The Port Townsend Sangha

You Are Invited

To a Day-long

Meditation Retreat

Led by Steve Wilhelm

Of Seattle Insight

Meditation Society

Saturday, April 19th from 9 AM to 4:30 PM

In person at the Port Townsend Friends Meetinghouse

Online via Zoom

Equanimity – No Enemies – Even in Trying Times

This daylong program includes teachings, walking and sitting meditation, and discussion opportunities in small groups and in the larger gathering.

Steve writes:  The Buddha always saw the potential for full awakening and compassion in every being, no matter how difficult their actions.  In this way, he approached every being with equanimity and loving kindness and in his heart he had no enemies.  For this daylong, we bring these teachings into 2025, in very alive and visceral ways.  We will explore how to find equanimity and a kind heart and to demonize nobody, despite difficult conditions.

Steve has offered valuable presentations and conducted retreats for the Port Townsend Sangha for several years. Here is more information about Steve and his work.  

Registration and Dana

Due to space limitations, registration is required for in-person attendance. Please Register Here.

Registration is not required to attend via Zoom. To participate on Zoom, go to this link after 8:45 AM on the day of the retreat. 

There is no charge for this event. If you would like to make a donation to support Steve’s work, you can use his PayPal link. If you prefer to make a donation in person, dana baskets for Steve or the Sangha will be at the door. All are welcome regardless of donations.

Please join us on Zoom 

7 PM on April 23rd, for

Meditation, Discussion,

And a Dharma Talk by

Dr. Judith Blackstone

Here is the link to this online gathering

After 30 minutes of meditation, we will listen to a  conversation with Dr. Judith Blackstone and Ryan Oelke of Buddhist Geeks on Embodying Nondual Awakening.  They discuss various aspects of what it means to embody nonduality, including different views on nonduality and how to practice and live a path of embodied nondual awakening.  Dr. Blackstone’s book, The Fullness of the Ground: A Guide to Embodied Awakening is a focus of this talk.  You can preview the talk here.

Ryan Oelke is a Leadership Coach, meditation and Dharma teacher.

Judith Blackstone studied with many teachers in the Hindu traditions as well as the Zen and Tibetan Buddhist traditions.  She was in residence at a Zen monastery for a year and has received teachings over the past three decades in the Mahamudra and Dzog-chen paths of Tibetan Buddhism.  She is a contemporary spiritual teacher, psychotherapist, founder of The Realization Process, and author of The Fullness of the Ground: A Guide to Embodied Awakening. 

Please join us on Zoom

7 PM on April 30th, for

Meditation, and a Dharma

Talk by Robert Thurman

Here is the link to this online gathering

After 30 minutes of meditation, we will listen to a conversation with Robert Thurman and Scott Snipe from the How to Train a Happy Mind podcast.  In this episode, Robert talks about his new book “Wisdom is Bliss”.  We learn why the Buddha was an educator and scientist, not a religious prophet.  They also discuss why Buddhism isn’t a belief system, but a direct experience that reveals the pure beauty and joy of reality itself.  You can preview the talk here.

Robert (Bob) Thurman was the first Westerner Tibetan Buddhist monk ordained by the Dalai Lama.  The New York Times named him the leading American expert on Tibetan Buddhism.  Bob was awarded the Padma Shri Award in 2020 for his help in recovering India’s ancient Buddhist heritage.  In 1997, Time Magazine chose him as one of the 25 most influential Americans “destined to convey the Dharma, the precious teachings of Shakyamuni Buddha, from Asia to America.”

Author and podcast host Scott Snipe has been a student of Tibetan Buddhism for 25 years.

You Are Invited to Attend

Meditation and  Discussion

At 7 PM in Port Townsend

Each Monday at the Friends

The sangha gathers each Monday, at the Friends Meeting House on the corner of Sheridan and 19th Streets in Port Townsend, WA.

The subject matter of dharma talks is chosen, and discussions are led by volunteers on topics most often related to insight meditation (vipassana).

We 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 – for socializing. At 8 PM, dharma talks, presentations and discussions begin.

More information on the weekly format is found here. All are welcome.

Dana is charitable giving. Each year, members of the Port Townsend Sangha contribute time and funds to organizations providing services to the most vulnerable members of our community with the goal of reducing suffering among the area’s most  at-risk populations.

In 2024, donations were made to Dove House,  Jumping Mouse and Bayside Housing, offering counseling, shelter, support for children and services to the homeless and others in need. For more information on Sangha charitable donations, please contact us.

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.

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 here.

Information on these events is posted on this website and is sent to our mailing list.

One-day meditation retreats are offered the Sangha in person and on Zoom. There is no charge to attend.

Information on these events will be posted here, and Zoom meeting invitations will be sent to our mailing list or may be obtained by writing us.  More information is here.

There are other current opportunities for Vipassana and Dharma Study and Meditation in or around Port Townsend.

Below are some suggestions and additional links.

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