Thanksgiving Celebration at Magnolia Grove Monastery

[MagnoliaVillage]

Dear friend,
May this letter finds you peaceful and with much happiness. These
last few days have been filled with new changes at Magnolia Grove
Monastery. The Sangha is applying the Winter Retreat schedule already
even though the retreat does not start until November 19, 2010. This
is one of the ways for all of us to be better prepared for the Winter
Retreat. With kind help from number of dedicated lay friends, we now
have two stairs outside for the new building. The stairs were made
with much love and joy and it is our hope to continue to nourish the
love and the joy daily with our mindful steps. The sound of chainsaw
is going nonstop these last few days. We are in the process of
clearing the woods and getting ready to start building a hut for our
Teacher. The colorful leaves are there to help us enjoying the wonders
of life and “listening” to the chainsaw calling us back to our true
home.
As mentioned above, quite numbers of changes are currently taking
place at Magnolia Grove Monastery, especially for this Winter Retreat.
One of the changes we happily share with you is there will be live
Dharma talk given by the residential monastics at least once a month
and also a session of Questions and Answers with the monastics on
Sundays, Day of Mindfulness.
We would like to share with you the upcoming events at Magnolia Grove
Monastery:

• This upcoming Sunday November 21, 2010, Sister Tuc Nghiem & Brother
Phap Nha are giving the Dharma talk in Vietnamese, English translation
will be available.
• Thursday November 25, 2010 is also a day of mindfulness and there
will be a Thanksgiving celebration for us all to take time expressing
our gratitude to the people we love, to the land and to numerous
living beings. The day starts at 9:00am with walking meditation and
ends around 4:00pm with sharing.
• On Sunday November 28, 2010 is also another Day of Mindfulness & the
Dharma talk will be given by Sister Hy Nghiem in Vietnamese, English
translation will be available. This day is a continuation of Thursday
November 25, 2010. We are aware number of our friends will not be able
to join us for Thanksgiving Day. Therefore, we extend the Thanksgiving
Celebration to Sunday for those who cannot come on Thursday.
o Below is the schedule for the Days of Mindfulness:
 9:00am- walking meditation
 10:00am – Dharma talk
 11:30am- Dharma sharing (November 21) / the recitation of the Five
Mindfulness Trainings (November 28)
 12:30pm- Formal lunch
 2:30pm- Special Be-In (sharing time) (Thursday 11/25 & Sunday 11/28)

We warmly invite you to join us for these joyful days as a way to
continue nourishing the wholesome seeds in each one of us and to walk
on the path of mindful living together as a spiritual family.

If you plan to come, please contact us so that we can best prepare for
your visit. We look forward to seeing you. May your heart be filled
with happiness, peace and love.

A lotus for you,
A Buddha to be,

The Brothers & Sisters of Magnolia Grove Monastery

123 Towles Rd.
Batesville, MS. 38606
(662) 578-2077
Off...@magnoliavillage.org