Session Recaps

Hello Dear Friends, 

It is a true privilege to embark on this journey of practice and learning with you. May our shared study and embodiment of The Five Remembrances support us in living with greater wakefulness and intentionality.

For those who couldn't join our first gathering—or for those who simply want to revisit the highlights—we’ve put together a brief recap. Our first meeting focused on orienting ourselves to the course resources and building a collective "container" for the months ahead. With over 70 participants joining from around the world, we are deeply grateful for the energy you brought to this shared beginning.

Orientation Highlights:

Teaching Team Change:  We shared that Becky Hiller is transitioning her focus to other practice pursuits, and we are delighted to welcome Kim Neuschel to the teaching team.

Syllabus/Resources:  Please see the note below on resources.  We shared that we will not have a set list of study materials, rather we will provide a list of possible options for reflection, study, and practice.  

Practice Pods:

In the next couple of days, you will receive an email from the mahasangha email address (mahasanghapractice@gmail.com) with the names and contact information of your assigned Practice Pod, which will include 3-4 people.  While there may be different time zones represented within each group, we hope that you might reach out to your pod-mates and find ways to be in contact between sessions, whether that is through a WhatsApp messaging or meeting virtually.

Session Format:

Each session will include a combination of Zazen (silent meditation, also known as just sitting), teaching, experiential practice, and meeting in small groups.  We will also plan to engage in the practice of kinhin (walking meditation) around the midpoint of each session, to allow for a comfort break and to have a little movement to break up the two hour session.  

Zazen and Kinhin will both involve the use of a meditation bell.  

• Zazen, 3 bells to start sitting, 1 bell to end.

• Kinhin:  2 bells to start (bow on the 1st, walk on the 2nd), 1 bell to end.

Chants

Our practice will include several chants during our study sessions.  

• Opening Sitting: The Five Remembrances

• Closing Sitting: The Intention Verse

• Closing Session: The Four Practice Principles 

Relational Support in Zoom:

• We encourage everyone to keep their camera on as much as possible during the session to increase our sense of connection.  

• You may find it helpful to reorganize the squares to move people who feel relationally settling to your primary screen and/or close to your square.

The Art of Meeting:

When in breakout rooms, we invite you to practice deep listening and receptivity. Try to fully take in what is shared without the pressure of a conversational response. A simple expression of appreciation for your partner's words is a beautiful way to close each turn.  In response to feedback from the Paramitas study - we plan to offer longer time in small group discussion during sessions.

Your Practice Space:  Consider setting up your physical space to support your practice and engagement.  

Teaching & Recording:

We recorded the first session and have shared it on Youtube with links on the course website.  On the website you can find the full-length recording of the session (with the exception of time spent in breakout sessions).

You can find those recordings on the course webpage here:  https://www.mahasanghapractice.org/five-remembrances-study/session-recordings

Teaching Resources:

You can find a copy of resources that were shared during the session on the website under Session Resources:  https://www.mahasanghapractice.org/five-remembrances-study/session-resources

Deepening Practice Question:

Kim offered two questions to help us deepen our engagement with impermanence in our lives:  

A Reflection for the Month Ahead: 

• How is the ‘heavenly messenger’ of impermanence showing up in your life right now?

• And what is it telling you?

Resources for Reflection and Practice:

In preparing for this journey, we realized that the "curriculum" for the Five Remembrances is already present all around us—in the art we consume, the music we hear, the stories we share, and everyday life experiences. Rather than following a single text, we have gathered a diverse collection of articles, books, dharma talks, poems, and films to support your engagement.  We invite you to choose one or more of these entry points to deepen your exploration of impermanence.

Here are a few optional "entry points" to get you started:

• Article:  Koun Franz - Buddhism’s “Five Remembrances” Are Wake-Up Calls for Us All

• Article:  Impermanence in Buddha Nature https://www.lionsroar.com/impermanence-is-buddha-nature/

• Video Clip:  Molly is Taught the Process of Dying https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8a0pUaCGQU

• Book:  Frank Ostaseski - The Five Invitations

• Book: Susan Moon - Alive Until You’re Dead

There are many other options available on the website (link below in "where to find it").

