Hopefully you have a good start to 2024. We would like to thank you very much for the additional gifts which we received from many at the end of 2023 – many thanks! In this newsletter we focus on Irène Kaigetsu Bakker's live course. We pay attention to the first theme of 2024 of 'Buddhist Sound' with recommended viewing, listening and reading suggestions. In addition, we want to sit together for peace, sit for Gaza.

Sincerely,

Dirk & Joost

'Living with Dying' – February 1

Even though most people would rather not think about their own mortality, it is inescapable that this is the case for all of us. In February 2024 Irène Bakker will again give the 4-week Live Course 'Living with Dying'.

Points of interest will include:

• What really matters in my life?
• Can a lived awareness of impermanence be an invitation to live this precious, sometimes painful life to the fullest?
• How do I deal with fear of the death of myself or loved ones?
• How is death and dying viewed in Buddhism?
• How do I actually want to live 'between now…… and then'?

Live course by Irène Bakker
– 4 weeks of live sessions, recorded lectures and more.
– February 1 – February 27, 2024
– More information & registration: 30NOW.nl/leven-met-die

“Darling, life is like snow. You can't keep it”

– Herman van Veen –

Buddhist Sound

'Buddhist Sound' is a partnership of four Buddhist organizations: Bodhi, meditation platform 30NOW, NPO, Maitreya publishing house and De Boeddhistiek Blik. Every quarter we dive into a current theme together. With interactive lectures and meditations, documentaries that make you think, books that dig a little deeper and current journalistic articles, we offer depth and enrichment to our readers and listeners. In this way we want to make the Buddhist voice resonate more strongly in the public debate.

The theme of the first quartile of 2024 is eponymous with the title of the above-mentioned course: 'Living with Dying'. Below you will find a selection from the program.
For the full program, go to 30NOW.nl/buddhist-sound

Reading suggestion

“I have never lived as intensively as in the period surrounding the death of my son,” says Sebo Ebbens. After years of studying the Tibetan book of the dead, he was confronted with the practice. It resulted in a book and an oratorio. “When death comes close and you accept it, this creates great immediacy and an intense, open atmosphere.”

Read “There is a direct relationship between life and death” at Bodhi.

Viewing suggestion

In the West, death is regarded as something final. But a special Tibetan phenomenon shows that the boundary between life and death is sometimes not so clear. In tukdam, Buddhists die in a controlled manner in meditation and often remain sitting upright. The body shows no signs of decay for days. From the Tibetan Buddhist point of view, the person has not yet died, consciousness is present and protects the body from

dissolution. The film follows the first-ever scientific study of tuk dam, led by University of Wisconsin neuroscientist Richard Davidson.

View Tudam (52 min) at the NPO.

Listening suggestion

In podcast episode #38 we share an excerpt from one of Irène Kaigetsu Bakker's lectures from her live course 'Living With Dying'.

Listen to episode #38 via your favorite podcast app or 30NOW.nl/podcast

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Live tips

You can follow the following live sessions on the theme 'Living with Dying':

📅 Sunday, February 11 – Live Lecture 🔹 Topic: “He who is sick is also healthy – my father's optimistic deathbed” 🔹 Speaker: Ciska Matthews

📅 Sunday February 18 – Live Meditation 🔹 Topic: “Seeing and embracing temporality” 🔹 Facilitator: Katleen Janssens

📅 Thursday February 29 – Live Meditation 🔹 Topic: “Physical sensations of grief” 🔹 Facilitator: Maryvonne Verkerke

📅 Monday March 11 – Live Meditation 🔹 Topic: “Making friends with impermanence” 🔹 Facilitator: Frits Koster

The participation link and times can be found here 30NOW.nl/live
Live Meditations and Live Lectures are made possible with dana/ donations.

For Gaza

We pay attention to the suffering in Gaza. The Live Meditation of Monday, February 15 is dedicated to the theme “Sitting for Peace, Sitting for Gaza.” This Monday morning we sit in silence and open our hearts to all those suffering from the war in Gaza. As a sangha 30NOW we sit together for peace.

The participation link will appear on 30NOW.nl/live

Guest lecture January 14, 20:00 PM

Live Teaching by Andrea Fella: Exploring the Comings and Goings of Mindfulness

It is quite natural for mindfulness to come and go, we usually say this means the mind has wandered. We can learn a lot by being curious about how this happens, and what it feels like when mindfulness returns.

Andrea Fella teaches in Europe and the USA, for example: at Spirit Rock, Insight Meditation Society and Insight Meditation Center. She is especially drawn to the wisdom teachings of the Buddha. Her teachings emphasize clarity and practicality. Andrea loves to teach both residential retreat and a deep immersion of practice into our daily lives. Sayadaw U Tejaniya's teaching style has been very influential in the way she integrates retreat teaching and daily life teachings.

(This lecture is in English)