June 2025 NEWSLETTER
- Kaya Fruchtman
- May 20
- 9 min read
Updated: Jun 1
IN THIS NEWSLETTER:
I’ve been thinking a lot about equanimity lately. I can be overwhelmed by the news of the day across the globe, and how people are going through unimaginable suffering, loss and fear. There’s a common misunderstanding that being equanimous means experiencing an absence of big emotions, that to feel peace, we need to detach. Buddhism teaches something different than that, and more practical. I think about something Michael Carroll said in a class where we discussed the “felt sense” of each of the Four Immeasurables, of which equanimity is one. If you were to guess based on a popular idea of equanimity, you might have expected him to say “peaceful” or “balanced”. But he suggested that we allow ourselves to feel vulnerable. We could open to the world completely. This doesn’t mean to only have that soft, open front, as we do in meditation, but to maintain the strong back that allows us to hold our seat. We can have good head and shoulders, and at the same time allow ourselves to be touched by the world.
An author I work with is writing a book on equanimity, titled Quiet Power. In our discussion of the topic, I told her a story from my life, and she has included it in her chapter on taking refuge, which can be an aspect of equanimity. Here it is:
My big, beautiful, gentle giant dog Koda died. Something was off, we took him to the animal ER, and, long story short, a mass had ruptured, and we had to euthanize him immediately. He died peacefully in our arms. What followed felt remarkable to me. I experienced the full spectrum of emotions. I wailed when the vet first told us. I wept and chanted to Koda as he died. I miss him—but none of it felt like suffering. There was grief, but no fighting. I felt a kind of exquisite sadness I think many people can relate to. Despite its suddenness, I felt incredible gratitude that it happened as it did, and for all the kindness I experienced from the vet and my family and friends. I felt Koda’s love and steadiness as if it had become a part of me, rather than him having been lost to me. I went for a walk in the woods with our surviving dog and felt his delight at lowering his belly into the cool creek water on a hot day. It was so joyful and beautiful that I felt like I could take in the whole world in one bite. Sometimes I feel heavy and sad, but not overwhelmingly so, just naturally.
For me, this is 100% equanimity: feeling all the feels. We can have confidence in our practice. Brick by brick, we could develop mindfulness and equanimity until it has become a part of us, even in the midst of these strong “worldly winds.”
– Stephanie Tade
Notes from Bill
Early in June, Carolyn Gimian will join us for a Q&A about the Chögyam Trungpa Institute and Digital Library which preserves his teachings.
We recently published two recordings:
This is a podcast episode from A Mindful Gathering around the seeming paradox of living in a world of wild abundance, and increasing loneliness. Edited for public release.
Being With a Dying Person: this was a community discussion with Hospice volunteers, and includes the beginnings of a Wisdom Seat community initiative around helping with end of life care.
Our three year terms holding board members roles concluded this season, and these are our roles for the next three years: Al San Valentin is a board member, Stephanie Tade will be treasurer, Jacqui Merrell will be secretary, Bill Moriarty will be president.
Listen to Jacqueline Gallo, Wisdom Seat community member & EVP of Pursuit Aeronautics, describe how to inspire the best in others.
We would like to remind you to take some time and visit our Instagram page, @wisdomseat_stevemccurry. Here, you will find an array of enlightening teachings and breathtaking images that are bound to inspire and awaken your mind and spirit. We have curated these posts with utmost care and diligence to provide you with a source of inspiration and learning.
We are thrilled about our collaboration with Steve McCurry Studios, a partnership we believe will bridge our communities. Through the combined power of beauty and wisdom, we aim to create deep and meaningful connections among us all. We look forward to your continued support and engagement with our content.
Building the Chögyam Trungpa Digital Library with Carolyn Gimian
A Mindful Gathering with Bill Moriarty
Jun 10, 2025 | 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Zoom
Join us as Carolyn Gimian, Executive Director of the Chögyam Trungpa Institute, discusses the work behind creating a comprehensive digital archive of Trungpa's teachings. Carolyn will share insights into the cataloging and preservation process, the vision for making these materials available worldwide, and the challenges of digitizing decades of recorded dharma talks. Come with your questions for what promises to be an engaging conversation about preserving contemplative wisdom in the digital age.
