Annual get-together of the SIM community during the holiday season. All are invited — bring a dish of your choosing to share with attendees! Please bring a potluck dish to share (for six or more.) Set up will begin at 6:30. This year there will be tables and chairs in the sangha room to enable everyone to socialize during the meal. To encourage “green” practices, please bring your own dinner plate, silverware, cup, and cloth napkin.

Following the meal, sangha members will have an opportunity to share creative/artistic expressions, original or other, such as readings, poetry, music, dance, skits, stories (Think “SIM Talent.”)  Presentations with a holiday, dharma, and/or seasonal theme—dramatic,  serious, humorous, spiritual or whatever—are encouraged. Presentations should be no more than three (3) to five (5) minutes. About an hour total will be allotted for the presentations. To maximize the number of presentations, please send your name, title, and length of presentation, to linda.franklin92@gmail.com.

The title of Rich’s talk is “Reflections on the Year.”

We are reminded in the Dhammapada that there are three elements of practice:

Doing no evil,

Engaging in what’s skillful,

And purifying one’s mind.

This is the teaching of the buddhas.

(v. 183, Gil Fronsdal translation)

As the year ends, we will reflect on how we did in these three areas, using the lens of the Pārami (the perfections of the mind-heart), an attitude of kindness, and the support of the sangha, the community of fellow practitioners. We will close together by ringing 108 bells. Join SIM Community Mentor Rich Howard for a peaceful, supportive evening.