We can't wrap our heads around this pandemic, of course, but the teachings of the Buddha do give us a larger frame for seeing what's happening and where we do have the power to relieve suffering. This talk is excerpted from material from the 3/21 retreat "In Harmony with Reality."

You are welcome to join Christie,* Jaya, and the rest of the Oxford Practice Group in meeting online Saturdays 10-11am CENTRAL time. After you make sure you have your free Zoom account, pick up the Zoom link at deepsouthdharma.org

We are always happy to answer general questions via the podcast or our website contact page, but if you are interested in individual Contemplative Spiritual Direction with Christie, OR if you live in Tennessee and Mississippi and are in need of counseling, visit the Passati Counseling & Direction website.

For information about upcoming retreats as it becomes available, as well as our weekly offerings and other events, visit the Deep South Dharma website and subscribe, or like the Deep South Dharma Facebook page.

If you have a loved one in treatment for mental health or addictive disorders, you may want to attend one or more of Christie's weekly webinars called Time to Breathe: When Your Loved One is in Treatment. Follow the link for details and registration.

*Christie Bates is a minister of the Embracing Simplicity Contemplative Order (ordained "Acharya Passatininna") and is co-founder and teacher of Deep South Dharma. Deep South Dharma has a weekly practice group in Oxford MS and stays connected with our extended sangha through this podcast and occasional online offerings

Human life has always been fragile and reliant on interconnection, but this is a time when more people are suddenly more aware.  Christie* offers some well-tested reflections that can help us develop the capacity to live at peace with the increased awareness.

The Flowering Lotus Meditation Retreat planned for this month has been re-worked to allow for physical distancing. There are a few basic misperceptions baked into the experience of being human, but awareness and practice can allow us to see them and see through them, so that we meet this moment in the best way possible. Join our mini-retreat "In Harmony with Reality" on Saturday, March 21, 2020 from 10am - 1pm CENTRAL time. Donation-based. Join URL: https://zoom.us/j/848350545

If you have a loved one in treatment for mental health or addictive disorders, you may want to attend one or more of Christie's weekly webinars called Time to Breathe: When Your Loved One is in Treatment. Follow the link for details and registration.

We are always happy to answer general questions via the podcast or our website contact page, but if you are interested in individual Contemplative Spiritual Direction with Christie, OR if you live in Tennessee and Mississippi and are in need of counseling, visit the Passati Counseling & Direction website.

For information about upcoming retreats as it becomes available, as well as our weekly offerings and other events, visit the Deep South Dharma website and subscribe, or like the Deep South Dharma Facebook page.

*Christie Bates is a minister of the Embracing Simplicity Contemplative Order (ordained "Acharya Passatininna") and is co-founder and teacher of Deep South Dharma. Deep South Dharma has a weekly practice group in Oxford MS and stays connected with our extended sangha through this podcast and occasional online offerings

A sutta from the Anguttara Nikāya about the process of Venerable Sona, whose attunement to the Buddha facilitated his awakening at a time of discouragement. 

Also in this episode, Christie* shares information for those needing support after last week's tornadoes in Tennessee, information for this month's residential retreat with Christie via Flowering Lotus Meditation, and news about scholarships available for Christie's retreat at Heartwood Refuge this September. You can find links to the various tornado recovery resources at Deep South Dharma's Facebook page, along with other event information. DeepSouthDharma.org has links to retreat information as well.

Registration for the March 20-22, 2020 retreat hosted by Flowering Lotus Meditation is OPEN! See details and REGISTER HERE for just $50. One of several special things about Flowering Lotus is that it offers retreats on a donation basis beyond the initial registration/commitment fee.

Registration for the September 17-20, 2020 retreat at Heartwood Refuge and Retreat Center, "Devotion to the Deathless," is also OPEN. Registration covers room and board, including private bathrooms and wonderful vegetarian/vegan meals. SCHOLARSHIPS AVAILABLE! More about that HERE.

If you have a loved one in treatment for mental health or addictive disorders, you may want to attend one or more of Christie's weekly webinars called Time to Breathe: When Your Loved One is in Treatment. Follow the link for details and registration.

We are always happy to answer general questions via the podcast or our website contact page, but if you are interested in individual Contemplative Spiritual Direction with Christie, OR if you live in Tennessee and Mississippi and are in need of counseling, visit the Passati Counseling & Direction website.

For information about upcoming retreats as it becomes available, as well as our weekly offerings and other events, visit the Deep South Dharma website and subscribe, or like the Deep South Dharma Facebook page.

