Events
The Perfection of Patience
Fridays December 5, 12, 19 (no meeting 26)
This month we study Chapter 3, “The Perfection of Patience,” in The World Could Be Otherwise: Imagination and the Bodhisattva Path. Does Patience transform your experience of hardship or difficulty?
We will meet hybrid December 5 for Buddha’s Enlightenment Day. Online only December 12 and 19. See you again on January 9, 2026 for “Joyful Effort.”
Friday Morning Meetings
Online & In-Person
8 -9:30am PDT
Link: Join On Zoom
Meeting ID: 868 2409 2647
Passcode: heartzen
In our Friday morning meetings, we focus on a different Dharma text every few months, and engage in informal discussions that offer opportunities to share the teachings with each other.
Every week begins with sitting and chanting a Buddhist well-being service, followed by Dharma talks or panel conversations, breakout groups and participant discussions.
December 2025
The World Could Be Otherwise: Imagination and the Bodhisattva Path
by Norman Fischer
“Spiritual practice is one of the key sites of Imagination… It leaps from the known to the unknown, soaring beyond facts to visions and intensities… It plays in the deep end, where heart and love hold sway.”
In December we are reading Chapter 4 about Kshanti Paramita, The Perfection of Patience.
“Patience is the most important of all the Bodhisattva practices because without it all the others will eventually fail.”
This is a book of Norman’s lovely everyday teachings on the Buddha’s Six Perfections (Paramitas) — Generosity, Ethical Conduct, Patience, Joyful Effort, Meditation, and Understanding. We will be reading approximately one chapter a month through March, 2026.
Reading Aloud Group
Monday, December 8
New! Online
3 – 4:30pm (PT)
In-person location TBA
Link: Join On Zoom
Meeting ID: 868 2409 2647
Passcode: heartzen
To explore and learn more about creating compassionate community, we offer a spiritual reading group now in person and online (together) on the second Monday of each month.
We gather, sit for a few minutes, read to each other for 20-30 minutes from The Serviceberry, and then share in a discussion. Bring a cup of tea!
Fall 2025: Read With Us!
The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity In The Natural World
by Robin Kimmerer
“What if our metrics for well-being included birdsong, the crescendo of crickets on a summer evening, and neighbors calling to each other across the road?.”