Winding Path Tendai Buddhist Sangha
Winding Path Tendai Buddhist Sangha is a meditation group that has been supporting each other in mindfulness and Buddhist practices in the heart of Springfield, MA since 2011. We always welcome new members or visitors. Whether you are an experienced meditator or someone who is just curious about Buddhism, please feel free to stop by and join us one evening.
News & Events
After a few transitions over the past several months, we open the 2019 year in a more permanent home for our sangha. Reverends Shingaku and Ryushin have purchased an old house in Springfield, MA to use the first floor as the space for our temple. The house has a large space for the hondo (meditation room) and an additional room to gather for discussions and occasional pot lucks. We are grateful to have this quiet, inspiring space dedicated for meditation practice, and we look forward to growing together as a sangha here over the next several years.
For our first 7 years together, Winding Path Tendai Sangha met at Christ Church Cathedral on Chestnut Street in Springfield. That space served us well for several years, and we are incredibly appreciative to them for hosting us for so long. We left that space in the summer of 2018 when there were other events happening at the same time as our meditation services, and we decided we needed a quieter place to sit. This fall and early winter we've been meeting in Enfield, CT. While the Enfield space enabled some people from further south in CT to join our services, it was no longer accessible to our sangha members who traveled by bus. We are pleased that our new space is on the bus line in Springfield and will be more accessible to the community of Springfield. In addition, since it's located in the southern part of Springfield, we hope this new space will still be accessible to our new friends from CT as well.
Please join us for one of our upcoming services at 36 Marengo Park in Springfield, MA (off of Belmont Ave). There is typically plenty of street parking just past the temple house. Please be respectful to stay clear of neighbors' driveways while parking. We are a short drive from 91. Please contact us if you need advice about the easiest route to reach us.
January 2019 Discussions and Meditation
All weekly discussion and meditations take place from 6:00pm-7:45pm. Doors open at 5:45pm. The discussion runs from roughly 6:00-6:30 followed by the daily service and two sitting periods.
Monday, January 7
How to Sit
On this first meeting of the new year, we will go back to basics to start our year with a solid foundation. We will examine some advice from Thich Nhat Hahn’s How to Sit (excerpts are available online here and as part of this article in Lion’s Roar magazine) and discuss how this relates to what we experience in our practice.
Monday, January 14
Hogo
We recite Hogo each week as part of our daily service. This evening’s discussion will focus on the the value of recognizing the lineage of our tradition as part of our practice.
Monday, January 21 (Martin Luther King, Jr. Day)
Dr. King and Samantabhadra
Samantabhadra Bodhisattva or Fugen Bosatsu is known as “great conduct” bodhisattva and is recognized as the bodhisattva of practice. This evening we will review the characteristics of Samantabhadra and then consider Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. as a manifestation of Samantabhadra Bodhisattva. We will consider how his actions can be a model and inspiration for us to emulate.
Monday, January 28
Tendai: An All Inclusive Buddhism
Ekayana or 'One-Path' Buddhism is an important characteristic of Tendai. What does this mean to us as practitioners today?
Additional January Events
Saturday Sitting Service
- Saturday, January 12, 7:30am-9:00am
- Saturday, January 26, 7:30am-9:00am
We occasionally hold meditation services on Saturday mornings. This service starts with the daily service at 7:30 and is followed by two sitting periods. The service concludes by 9:00am with an optional half hour for tea and fellowship following the service. There is no formal class on this day.
Meeting with a Teacher
Sangha members may schedule appointments to meet with a teacher to discuss your practice. In January those appointments are available from 5:00-5:30pm Mondays and from 9:30-10:00am following our Saturday Sits.
Buddhist Movie Night
Friday, January 25, 6:30pm-8:30pm
We will gather together to watch a Buddhist-themed movie. Specific movie TBD a week in advance. Please rsvp to info@windingpath.org for this event and feel free to bring a light snack / finger food to share with the group.
Buddhism for Parents
Over the years we have had people express an interest in opportunities for families to participate in sangha events. This month we will start that process by convening a discussion group for parents. Our conversations might focus on using parenting as your practice, on bringing Buddhist teachings to your children, or on other topics of interest. If you are interested in being part of that group, please respond to this Doodle Poll. Once we have enough people interested on a particular date, we will communicate that date to all who are interested. If none of the dates in the poll are workable for you, but you would like to participate in this group, please email shingaku@windingpath.org to specify what days of the week and times work best for you. The discussions will initially be facilitated by Shingaku, but the content of the discussions will be generated by parents who attend the meetings. During our first meeting Shingaku will recommend some texts that parents may want to read as a starting place for our conversations.