Classes and Workshops

Classes are offered by members of the community covering various aspects of Buddhism and meditation practice. The classes listed below are offered periodically. 

Types of class enrollment

• Drop-in. You may attend any class session.
• Registration is required. Watch for an email notice of the enrollment period, containing instructions on how to sign up.
  

Please contact the teacher or facilitator with any questions or to show interest in the class. Showing interest in a class may make it happen sooner!

A Year To Live

a monthly, yearlong class series

Susan Quinones

This class is a yearlong practice in using death... and life, as an object of contemplation to help us awaken to the fleeting and precious nature of our lives. Through inquiry and group discussions, and with the support of community, participants are guided through a process of living for a year as if it were our last.

The class is facilitated by Susan Quinones, a member of White Heron Sangha and registered nurse trained in Hospice and End of Life Care.

As a reference, the class uses Stephen Levine’s book, A Year to Live: How to Live This Year as if it Were Your Last.

Contact: Susan Quinones with questions. The 2023 class is now full.

Becoming Tara

a 4 week workshop

James Coleman

Tara is the embodiment of enlightened mind, a manifestation of our own deepest wisdom.  In this group, simple practices are performed together that help to connect us with her awakened wisdom and to manifest her love and power in our daily lives.

The visualization of the female Buddha Tara not only builds concentration, it helps balance our female and male energies, and helps free us from the limitations of our deluded sense of self. 

Everyone is welcome, including newcomers.

Contact: James Coleman with questions.

Being Mindful of Race

an 8 session series

Alice Reinheimer and Susan Quinones

This course focuses on putting our Buddhist practice to work to uncover how racism works in interpersonal and systemic ways. In it, we examine our personal history, our collective history as North Americans and our present institutions and systems in order to learn to recognize where we stand in relation to race and can more mindfully inform our decisions.  
 
The course work includes eight self-paced meetings intended for groups of 3-4 people. The Being Mindful of Race curriculum is available on the website bmor.us. It has readings, videos and podcasts for each session, along with the meeting agenda and discussion questions.
 
In 2016, Alice Reinheimer and Susan Quinones went through the WAIC-UP program this series is based on. Alice went on to partner in modifying the curriculum for Unitarian Universalism and presented it at UUSLO in 2017.  She also co-facilitated the program, “Beloved Conversations” at UUSLO in 2019. Both Alice and Susan are long time Buddhist practitioners and supporters of the White Heron Sangha. 

Core Buddhism

a 5 week series

Rosemary Donnell

“The Core of the Buddha’s Path and Its Relation to Meditation” is the full name of this series, which focuses on the most basic of the Buddha’s teachings: The Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path, with a particular focus on mindfulness meditation.

Classes are usually held on Wednesday or Thursday evenings from 6:00pm to 8:15pm (with a 15 minute break).  This series is suitable for both beginners and those with experience.  The class is taught by and meets in the home of Rosemary Donnell, and is limited to 10 participants. In the future some series may be scheduled to meet at the White Heron Sangha Meditation Center. Those would be limited to 15. 

Since it is in a private home, this class is not advertised publicly -- Rosemary maintains her own “want class” e-mail list.  To be put on that list, contact Rosemary at the link below.  Being added to the list is not the same as registering for the class.  It means that, until you ask to be removed from the list, you will be notified of each five-week class and how to register. The series is usually held one to two times per year and the notifications are sent out four to six weeks before the class starts.

Rosemary is a founding member of the White Heron Sangha; a graduate of Spirit Rock’s first Community Dharma Leader Program (06/1997 to 01/2000).  She has taught a form of this class since October, 1997.

Contact: Rosemary Donnell

Metta: The Path To Peace

a 4 week series

Mick Malotte

Metta, the Pali word for kindheartedness, grows from our innate human capacity for caring and connection. It can be cultivated as a powerful support for well-being, joy, stability of mind, and the deepening of our meditation practice.

In this class series, we will explore a range of techniques for developing kindness, as well as ways to navigate the obstacles that often get in the way of living with more ease, happiness, and peace.

Mick’s passion is in making deep rooted mindfulness practices accessible, relevant, and helpful to those engaged in modern life in order to lessen distress and bring well-being and joy.  He has been practicing and studying mediation for 30 years, mostly in the Insight and Mahamudra traditions.  He is married, has two children, two grandchildren and is a retired physician. 

Contact: Mick Malotte with questions.

The Three Turnings of the Wheel of Dharma: An Introduction to Buddhism

a 6 week series

James Coleman

Buddhism has been a living tradition for more than two thousand years, and this class will examine each of the three great “turnings of the wheel of Dharma” from a contemporary 21st century perspective.  We will use short excerpts from the great sutras, three core chapters from my book The Buddha’s Dream of Liberation: Freedom, Emptiness, and Awakened Nature, and group discussions of our own personal experience to explore the theory and practice of Buddhism, and how we can bring them into our hectic modern lives. This class is suitable both for beginners and more advanced practitioners.  The class will meet once a week for six weeks, and will be held two or three times a year depending on demand.  For more information contact James at the link below.

James has a Ph.D. from the University of California, Santa Barbara and specializes in the sociology of religion.  He has published numerous books and articles including The New Buddhism (Oxford University Press) and most recently The Buddha’s Dream of Liberation: Freedom, Emptiness, and Awakened Nature (Wisdom Publications).  He is a founding member of the White Heron Sangha and a graduate of the Sukhasiddhi Foundation’s Community Dharma Leader program.   His root teachers include Toni Packer, Reb Anderson Roshi, Lama Palden Drolma and Rose Taylor Goldfield.

Contact: James Coleman