Our Invitation to You: If you encounter a resource that resonates with your practice or offers a fresh perspective on impermanence, we invite you to share it with us. Whether it is a piece of music, a podcast interview, or a meaningful video clip, your discovery could deeply support the practice of our entire community.

• How to contribute: Simply email your suggestion to mahasanghapractice@gmail.com.

• Where to find it: We will add these contributions to our course website so the "curriculum" can continue to grow through our collective wisdom.  https://sites.google.com/view/paramitas-study/five-remembrances-study/entry-points-for-reflection

Thank you:

Thank you for the generosity of your presence and for the ways that you showed up to share and support one another in this study.

For those who were not able to attend this first session, thank you for signing up to participate in this course and for being with us in spirit today.  Your belonging is not lessened by not being able to attend the first session (or any subsequent sessions).

We hope that the month ahead allows an opportunity to connect with one or more of the resources and be present to impermanence in your life.

We are excited to support the learning and practice of this group and we are available for questions, concerns, or clarification at mahasanghapractice@gmail.com.  

May our intention equally permeate every being and place with the true merit of Buddha’s Way.

With kindness, 

Jessica, Kim, Ryan, Shelley, and Trudy 

Coming in March 2026

Hello Dear Friends, 

This past Saturday we continued our exploration of the Five Remembrances with a focus on Change and Transition - Health, Aging, and Lacuna (the space between).  This is a recap for  those who couldn't join our gathering—or for those who simply want to revisit the highlights. 

Welcome:
Kim welcomed all to the MahaSangha space, noting that Ryan is unable to be with us today.  He sends his love and care.

Kim reminded us that our theme today is Change and Transition with attention to how these human experiences manifest in our own life and bodies.  She shared that she was clearing some pruned cherry tree branches from her yard and noticed that the dead branches were flowering.  It was like a Zen koan in her backyard - Dead or Alive?  How is it, in this moment, that life is bursting forward and there is also death?  She also relayed that in preparation for the upcoming Open Door Zen Community retreat she has been chanting the heart sutra.  In particular, she shared this line from the Heart Sutra - Boundlessness is free of old age and death, and free of the end of old age and death; and, explained that she had been using a drum with the heart sutra - as a heart beat.  The teaching team thought this would be a meaningful practice to share with the MahaSangha gathering. First, we were invited to sit in Zazen and watch life pouring in and life pouring out; the closeness of birth and death. 

After the sit, Jessica chanted the Heart Sutra with drum accompaniment.  Individuals were invited to join the chant or to just listen and take it in. When you listened, how did this resonate for you? 

Teaching:
Trudy contemplated about how much we contribute to our well-being and our suffering.  There is the illness (what is happening) and then there is the sickness (the additional meaning that is added by ourselves or by society). She described the additional meaning as “the second arrow”.  The things we do that make our experience more painful or difficult.  She shared the story of an injury and her initial responses and then what shifted for her as her stance shifted towards one of curiosity.  What she discovered was the qualitative difference between suffering and pain.

Trudy shared a number of perspectives on illness and sickness from several sources.  The book, Grace and Grit, outlines options that influence how we experience illness, old age, and change resonate.  She encouraged us to take the backwards step and move away from the historical, cultural and societal narratives that we sometimes inhabit.  She acknowledged that it is really hard to grow old or be unwell. She referenced Choygam Trumpa when asked about his illness, describing it as - “It’s all alright and it fucking hurts.” She reflected on a koan from the Book of Serenity case 94 about Dongshan; encouraged us to live life through the lens of gratitude like Myogen Steve Stucky, from the SFZC; and, shared a quote from  Suzuki Roshi about Big Mind.  

Trudy asked us to consider:

• Can we inhabit a place within us where both of these are true?  

• What are our second arrows?  

• How can we use our time on the cushion to really notice them? 

• Can we embrace the realm of our Buddha nature?  

• Can our practice help us lean into Big Mind while still taking care of and cherishing this body?

Jessica reflected on the line “taking care of what is most immediate”.  She shared that she has been sick this month and had the opportunity to study habit patterns around stopping and resting.  She noticed her body’s response to the definitions offered from the Grace and Grit book.  She has also been thinking of ways in which illness is an initiation for her, telling a story of returning to work too quickly after surgery.  She learned that rushing to fix something without taking “the pause” can have a lasting impact.   

