Sacred Earth Sangha: Central Park Meet Up
with Sebene Selassie, Lin Gordon and Jon Aaron
Sunday, October 11th, 2020 | 10:00am-1:00pm
For the October Sacred Earth Sangha meeting, join us in Central Park to immerse in nature practices to connect with the outdoor environment and your senses. From focusing on a single leaf to the expansive sky, our sense of separateness falls away when we turn our attention toward our experiences intimately.
We will practice from 10am-12pm, then share lunch together as a community.
For planning and health purposes, please register in advance as we need you to fill out your travel history and a health declaration form in advance, and manage a potential waitlist.
Note on travel: If you have travelled outside the countries or states where you are required to quarantine for 14 days after your return, and you have not completed this quarantine period by the day of the event, please abstain from attending the event. This will help lower the risk of exposure of COVID-19 to the community.
We look forward to exploring our inner and outer world together with you in nature.
Location:
Meet at 9:45am at Central Park (100th St. and Central Park West)
We will remain 6 feet apart in gathering and will wear masks. To prevent in-person transmission, bandanas and loose face covering are not accepted as masks.
Please cancel and request a refund if you have any symptoms listed by the CDC as COVID symptoms. At the event you will be requested to sign a health declaration form and a waiver.
Maximum participants: 20 people
Please bring:
-Mask
-Water
-A brown bag lunch
-Sitting prop if needed (bench, yoga mat, etc.)
Fee by donation: Suggested starting donation is $15.
Make a Donation
Please note that this meeting will be limited to 20 participants. Please register below to reserve your spot.
If you are using a mobile device such as a phone or tablet, you can scroll right and left and up and down within the form below if it is partially obscured or cut off. Please contact registration@nyimc.org if you need assistance.
Teacher(s)
Sebene Selassie
Sebene Selassie is a teacher, author and speaker who explores the themes of belonging and identity through meditation, creativity and spirituality. Born in Ethiopia and raised in Washington DC, Sebene began studying Buddhism 30 years ago as an undergraduate at McGill University where she majored in Comparative Religious Studies. She has an MA from the New School where she focused on race and cultural studies. For over 20 years Sebene worked with children, youth, and families nationally and internationally for small and large not-for-profits. She has been teaching classes, workshops and retreats for the past decade. Sebene is a three-time cancer survivor of Stage III and IV breast cancer. Her first book is You Belong: A Call for Connection (HarperOne).
Lin Wang Gordon
Lin has dedicated over a decade to studying insight meditation (Vipassana) and has recently deepened her practice through the Tibetan Dzogchen traditions. Through her meditation journey, she discovers the transformative power of Buddhist philosophy and practices to help live a life of flow, joy, wonder, and resilience.
She graduated from Mark Coleman’s Awake in the Wild Nature Meditation Teacher Training in 2017 and is currently enrolled in the Community Dharma Leaders Program (CDL7) at the Spirit Rock Meditation Center. Lin has gained experience leading ecodharma retreats and co-founded the Sacred Earth Sangha of the New York Insight Meditation Center. In addition to sharing earth-based practices and ecodharma, she hopes to guide others in meditation to foster inner transformation and cultivate a deeper sense of purpose and belonging in everyday life.
Lin has served on the Board of the New York Insight Meditation Center and the Rocky Mountain Ecodharma Retreat Center. linwanggordon.com
Jon Aaron
Jon Aaron is a Dharma and mindfulness teacher based in New York and Chicago. Since 2006, he has taught at the New York Insight Meditation Center, offering Dharma and MBSR classes. He regularly leads retreats around the U.S. He is primarily grounded in the Theravāda tradition, alongside non-dual and Mahayana approaches. His teaching emphasizes integrating Dharma and mindfulness into daily life to foster clarity in addressing personal and social challenges. His teachers include Matthew Flickstein and, more recently, Kittisaro and Thanissara through their Dharmapala program. Jon also studied contemplative care at the Zen Center for Contemplative Care and completed the Integrated Study and Practice program at the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies. He is a certified MBSR teacher and teacher trainer and a Somatic Experience Practitioner®. In response to the pandemic, he and his partner, Upayadhi, launched the Space2Meditate community, offering daily meditation since March 2020. Additionally, he co-hosts the podcast Diggin’ the Dharma with scholar Doug Smith, now in its third season. JonAaron.net
Stephen Roylance
Stephen Roylance has been birding since he was 10 and has since birded in Ecuador, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Panama, Alaska, and Newfoundland. He has witnessed birding migration patterns changing due to global warming. He first confronted the tragic relationship between birds and the destruction of the environment with the extinction of the Dusky Seaside Sparrow in 1987. Since then, he’s seen a decline of too many bird species. His personal experience in seeing this decline has led him to get in touch with the very real grief we all experience when we understand what global warming means for our planet. This grief, he believes, is the touchstone to action, but only if we allow ourselves to access it.