Sunday, May 6, 10:30 am – 4:30 pm

This is Wesak Day- the biggest day of the year in Buddhism, where we observe the Buddha’s birth, enlightenment and death! Brian will give a talk on this plus we will have our usual balance of, silent walking, sitting and metta meditation, with some guided meditations and discussions. You are free to use your own techniques. Please bring a pot-luck lunch to share if you are staying for lunch. Expect to sit for 30 – 45 minutes at a time. Beginners are welcome but they should know that the meditation times are longer than in my courses so this is more suitable for meditators with at least some experience. If you prefer to sit on the floor, please kindly bring your own sitting gear (meditation mat and cushion/bench). Plenty of chairs are available.

LOCATION
Twin Rainbows Co-op, 1465 Lamey’s Mill Road, Vancouver
Buzz 57 not #57 – for 5th floor lounge, Tel: 604-739-1465
near the entrance to Granville Island. You are free to come for just part of the day if need to. You can plan for the pot-luck lunch around 1:00 – 2:00 pm so you can easily come or go during that time. Our host, in the building, is Jesse, buzz 19 if needed.

CONTACT
For questions please email Brian at brian@theravada.ca or phone him at 604-738-8475. At the retreat he will have his cell on, only before the start: 778-232-2282. Websites: theravada.ca www.meetup.com/vancouvermeditation/

BY DONATION (DANA)
This retreat is by generous donation (dana). The retreat is offered in accord with the tradition that the dhamma teachings and practice together is considered priceless and offered freely. Donations in the donation basket are gratefully accepted to support the continuation of these retreats in the future so please give generously. Dana is the Buddhist practice of extending generosity in gratitude for the teachings.

PARKING: Ask for details to be emailed but there is free parking all day on Sunday’s on Lamey’s Mill Road, including its small parking lots.

“Good books on the Dharma are not that easy to come by, unfortunately. Sure, there are a plethora of publications and websites that are about Theravada Buddhism, for example, but most are riddled with platitudes or misconceptions, even about basic Buddhist ideas likekarma and rebirth (see below). Ruhe’s book A Short Walk on an Ancient Path is a refreshing antidote to much of these somewhat poisonous misrepresentations of the Buddha’s teaching. And, as it states in its subtitle, it is A Buddhist Exploration of Meditation, Karma and Rebirth, some of the essential doctrines of Buddhism.”

“…Brian Ruhe has written an excellent introduction to Theravada Buddhism; its central teachings are found in the book, and there are extremely useful meditation guides as well. And it is all presented in a clear and precise manner, which makes it all immensely accessible to both longterm Buddhists and newbies. I sincerely believe that this book can assist its reader to develop the insight and skills necessary to enlightenment, and, as he has an excellent website as well, Brian Ruhe is available for further advice on the ancient path of the Buddha.”

The complete review of “A Short Walk on an Ancient Path“.

Location:

Braithwaite Community Centre
145 West 1st Street, North Vancouver

To register call (604) 987-7529
Cost: $38.00 (Nov, 23, 30 and Dec 7th)

Google Calendar Event

Check out the complete Poster.

More details can be found at the Birken Forest Monastery

I led a Buddhist weekend retreat in Monterrey, Mexico and it was a success. Some photos and videos are posted on my Picasa.com and Facebook pages. They invited me because the two organizers of the retreat are taking an online course with the International Buddhist College in Thailand. The IBC course has a section on Rebirth where they have a “Watch and Listen” section recommending my You Tube video called “Karma and Rebirth in Theravadin Buddhism by Brian Ruhe.” Alejandra Trevino is an acupuncturist and she works with Dr. Mariano Ramos who is a psychiatrist, an astrologer, an ex-Catholic monk and a man of wide knowledge. He has been teaching their group the Course in Miracles and now many were interested in Buddhism but some left who were not. They emailed me, then we talked on the phone and then I started teaching them by Skype and they invited me to come to Monterrey to lead a weekend retreat.

I flew down, stopping in Houston where a storm delayed my flight out for two hours. I took some cool photos and a video on my iPad 2 of 20 planes waiting in high winds to take off. Houston always gets storms like that. I was happy to arrive in Monterrey and Alejandra and her husband Marcello hosted me. She was the one I relied on and she graciously took care of every little detail for me. She’s a princess and they also have three kids. Their city is beautiful and surrounded by mountains. All of the 20 retreatants were very concerned about the drug cartel violence in their area which claims about 15 lives per day and has left them living in tension. Alejandra was impressed that I put my trust in them and went there. Our retreat was held in Alejandra’s beautiful clinic on a mountainside.

The Mexicans had many questions so I consulted with the co-host, Mariano, who also translated, about what to do. He suggested that it would be better not to give a lecture and then hold for questions so we allowed them to interrupt and ask questions anytime. This worked great! They went 35 minutes overtime before lunch before we noticed the time; they were really engaged. Afterwards they were impressed by the law of karma and still had many questions. Some worried about karma and some were kept up at night thinking about it. It was a new discovery for some of them because of the depth of the karma subject and our discussions.

On Friday we meditated for 25 minutes at a time and 45 minutes at once on Saturday. They found this too tough so we did 20 minutes, two or three times, on Sunday plus walking meditation for 15 minutes. We planned a Vipassana meditation retreat with talks around meditation and cautiously introducing some Buddhist concepts, like karma and rebirth. But we changed the retreat dramatically by turning it into a study retreat. They loved it and their written evaluations were very positive and supportive.

I felt very good at the retreat, as I do at most classes. Most were about my age, 40′s and 50′s. Two thirds were women, married with children. Some were spiritually advanced. It felt like something powerful and wholesome came together within our group. This was the first time they had a Theravadin course and I wanted to plant that seed and help it to grow. I had some missionary zeal to establish the Theravada tradition.

Mariano is a great guy with a most impressive intellect and memory. His translation work is not an easy thing to do. On Saturday we started off with over an hour on Buddhist history and they were thankful to find out the truth and the difference between the traditions. On Sunday we did a 20 minute meditation then the four noble truths and then the eightfold path. After lunch we did walking meditation for 15 minutes and then we devoted about two hours to karma and rebirth for the finale. That was the best part for them perhaps, and me too, and we made some short videos on my iPad 2. The photos are very nice too.

We talked about planning another visit. They will discuss with the class what they would like to do next. I could plan anotherretreat concept for just a weekend, but not longer than that. They’re not ready for five days just yet. Alejandra wrote to me the next day, “Hi Brian!!! Thank you for your trust in us and thank you for sharing with us last weekend, especially with my family… All students are very happy talking about the retreat… Much metta… Alejandra.” Mariano wrote to me the next day, “We are deeply thankful and edified by your visit and testimony of a committed life to truth and honesty and transparency.”

–

Brian Ruhe author of | A Short Walk On An Ancient Path and Freeing the Buddha

www.theravada.ca     | brian@theravada.ca

I would like to thank Johnny Stork of Open Enterprise Solutions for generously donating his time and expertise to build the new site and to help getting things social-media friendly. I hope you enjoy the new site and new features.

Although we have released the new site to the public, it is still a work in progress and not all content from the old site has been completely migrated. I also hope to clean up, edit and possibly expand on existing content so if you find any problems with the site, or have any suggestions, please let me know by sending a message from the Contact Page.

Brian Ruhe

Brian has taught Buddhist Philosophy and Mediation to thousands of students at various Buddhist Temples, local colleges and community centers.  He has been offering weekend meditation retreats in Aldergrove BC and can  be reached through email, telephone or regular mail through the Contact page. You can also find Brian’s current course and retreat schedule here.