Kim responded with an awareness that she may not be conscious of beliefs she has around illness, sickness and aging. She reflected on her experience of breast cancer and the new understanding that the “second arrow” wasn’t the illness, it was that she felt alone. As someone who prided herself on self-reliance, it was disorienting to discover that this no longer worked and she needed to be dependent. She had to surrender to receiving from the doctors and nurses, etc.  Recently while listening to another talk about the Five Remembrances, she came upon a teacher who said, “I think there's a sixth remembrance - it is that we are of the nature to need care.”  For Kim, that was the healthiest, most beautiful lesson. We are never going it alone.

Shelley shared that she has the very great privilege of working in a Rehabilitation Hospital with people bringing their bodies back from accidents and surgeries.  She sees resilience in motion every day.  She continued by telling the story of her cousin who broke his back in a skiing accident in his early twenties and his life fundamentally changed.  At that time, he would not have been able to imagine what happened to him this year.  He was invited to join the Canadian Paralympic Curling team and they won gold.  Shelley is able to witness his and his team’s effervescent joy, their commitment to community, love of curling and sport.  It reminded her that anything is possible at any moment, even when it seems like nothing is possible. 

Experiential Reflections:

Writing and Art - Create a mind map of something around these topics, it might be illness or aging, and have a central image or question, then allow yourself to draw all of the lines and layers that make up your ideas/beliefs/experiences. You can use words or images, colours, different sizes; to indicate their weight..

Movement and Somatics - The invitation was to become aware of the story you carry about health/illness and aging.  People were invited to locate the story in their body- step back from the story; explore the area by placing a hand on it; invite the story into this hand; place the story down in front of them- discover its density, shape, and colour; discover if they wanted to change the story; and finally choose to either step away from the story, step back into the story or a revised version, or hold the story as it is for more study.  

Teaching & Recording:

We recorded the session and have shared it on Youtube with links on the course website.  On the website you can find the full-length recording of the session (with the exception of time spent in breakout sessions).

You can find those recordings on the course webpage here:  https://www.mahasanghapractice.org/five-remembrances-study/session-recordings

Teaching Resources:

You can find a copy of resources that were shared during the session on the website under Session Resources:  https://www.mahasanghapractice.org/five-remembrances-study/session-resources

Deepening Practice Question:

Jessica offered that next month’s offering will be around relationship, love and karma. Every moment is a relationship and every relationship is a moment of karma in motion.  These moments are shaped by what we do, by the state of being that we are bringing, and by the interaction itself.  She offered us a practice prompt for this month: What does love feel like in my body just before it becomes action? 

Resources for Reflection and Practice:

As with our last session, we recognize that the "curriculum" for the Five Remembrances is already present all around us—in the art we consume, the music we hear, the stories we share, and everyday life experiences. Rather than following a single text, we have gathered a diverse collection of articles, books, dharma talks, poems, and films to support your engagement.  We invite you to choose one or more of these entry points to deepen your exploration of impermanence.

There are many optional "entry points" to get you started on the website(link below in "where to find it"). 

Our Invitation to You: If you encounter a resource that resonates with your practice or offers a fresh perspective on impermanence, we invite you to share it with us. Whether it is a piece of music, a podcast interview, or a meaningful video clip, your discovery could deeply support the practice of our entire community.

• How to contribute: Simply email your suggestion to mahasanghapractice@gmail.com.

• Where to find it: We will add these contributions to our course website so the "curriculum" can continue to grow through our collective wisdom.  https://sites.google.com/view/paramitas-study/five-remembrances-study/entry-points-for-reflection

Thank you:

Thank you for the generosity of your presence and for the ways that you showed up to share and support one another in this study.

For those who were not able to attend this third session, thank you for signing up to participate in this course and for being with us in spirit today.  Your belonging is not lessened by not being able to attend this session (or any subsequent sessions).

We hope that the month ahead allows an opportunity to connect with one or more of the resources and be present to relationships and karma in your life.

We are excited to support the learning and practice of this group and we are available for questions, concerns, or clarification at mahasanghapractice@gmail.com.  

May our intention equally permeate every being and place with the true merit of Buddha’s Way.

With kindness, 

Jessica, Kim, Ryan, Shelley, and Trudy 

Coming in May 2026

Coming in June 2026