Change in April schedule

The all-day sitting scheduled for April 16th has been canceled due to a change in schedule at Stillpoint in Pittsburgh.

Zen priest Catherine Gannon, a student of Tenshin Reb Anderson, a senior Zen teacher and former abbot of the San Francisco Zen Center and in the lineage of Shunryu Suzuki Roshi, will be holding the last of a series of zazenkai on Dogen Zenji's Genjokoan. This event was initially scheduled for the 9th, but has been moved. We are canceling our event and encouraging folks to participate in the one in Pittsburgh instead.

The link above will take you to Stillpoint's web site -- note that as of this posting the site has not yet been updated with the new date, which was sent out today on Stillpoint's email list.

Another Tuesday Night

If you are interested in learning about Buddhist practice and meditation, you're invited to join us at the Lundy House in downtown St. Clairsville at 7pm tonight.

Tuesday Evening Meditation

We will be meeting again on Tuesday evening at our Lundy House location in St. Clairsville. Newcomers are welcome -- click on the "When" link on the web site for the schedule, and the "Where" link to access a map to our location.

First Zazenkai

We held our first zazenkai at BBC today -- sparsely attended, but a good start.

All-day meditation sessions are generally going to be held every third Saturday, though there may end up being some pre-announced adjustments or cancellations. We selected the third Saturday to avoid conflicting with the weekend schedule at Stillpoint in Pittsburgh.

We ask that anyone interested in attending one of these sessions come to a Tuesday evening first, though anyone experienced with meditation and familiar with Soto forms should contact us about joining in.

Tuesday Evening Meditation

This coming Tuesday at 7pm we will be meeting for meditation at our Lundy House location in St. Clairsville. We are expecting a few first-timers, so in addition to getting to know each other we will be watching part of a video entitled "The Still Point," created by Zen Mountain Monastery and featuring their late teacher John Daido Loori Roshi. The video explains basic meditation techniques, as taught in the Zen tradition. This would be a good opportunity for anyone new to meditation to learn the basics. All are invited!

BBC Goes International

Belmont Buddhist Community is now listed in the World Buddhist Directory, a global database of Buddhist practice centers maintained by a community of monks in Australia. Click on the post title above to see our entry.

Welcome to our new website...

The Belmont Buddhist Community is a new and experimental endeavor, intended to create a home in the upper Ohio Valley where people interested in the practices and teaching of the Buddha can come together for mutual support.

We invite you to explore our web site to learn more about the Community and its goals. If you like what you see, please consider visiting one of our Tuesday evening sessions. Visit the When page for more information about our schedule of events.

Upcoming retreats at other venues:

A retreat with Edward Espe Brown, Zen priest and author of the well-known Tassajara cookbooks: April 8-10 in Cleveland. For more information, visit <http://tinyurl.com/ed-brown-cleveland-2011>

A retreat with Tenshin Reb Anderson, a senior Zen teacher and former abbot of the San Francisco Zen Center and in the lineage of Shunryu Suzuki Roshi: May 6-11 at Kearns Spirituality Center near Pittsburgh. For more information, visit <http://gallery.mailchimp.com/6a2ab87b2bba23f35ee08de60/files/2011_Reb_Retreat_Registration_v2.pdf>