About Carolyn Gimian: Executive Director of the Chogyam Trungpa Institute at Naropa University and founding director of the Shambhala Archives. Editor of many of Trungpa's works including Shambhala: The Sacred Path of the Warrior, the ten-volume Collected Works, and Mindfulness in Action. She holds a BA in Philosophy from Antioch University and PhD in Early Childhood Education from Union Graduate School.
Annual Summer SOULstice Mini-ReTREAT
Celebrate the Beginning of Summer in a most idyllic, serene setting.
Jun 21, 2025 | 9:30 AM – 6:00 PM
In-Person
All-day mini-retreat with Corina Benner, including Yoga, Meditation, Food & Festivities at the Wisdom Seat in Wallingford, PA. This year is a Pot Luck!
Wednesday Meditation
Ongoing offering: Online meditation every Wednesday evening 6:15 to 7:30 PM EST
Worldwide Wednesday evening online sitting meditation practice.
We, at The Wisdom Seat, invite you to meet on Wednesday evenings from 6:15 – 7:30 PM Eastern Time to practice the sitting meditation discipline as taught in the Buddhist & Shambhala tradition of Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche.
Nyinthun: Everyone is welcome!
Ongoing offering: Nyinthun (in-person and online)
The first Sunday of every month.
All day sitting interspersed with walking meditation. The word nyinthun*, is Tibetan for “day session.”
In understanding dharma, Trungpa Rinpoche placed a strong emphasis on mindfulness/awareness meditation practice. This community practice of Nyinthun - all day sitting interspersed with walking meditation - gives us the opportunity to experience the full spectrum of our mind, make friends with our immediate experience and rediscover our natural sanity.
Please take a look, and sign up to join us for some nyinthun retreat days. It is ok to join for as much of the day as you can.
Collaborative practice undertaking with The Wisdom Seat & The Profound Treasury Retreat
The Wisdom Seat encourages as many opportunities for practitioners to engage in the discipline of mindfulness/awareness (shamatha/vipashyana) as one can engage in. We are happy to invite the Profound Treasury Retreat (PTR) with their offering of Sunday sitting.
PTR community is hosting a 2-hour sitting session from 9:30am to 11:30 am EST
There will be meditation instruction every third Sunday of the month, given by a qualified meditation instructor.
Dates: June 15, 22nd, & 29th
Here is the Zoom link for this session: Sunday Sitting Zoom Link
All are welcome to attend.
The Wisdom Seat Retreat
October 25 - November 2, 2025
Karma Triyana Dharmachakra
Woodstock, NY
We invite you to join us for this in-person Autumn retreat at the Karma TriyanaDharmachakra monastery in the delightful upstate New York Catskill Mountains. Michael Carroll, cofounder of The Wisdom Seat will be leading this 8-day practice intensive, supported by members of The Wisdom Seat staff. This retreat is designed to help us deepen our mindfulness-awareness meditation and integrate it into our daily life. The retreat will include:
6 - 7 hours of daily shrine room meditation alternating sitting and walking during each session
Breath and body relaxation practices
Outdoor walking meditation
Periodic group meditation instruction
Readings from Buddhist texts
Dharma talks and discussion
Individual meditation instruction upon request
An hour+ of helping hands
Participants will be asked to observe “functional silence” throughout most of the retreat, limiting verbal communication to a minimum.
Vegetarian breakfast, lunch, and dinner will be offered, with access to snacks, coffee, and tea throughout the retreat.
Since the retreat will be limited to 30 participants, those attending will be expected to participate in all 8 days of the retreat.
Local Commuters may participate 8 days or less.
Dorje Denma Ling
The Shape of Awake®: Weekend
June 20 - 22, 2025
In-Person
The weekend teaches the mechanics of easy, balanced posture. Learn how to shed a lifetime of excessive tension to be embodied, upright, relaxed, and supported by the earth. Being upright without strain is not just an arbitrary shape; it’s the bearing of confidence, presence, and of meditation.
