The Port Townsend Sangha

Welcome to the Port Townsend Sangha

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The Port Townsend Sangha website provides information on Meditation, Fellowship and Dharma Study opportunities in Port Townsend, Washington. While our focus is on Vipassana, or Insight Meditation, all who wish to meditate or who are interested in the dharma are welcome at all announced events. Weekly program information is found below.

The Port Townsend Sangha is an informal, leaderless, volunteer-driven, peer-led group. It’s members include all seekers interested in the Buddhist path. Sangha members and friends have gathered weekly for over 22 years.

The sangha hosts its weekly meetings at 7 PM each Wednesday on Zoom and in-person on Monday evenings at 7 PM at the Friends Meetinghouse in Port Townsend.

Visit this website or subscribe to the newsletter for the latest information and for links to Zoom events. More information on our programs is found here. If you have questions, please email us.

CURRENT EVENTS

WEDNESDAY MEDITATION: The Sangha meets every Wednesday evening at 7 PM on Zoom to meditate, listen to a dharma talk, and to discuss our practice. Weekly details are found below.

MONDAY MEDITATION: Meditators gather in person Monday evenings at 7 PM at the Friends Meetinghouse. Details are below. Responsible distancing is maintained to promote public health.

RETREATS and DAYS OF MINDFULNESS: The Sangha has a history of offering weekend and daylong retreats. When offered, these are announced below and by email to subscribers.

CHANT: At the start of meditation, we often play the devotional chant known as the Salutation to the Buddha. A recording and the words of the chant may be found here.

NEWSLETTER: A weekly newsletter is sent to subscribers with the link to the Wednesday Zoom meetings and information on current events and programs.

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Wednesday, October 4th Meditation, Dharma Talk, Discussion

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Please Join Us Wednesday,

October 4th at 7 PM

For Meditation, Discussion

And a Dharma Talk

By Thich Nhat Hanh

The sangha meets weekly for 30 minutes of meditation and a dharma talk followed by an open conversation. A link to the meeting is sent to our mailing list.

After meditation we will watch a Dharma talk from Thich Nhat Hanh.

It may be previewed here.

This talk is part of a 2011 US Teaching Tour with the theme “Cultivating the Mind of Love” at the Magnolia Grove Monastery in Mississippi. Thich Nhat Hanh answers questions from the audience. We will listen to a portion of the talk where he answers questions from teenagers and adults, but you might enjoy listening to the beginning of the talk where he answers questions from children.

For most of you, Thich Nhat Hahn needs no introduction. With over 50 books, he is certainly prolific. All of them are remarkably readable, always poignant, abounding in citta, Pali for heart/mind. Thich Nhat Hahn was a Vietnamese Thien Buddhist monk, peace activist, author, poet. He founded the Plum Village Tradition, based in France but now with 11 monasteries worldwide. The tradition is historically recognized as the main impetus for engaged Buddhism; Thich Nhat Hahn is referred to by some as “the father of mindfulness” in the west. After a 39 year exile, Thich Nhat Hahn was permitted to visit Vietnam in 2005. In 2018, he returned to his “root temple,” Tu Hieu Temple, near Hue, where he lived until his death in 2022, at the age of 95.

We hope you can attend this event.

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Monday Meditation at the Port Townsend Friends

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You Are Invited to Join Us

Monday at 7 PM for

Meditation & Discussion at

Friends Meeting House

More information on the weekly format is found here. The subject matter of dharma talks is chosen, and discussions are led by volunteers on topics most often related to insight meditation (vipassana).

The Friends Meeting House is on the corner of Sheridan and 19th Streets in Port Townsend, WA.

People arrive silently before 7 PM, begin mediation at 7 PM. After about 20 minutes, a bell rings, as a signal for who wish begin walking meditation. The group takes a break for tea at 7:40 – with socializing in the large meeting room. At 8 PM, dharma talks, presentations and discussions begin. A volunteer signup sheet is passed around before adjournment at 9:00. All are welcome.

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The Sangha Lending Library

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The PT Sangha Library shares space with the Quaker’s Library at the Friends Meetinghouse. It is open on Monday evenings when the Sangha meets.

We have a wide variety of books on Buddhism, Buddhist practice, meditation and other spiritual traditions.

Search Our Library Collection Online

Learn more about how the library works at the the Lending Library.

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Service and Dana

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Dana is charitable giving. Every year, members of the Port Townsend Sangha contribute time and funds to support services for the most vulnerable members of our community. In 2023, Sangha volunteers purchased food, donated funds and prepared meals to support Port Townsend’s Winter Shelter Program.

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Port Townsend Sangha’s Nonresidential Weekend Retreats

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The Port Townsend Sangha conducts non-residential weekend retreats with visiting teachers live in person and on Zoom. Information on the Sangha’s Retreat Program is found h ere.

Invitations for future retreats will be sent to our mailing list.

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