Friends,
For this Thursday, Oct. 2 sit we’ll be exploring the five realms of existence, as laid out in Theravada Buddhist cosmology, and what these may mean to your practice lives.
The five realms are the human, animal, deva, hungry ghost and hell realms. We can take these five as truths or as metaphors, but in either case they’re useful as tools or understandings on the path.
To be sure these are closely tied to the idea of rebirth, which the Buddha very much taught, but which is much harder for most Westerners to digest. Let’s explore this idea of rebirth a bit together, tied to these five realms, and see what range of understanding may emerge for each of us.
We’ll be gathering at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 2.
The URL for the evening will be https://tinyurl.com/Eastside-Insight-2025, or please come in person to the chapel at Northlake Unitarian Universalist Church, 315 3rd Ave S., Kirkland, WA 98033.
Please consider offering dana to Northlake Unitarian Universalist Church, which makes this space available on a dana-only basis, in a very kind and generous way. If you do, please mention you’re from Eastside Insight Meditation.
https://tinyurl.com/NorthlakeUU-Paypal2022
Also you're invited to offer dana to the teacher, with links and addresses below. Many thanks for your generous dana, which helps pay for retreat and teachings, and helps others on the way.
paypal.me/SteveWilhelm48
Steve Wilhelm
17623 184th Ave. NE
Woodinville, WA 98072
Big bows to the kind sangha members who help set up for Thursday evenings. It’s hugely helpful when you can help before, and say you’ll be helping. Thank you!
https://docs.google.com/document/d/18OKEUO7ubunOG_q9r8MaBFWXqmWScOm4LIsv8MdnBU8/edit
Looking ahead, two requests for volunteers, schedule changes, a transport tip:
Seattle Insight needs 1 to 2 new volunteers to become registrars. These registrars help behind the scenes to organize special events that require registration. They communicate with registrants, volunteers, and teachers, and help folks to get signed up for Eastside and Seattle events. The work is periodic and can be done from your home. Anyone interested can email registrar@seattleinsight.org.
Our yearly Eastside daylong will be Saturday, Nov. 8, on the subject of bringing the four foundations of mindfulness alive in daily life. Below is a link to sign up. Please feel free to invite interested people. Also we will need a one or two volunteers, so please email Steve to volunteer at stevellen95@comcast.net. https://seattleinsight.org/event/bringing-the-four-foundations-of-mindfulness-alive-in-daily-life-in-person-and-online/
The second sit in October will be moved one week later, to Thursday, Oct. 23, to allow for a visit by Ven Chandaratana, a Sri Lankan monk. Please get this on your calendars. We will not be sitting on Oct. 16, the third Thursday.
There is a likelihood that Eastside Insight will be moving to Tuesday evenings, possibly 1st and 3rd Tuesdays. This is to benefit more people in the community, because the SIMS Thursday evening sit and now Jason Bartlett’s Luminous Dharma are both on Thursdays, and there’s no Seattle-area sit in this tradition on Tuesday evenings.
As a reminder, the 255 bus from Kirkland Transit Center, and South Kirkland P&R, goes directly to Campus Parkway at the University of Washington. This is a five-minute walk from the SIMS center at 4001 9th Avenue Northeast Seattle, WA 98105. If you ever want to attend the Monday night SIMS gathering, the bus is a great way to do it
May you find happiness and balance, in the midst of complexity. May your hearts be at ease.
With love and light,
Steve Wilhelm