Wednesday Reading Group

(Zoom Only)

The Reading Group has been meeting for well over a decade and continues to bring forward and discuss books expressing an extremely wide range of Buddhist views and interests (intentionally texts representing diverse traditions, races, gender orientations, etc). The conversation is about making the dharma real in our lives. We meet on our regular Zoom link (click here) at 7:30 on Wednesday evenings and sit together for 30 minutes, after which our book discussion runs for an hour from 8:00 to 9:00.

Many join the group at 8:00 after the sitting period, and it is common for attendees to not have read (and even not to own!) the book we're reading, so please don't let this be a barrier to your own attendance. The book serves as a point of departure...and if the conversation interests you in the text, you can buy it and start to catch up before the next week's conversation.

The discussion is facilitated by one of the regular senior attendees to help keep the conversation smooth and ensure that all are included and heard as they wish.

Currently Reading:

“It’s hard to know how to best introduce the wisest man I have ever met.” Jack Kornfield.  

That man is Ajahn Chah, a monk in the forest tradition of Thailand, who lived from from 1918 to 1992. He is well known as the teacher of Jack Kornfield, Ajahn Sumedho, Ajahn Amaro, Ajahn Brahm, as well as many others in the West.

Food for the Heart  is a collection of his talks translated into English. As Jack Kornfield says: “his teaching is direct and honest, with no holds barred…Those who would follow the teachings of this beloved master must be willing to look into their own heart and mind, to loosen the knots, release the grasping. the fears, the whole false sense of self.” 

Since each talk is mostly independent of the others, you may attend as many or as few sessions as you wish. The schedule of readings, which may vary somewhat, will be found here.  .Please check this page every week for the assigned chapters.

Future Books

The group periodically undertakes a selection process of identifying future books of interest and submitting for a group vote to identify those of broad interest. Books currently selected and to be read and discussed by the group, in upcoming order, are:

• Boundless Heart: The Buddha's Path of Kindness, Compassion, Joy, and Equanimity by Christina Feldman (2017)
• Casting Indra's Net: Fostering Spiritual Kinship and Community by Pamela Ayo Yetunde (2023)