The whites of her eyes rolled up like a saint
in a filmed drama of staged yogic bliss,
then her head turned and showed it was not paint
that guttered out. The sniper did not miss,
in spite of Neda's black Persian Hijab,
the perfect placing of his pervert's kiss,
but he was just doing his Basij job;
the street was not the place for their complaint.
Religion is the robed disguise of thugs,
whether snipers on the roofs shooting girls,
Taliban buying guns by selling drugs,
West Bank settlers with their Uzis and curls
stealing wells with walls and Adonai's will,
who gave them the land and license to kill.

The whites of her eyes rolled up like a saint
in a filmed drama of staged yogic bliss,
then her head turned and showed it was not paint
that guttered out. The sniper did not miss,
in spite of Neda's black Persian Hijab,
the perfect placing of his pervert's kiss,
but he was just doing his Basij job;
the street was not the place for their complaint.
Religion is the robed disguise of thugs,
whether snipers on the roofs shooting girls,
Taliban buying guns by selling drugs,
West Bank settlers with their Uzis and curls
stealing wells with walls and Adonai's will,
who gave them the land and license to kill.

Jul 10, 2009 — Jul 12, 2009
Exploring Compassion and Fearlessness at the End of Life
Frank Ostaseski * Roshi Joan Halifax with special participation by Ann Marie McKelvey, LPCC, MCC (PCC)

This retreat is for professional and family caregivers, those with life-threatening illness and those wishing to explore approaches to end-of-life care and issues related to dying and death. Participants will explore our views of pain, suffering, mortality, and freedom from suffering; perspectives on our encounter with death, as well as psycho-spiritual and contemplative approaches to care of the dying; the development of compassion and resilience in care of the dying, and methods for cultivating empathy, altruism, and compassion and sustaining resilience as we care for dying people. 10 CEUs for this program. Click here to register on-line.

Jul 23, 2009 — Jul 26, 2009
Yoga, Science and Selflessness Practice Intensive
Roshi Joan Halifax * Richard Freeman * David Riley, MD

This retreat is an immersion into the practice and science of asana practice and meditation. It includes an exploration of anatomy and Buddhist and Hindu philosophy. In a unique way, the retreat brings together the practice of Yoga with Buddhism and the latest scientific research in yoga and meditation. It is an exploration of the internal principles and forms of Ashtanga Yoga and philosophies of yoga into the therapeutics of asana practice, and includes pranayama and chanting, as well as the biomechanics of posture and movement. Click here to register on-line.

Dear friends,

Upaya will be joining in with our friends from Pax Christi to commemorate Hiroshima Day this year (the 64th anniversary of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan). We did this four years ago and it was quite a powerful experience for those of us who took part.

Please mark your calendar, and we hope you will join us for these two events:

* Friday, July 31: Witness for Peace -- an evening with two Nobel Peace Prize winners, Jody Williams and Mairead Maguire, at the Santa Fe Convention Center, 7 pm

* Aug 1: Los Alamos: sackcloth and ashes event, with Upaya and other sanghas offering a meditative/Buddhist presence

See the Pax Christi website: http://www.paxchristinewmexico.org/


Details are still to be worked out for the Aug 1 vigil, but we wanted to let you know in advance and we hope you will participate in this important commemoration. We'll post more information on the Upaya enewsletter and website as things get firmed up.

i am so looking forward to the program with alan wallace that will happen may 29-31 at upaya. he is an extraordinary teacher, has opened buddhist teachings on meditation in a way that makes them very accessible. all of upaya's residents will be in the program, as i feel his way of teaching meditation is important for our sangha to absorb. his shamatha project, which had cliff saron as the chief neuroscience researcher, is the most ambitious neuro research project on meditation ever done. cliff did a stunning presentation at the recent mind and life meeting in dharamsala with his holiness. new and stunning unpublished results were presented at this gathering. am glad that alan will be covering this as well. upaya@upaya.org

Roshi Joan Halifax gave the annual Sue MacRae lecture on bioethics in Toronto in May. A powerful talk on care of the dying, Buddhism, and ethics, she makes the important point that one cannot separate compassion and ethics. She uses the three-fold training as a model ethical care of the dying. She addresses the development of moral character. This is a video presenttion of the talk with powerpoint.
 
http://epresence.ehealthinnovation.org/epresence/1/watch/320.aspx

Upcoming events at Upaya Zen Center
Upaya Zen Center, a residential Buddhist community founded by Roshi Joan Halifax and located in Santa Fe, New Mexico, will host these events:

May 13: A public dharma talk (5:30 p.m.) given by Sensei Beate Genko Stolte on “Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind.”