*Christie Bates is a minister of the Embracing Simplicity Contemplative Order (ordained "Acharya Passatininna") and is co-founder and teacher of Deep South Dharma. Deep South Dharma has a weekly practice group in Oxford MS and stays connected with our extended sangha through this podcast and occasional online offerings

Christie* reflects on a discussion introduced at the Oxford Practice Group via Robert Bly's translation and commentary on Rainer Maria Rilke. The book referred to - Selected Poems of Rainer Maria Rilke - can be ordered at your independent bookstore or HERE.

For information and registration for the LIVE-then-on-demand webinar, "Time to Breathe: When Your Loved One is in Treatment" GO HERE.

Registration for the March 20-22, 2020 retreat hosted by Flowering Lotus Meditation is OPEN! See details and REGISTER HERE for just $50. One of several special things about Flowering Lotus is that it offers retreats on a donation basis beyond the initial registration/commitment fee.

Registration for the September 17-20, 2020 retreat at Heartwood Refuge and Retreat Center, "Devotion to the Deathless," is also OPEN. Registration covers room and board, including private bathrooms and wonderful vegetarian/vegan meals. More about that HERE.

We are always happy to answer general questions via the podcast or our website contact page, but if you are interested in individual Contemplative Spiritual Direction with Christie, OR if you live in Tennessee and Mississippi and are in need of counseling, visit the Passati Counseling & Direction website.

For information about upcoming retreats as it becomes available, as well as our weekly offerings and other events, visit the Deep South Dharma website and subscribe, or like the Deep South Dharma Facebook page.

*Christie Bates is a minister of the Embracing Simplicity Contemplative Order (ordained "Acharya Passatininna") and is co-founder and teacher of Deep South Dharma. Deep South Dharma has a weekly practice group in Oxford MS and stays connected with our extended sangha through this podcast and occasional online offerings

Recorded at Deep South Dharma's Oxford Practice Group on Saturday, Feb 22nd, Christie* offers reflections on the Four Foundations of Mindfulness as discussion topic.

For information and registration for the webinar, "Time to Breathe: When Your Loved One is in Treatment" GO HERE.

Registration for the March 20-22, 2020 retreat hosted by Flowering Lotus Meditation is OPEN! See details and REGISTER HERE for just $50. One of several special things about Flowering Lotus is that it offers retreats on a donation basis beyond the initial registration/commitment fee.

Registration for the September 17-20, 2020 retreat at Heartwood Refuge and Retreat Center, "Devotion to the Deathless," is also OPEN. Registration covers room and board, including private bathrooms and wonderful vegetarian/vegan meals. More about that HERE.

We are always happy to answer general questions via the podcast or our website contact page, but if you are interested in individual Contemplative Spiritual Direction with Christie, OR if you live in Tennessee and Mississippi and are in need of counseling, visit the Passati Counseling & Direction website.

For information about upcoming retreats as it becomes available, as well as our weekly offerings and other events, visit the Deep South Dharma website and subscribe, or like the Deep South Dharma Facebook page.

*Christie Bates is a minister of the Embracing Simplicity Contemplative Order (ordained "Acharya Passatininna") and is co-founder and teacher of Deep South Dharma. Deep South Dharma has a weekly practice group in Oxford MS and stays connected with our extended sangha through this podcast and occasional online offerings

In the wake of Valentine's Day and last week's topic of Treating the Mind Like a Friend, Christie* has been reflecting on the kind of love that can bring out the best in us.

For information and registration for the webinar, "Time to Breathe: When Your Loved One is in Treatment" GO HERE.

Registration for the March 20-22, 2020 retreat hosted by Flowering Lotus Meditation is OPEN! See details and REGISTER HERE for just $50. One of several special things about Flowering Lotus is that it offers retreats on a donation basis beyond the initial registration/commitment fee.

Registration for the September 17-20, 2020 retreat at Heartwood Refuge and Retreat Center, "Devotion to the Deathless," is also OPEN. Registration covers room and board, including private bathrooms and wonderful vegetarian/vegan meals. More about that HERE.

We are always happy to answer general questions via the podcast or our website contact page, but if you are interested in individual Contemplative Spiritual Direction with Christie, OR if you live in Tennessee and Mississippi and are in need of counseling, visit the Passati Counseling & Direction website.

For information about upcoming retreats as it becomes available, as well as our weekly offerings and other events, visit the Deep South Dharma website and subscribe, or like the Deep South Dharma Facebook page.

