instagram.

BAVC | NCVC | CVC | SCVC | Group Sittings

Best wishes,

California Vipassana eNewsletter Coordinators.

Northern California Vipassana Center
P.O.Box 265
Cobb, CA 95426-0265
Ph: 707-928-9981
Email

California Vipassana Center

P.O. Box 1167
North Fork, CA 93643
Ph: 559-876-8760
Email

Southern California Vipassana Center
P.O. Box 486
Joshua Tree, CA 92252
Ph: 760-362-4615
Email

Intermountain Vipassana Center

P.O. Box 5952
Ketchum, ID, 83340
Ph: 208-622-1552
Email

This notice is sent to old students of Vipassana as taught by S.N. Goenka in the North American Old Student Contact Database. You may also receive occasional messages from centers and newsletters via this database.