Registration Link: https://dorjedenmaling.org/programs-listing/2402/the-shape-of-awake-weekend/
Westchester Meditation Center
Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche on Spiritual Materialism via the Chogyam Trungpa Digital Library
Sunday, June 8th | 10am - Noon ET
Zoom
Hosted by Warner Dick & other WMC Faculty
We hope you can join us on Zoom at our usual 10 AM Sunday time for a special appearance by Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, for a talk on Spiritual Materialism, recorded on video in 1974. For those who appreciate Trungpa Rinpoche's teachings, but did not have the chance to attend his talks in-person, this is an opportunity to experience one of his more famous teachings as a group. Together we will watch and discuss this first talk of the Tibetan Buddhist Path seminar, which opened the inaugural summer session of Naropa Institute, now University.
The morning's program will begin with a brief introduction to the Chogyam Trungpa Institute's Digital Library, which offers open access to a remarkably diverse catalog of Trungpa Rinpoche's teachings as captioned audio and video. During our gathering, Warner Dick, one of the architects of the Library, will present a brief tour of this modern digital dharma resource.
Spiritual materialism is a term coined by VCTR to describe the tendency to seek spiritual wisdom with the (conscious or subconscious) desire to become a greater and more powerful person. He frames this as an essentially ego-oriented pursuit, and thus a contradiction and potential pitfall of the spiritual path — as relevant today as it was 50 years ago.
The Tibetan Buddhist Path seminar was recently published as the popular book: Cynicism and Magic: Intellect and Intuition on the Buddhist Path, available at booksellers everywhere and from the publisher.
Please register by RSVP only, or make an optional donation by selecting from the pull-down menu.
The Progressive Stages of Meditation on Emptiness
A seven-week exploration of the Mahayana Buddhist contemplative tradition of the Kagyu and Nyingma lineages.
May 21 – July 2, 2025 | Wednesdays 7 – 9 PM
Online - Zoom Only
Led by Derek Kolleeny and Colleagues
Suggested Offering $108
WMC maintains a policy of making our programs affordable to all. Those with limited income, please note our student/fixed income rate at registration step. The Progressive Stages of Meditation on Emptiness presents a series of meditation practices on a particular aspect of the Buddha’s teachings. The idea is that by beginning with one’s first rather coarse common-sense understanding, one progresses through increasingly subtle and more refined stages until one arrives at complete and perfect understanding. Each stage in the process prepares the mind for the next in so far as each step is fully integrated into one’s understanding through the meditation process.
Registration Link: https://www.westchestermeditationcenter.org/courses-community-events/progressive-stages-of-meditation-on-emptiness-sp25
Durham Shambhala Center
Finding Common Ground: Communication for Difficult Times
August 5th - 26th | Tuesdays 7-8:45pm (Eastern)
Taught by Barbara Bash
In this four week online class we will explore the elements of Nonviolent Communication and practice these principles in real time. Beginning with mindfulness practice for self connection, we will move into making observations without evaluation, finding our true feelings and needs, and making connecting requests of ourselves and others.
The practice of giving and receiving empathy, central to NVC consciousness, will weave through it all.
Come to discover a set of tools and a fresh perspective on how to speak and listen so that everyone feels heard.
Barbara Bash is a longtime member of the Shambhala community. She studied with Chogyam Trungpa and has worked as a calligraphic artist for many years. Her involvement with her local sangha inspired her to train in NVC and Focusing. She facilitates an online NVC practice group and leads an online monthly circle gathering. She is currently expanding her offerings to include mediation. barbarabash.com
Registration Link: https://durham.shambhala.org/program-details/?id=791008
“....my approach to all things spiritual is rather cynical you could say. When somebody presents something to me as spiritual, my first instinct is to be cynical and think, “oh yeah, one of those again.” You see so much of it in “spiritual culture” and people get very excited about it. It’s all very “hoo haw.””
- Brad Warner, Zen practitioner (1964 -)
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