May 17-28: “Opening Prajna,” a retreat/work week at the Prajna Mountain Forest Refuge with Roshi Joan Halifax, Sensei Beate, Marty Peale, and others.

May 29-31: This weekend retreat, “Science Meets Meditation,” will be led by Alan Wallace .

July 10-12: A retreat exploring compassion and fearlessness at the end of life, led by Frank Ostaseski and Roshi Joan Halifax. This retreat is for professional and family caregivers, those with life-threatening illness, and those wishing to explore approaches to end-of-life care and issues related to dying and death.

Enjoy a richly-layered and meditative visual exploration of Upaya Zen Center in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Upaya, founded by Buddhist teacher, social activist, author and anthropologist Roshi Joan Halifax, is a Zen Buddhist practice and educational center dedicated to fostering the relationship between traditional Buddhism and compassionate action. Renown for its innovation and beauty, Upaya welcomes practitioners and guests from all over the world, and hosts the finest teachers from East and West. Visit Upaya online at www.upaya.org or in New Mexico
http://www.upaya.org/index.php

May 19, 2009 — May 27, 2009

Opening of Prajna Mountain Forest Refuge Dana Retreat  registrar@upaya.org

Instructors: Roshi Joan Halifax * Sensei Beate Genko Stolte * Marty Peale * Peg Reishin Murray
Prajna Mountain Forest Refuge is an extraordinary high mountain valley at 9400 feet, under the Truchas peaks in northern New Mexico. The Refuge is a retreat for those who wish to do the hermit practice of Bodhidharma and a place of environmental learning. During this dana retreat at the Refuge, we gather as friends to practice and open the Forest Refuge for the season. Working side by side with Roshi Joan, Roshi Enkyo, Sensei Beate, Peggy, and Marty, practicing zazen, we wake up the land from its long winter’s sleep. We get the garden ready for planting, work on the road, prepare the land and cabins for the summer, clear the forests of fuel-wood, and maybe even build a bath house!   In addition to our work practice, we will do zazen, have seminars, learn the ecology of the Refuge, walk to the San Leonardo Lakes, and enjoy the great beauty of this remote mountain area with our sangha and teachers. We need carpenters, builders, woodcutters, folks who know how to use a chain saw, plumbers, electricians, cooks, and good friends. Most of us will camp, though we have some room in our cabins. Food is simple, organic, and full of nutrients. If you wish to join us, please fill out an application. We prefer that you stay the entire retreat.    Note: Throughout the year, the Refuge welcomes a small number of practitioners, workers, and students of ecology to live, practice, learn and serve. These programs are directed by the Refuge’s Buddhist field naturalist Marty Peale. For more information about different ways to be at the Refuge, contact Marty Peale at mpeale@newmexico.com.

WWW.UPAYA.ORG
We are very grateful brilliant Alan Wallace is coming to teach at Upaya. I cannot recommend him highly enough. A physicist, early monk of the Dalai Lama's, and long time Buddhist practitioner, Alan's mind is something to behold. If you want to learn about Buddhist meditation, he is one of the greats.
MAY 29 - 31, 2009
SCIENCE MEETS MEDITATION: BALANCE THE HEART AND MIND

B. Alan Wallace
In this weekend retreat, Dr. Wallace focuses on two methods for cultivating meditative quiescence, or shamatha. In addition to exploring the important neuroscience research being done on Dr. Wallace's Shamatha project, he will teach, shamatha, the practice of “mindfulness of breathing”, which is an effective approach to soothing the body and calming the discursive mind. He will also introduce a method that is both a shamatha practice and a preliminary to Dzogchen, called “settling the mind in its natural state.” The attainment of shamatha is widely regarded in the Buddhist tradition as an indispensable foundation for the cultivation of contemplative insight (vipashyana).

This retreat is designed to provide participants with a sufficient theoretical and neuroscientific understanding of meditation and a basis in experience to enable participants to proceed effectively toward this extraordinary state of mental and physical balance.

Instruction will also be offered on the cultivation of the four immeasurables: loving-kindness, compassion, empathetic joy, and equanimity. These qualities of the heart are so powerful that they can break down all the barriers that are created by attachment and aversion, opening our hearts boundlessly to all beings, which brings peace and happiness.
To register on-line, click here.WWW.UPAYA.ORG

B. Alan Wallace will be signing his new book, Mind in the Balance after lunch on Sunday, May 31, 2009. Other works by Alan will be available in our bookstore as well.
We encourage early registration, particularly, if you plan to lodge at Upaya which fills quickly. We have made arrangements with local hotels to handle your housing needs. Contact registrar@upaya.org for lodging information.

Dalai Lama