*Christie Bates is a minister of the Embracing Simplicity Contemplative Order (ordained "Acharya Passatininna") and is co-founder and teacher of Deep South Dharma. Deep South Dharma has a weekly practice group in Oxford MS and stays connected with our extended sangha through this podcast and occasional online offerings.

Christie Bates* on how Dharma practice can help you shift from feeling tortured by your mind to feeling supported. 

Join Deep South Dharma on Retreat! 

Registration for the March 20-22, 2020 retreat hosted by Flowering Lotus Meditation is open! See details and REGISTER HERE for just $50. One of several special things about Flowering Lotus is that it offers retreats on a donation basis beyond the initial registration/commitment fee.

We are always happy to answer general questions via the podcast or our website contact page, but if you are interested in individual Contemplative Spiritual Direction with Christie, OR if you live in Tennessee and Mississippi and are in need of counseling, visit the Passati Counseling & Direction website and/or the Passati Counseling & Direction Facebook page.

For information about upcoming retreats as it becomes available, as well as our weekly offerings and other events, visit the Deep South Dharma website and subscribe, or like the Deep South Dharma Facebook page.

*Christie Bates is a minister of the Embracing Simplicity Contemplative Order (ordained "Acharya Passatininna") and is co-founder and teacher of Deep South Dharma. Deep South Dharma has a local practice group in Oxford MS and stays connected with our extended sangha through this podcast and occasional online offerings.

You utilize intuition every day, whether you call it that or not. Join Christie Bates* to explore the Buddhist path for making that intuition more clear and useful.

We are always happy to answer general questions via the podcast or our website contact page, but if you are interested in individual Contemplative Spiritual Direction with Christie, OR if you live in Tennessee and Mississippi and are in need of counseling, visit the Passati Counseling & Direction website and/or the Passati Counseling & Direction Facebook page.

For information about upcoming retreats as it becomes available, as well as our weekly offerings and other events, visit the Deep South Dharma website and subscribe, or like the Deep South Dharma Facebook page.

*Christie Bates is a minister (ordained "Acharya Passatininna") of the Embracing Simplicity Contemplative Order and co-founder of Deep South Dharma. Deep South Dharma has a local practice group in Oxford MS and stays connected with our extended sangha through this podcast and occasional online offerings.

A few reflections to help us deepen our appreciation and actualize the potential of our resilient awareness, from Christie Bates.*

Resources mentioned in this episode include:

The free download of Ajahn Sucitto's booklet Clarity and Calm available here at Forest Sangha Publications, and

Sharon Salzberg's book Faith available for purchase on her website

To help you in your retreat planning in the Deep South, take a look at the retreat calendars at the following websites!

Magnolia Grove Monastery in Batesville, MS

Heartwood Refuge and Retreat Center in Hendersonville, NC

Flowering Lotus Meditation for retreats in Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi

For information about upcoming retreats as it becomes available, as well as our weekly offerings and other events, visit the Deep South Dharma website and subscribe, or like the Deep South Dharma Facebook page.

We are always happy to answer general questions via the podcast or our website contact page, but if you are interested in individual contemplative direction with Christie, visit the Passati Counseling & Direction website and/or the Passati Counseling & Direction Facebook page.

*Christie Bates is a minister (ordained "Acharya Passatininna") of the Embracing Simplicity Contemplative Order and co-founder of Deep South Dharma. Deep South Dharma has a local practice group in Oxford MS and stays connected with our extended sangha through this podcast and occasional online offerings.

Christie Bates of Deep South Dharma offers some training in being good friends to ourselves when experiencing difficult feelings.

Speaking of which, if you're in the Chattanooga TN area and need some healing around the effects of trauma and/or various addictions, visit the website for the Trauma and Addiction Recovery Center mentioned in this podcast.

The upcoming retreat mentioned in this episode will take place in Starkville, MS on Friday, March 20 - Sunday, March 22, 2020. You can get more information and registration for the retreat by visiting our host for this retreat, Flowering Lotus Meditation.

*Christie Bates is a minister (Acharya Passatininna) of the Embracing Simplicity Contemplative Order and co-founder of Deep South Dharma. Deep South Dharma has a local practice group in Oxford MS and stays connected with our extended sangha through this podcast.

For information about our weekly offerings and other events, visit the Deep South Dharma website and subscribe, or like the Deep South Dharma Facebook page.

We are always happy to answer brief questions via the podcast or our website contact page, but if you are interested in individual contemplative direction with Christie, visit the Passati Counseling & Direction website and/or the Passati Counseling & Direction Facebook page.