Bodhisara Dharma Community

03/25/2026

Join us for "Entering the Temple of Surrender."

We live in a culture that values doing, achievement, and effort. What about the other half of life--relaxing, enjoying, not doing, and yielding to what we can't do or change? Moments of surrender can be profoundly transformative, places where the ego bows and reality sometimes brings us to our knees. In this course, we will explore surrender in many forms, distinguish it from collapse and passivity, and examine how genuine doing arises from surrender. Each class includes 30 minutes of guided meditation and an hour of teaching and dialogue. Those who practice meditation daily as a part of the course will benefit the most.

Tuesday evenings, 7:00-8:30 pm
April 7-June 2 (8 sessions with no class May 5)
Online via Zoom
Cost: $120
Register here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfkQnemNfTPFGu1VpCNGMsRVbrFiO-pn3i2DTTCe0AX4o2ZjQ/viewform

01/19/2026

Join us for Tuesdays mediattion with Mark:
Join us to cultivate a sense of wonder—an awe-filled presence that opens the heart and releases daily anxieties. Each class features a 30-minute guided meditation followed by an hour of teaching and dialogue.

Tuesday evenings, 7:00-8:30 pm
February 10-March 31 (8 weeks)
Online via Zoom
Cost: $120
Registration: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdgTSNpoU7jS5cHyiCJxE-018dr3zJU4wPGmsKVETEug46NDg/viewform

11/30/2025

Join us:

A MEDITATION RETREAT FOR THE NEW YEAR
Moving Toward the Light:

The quiet time after the holiday bustle and the beginning of the New Year is an excellent time to take time out to be

In silence, rest in our being, connect with our depths, and be in the company of others doing the same. Out of this

simple moment-to-moment presence with things as they are, we more easily move toward the light of truth
kindness, and skillful action, however, those need to appear at this time in our lives.

The venue for the retreat will again be The Hitchcock Center, a lovely, light-filled space built and operated sustainably. If a structure in the 21st Century can embody goodness, this is it. I'm grateful we can use it. We'll meet Friday evening, 7-9 pm, Saturday 9 am-5 pm, and Sunday 9 am-noon

Register here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeGAeGhb0kHPe3IFvcfAw5lIHu8xp40tt3IBUJUTFulez3Lxw/viewform

10/27/2025

Save the date:
The Bodhisara Dharma Community will be sponsoring a Circle of Gratitude, an in-person community event on Monday evening, November 24, 5-7 pm, at the Hadley Public Library. Could you mark it on your calendar? Please bring a guest if you know someone interested.

We'll meet informally for a time for tea, snacks, and conversation from 5:00 to 5:30 pm, so you will have time to connect with people you may haven't seen for a while in person. Then at 5:30 we'll gather to meditate together for 15 minutes, followed by sharing in the circle on the theme of gratitude until shortly before 7 when the library closes.

Come with stories, poems, reflections, or just yourself. The event is free and there is no need to register. Just come.

10/27/2025

Join us:
Compassion: The Skill of Being with Suffering
on Tuesday evenings, 7:00-8:30 pm via Zoom

Being with suffering--one's own or others--can be challenging. A middle path of skillful and heart-centered presence lies between, on the one hand, blending, identifying, and being dragged down in the process, and, on the other hand, staying aloof and denying it. We'll explore that middle path and flex our compassion muscles in the concrete situations of our lives where we are touched by suffering. Each class includes 30 minutes of guided meditation and an hour of teaching and dialogue. Those who practice meditation daily as a part of the course will benefit the most.

November 11-December 16
Online via Zoom
Cost: $90

Register here:

Thank you for joining our meditation course November 11-December 16 Please fill out our registration form.

09/02/2025

Join us for our Tuesday night meditation class:
Tuesday evenings, 7-8:30 pm
September 16-November 4
Online through Zoom

Relaxation, restoration, healing, presence, and wisdom come as we shift from doing, controlling, and protecting to simply being, dropping into our bodies and felt experiences. This eight-week course offers practice, teaching, and group support for that shift anytime.

Each class includes 30 minutes of guided meditation followed by teaching and dialogue. Students will gain the most who do a daily practice of meditation during the course.

Register: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSf6H4fSmbk-5PMRfA2onT4L15LgSo78e6S1OU3oR0u0WX40Xg/viewform

03/29/2025

Tenderness

Tuesdays, March 25-May 13
7:00-8:30 pm
online through Zoom
Suggested donation: $100

What is the skill of approaching our world with kindness and letting our hearts be touched by what we encounter? In an eight-week course, we'll explore various aspects of this skill, practicing how to relax the energies that are vigilant and protective, to receive, and to allow the light of love to shine through. Each class will include 30 minutes of guided meditation, a talk, and a period of dialogue about what people are discovering.

Register here:

Thank you for joining our meditation course March 25-May 13 Please fill out our registration form.

03/29/2025

Thich Nhat Hanh reminded us, “Mindfulness must be engaged. Once there is seeing, there must be acting. Otherwise, what’s the use of seeing?”

12/10/2024

Join us for the New Year Retreat: "Standing in Goodness." By goodness, I mean both what the Buddha called kusala kamma, skillful or wholesome action, as well as the basic purity and goodness of awareness itself as it illuminates our hearts and actions. If you are like me, you may be finding it hard these days to stay grounded in a wholesome state of mind. Come and let's support each other in finding and standing in goodness as we face the challenges of this coming year.

The venue for the retreat will again be The Hitchcock Center, a lovely, light-filled space built and operated sustainably. If a structure in the 21st Century can embody goodness, this is it. I'm grateful we can use it. We'll meet Friday evening, 7-9 pm, Saturday 9 am-5 pm, and Sunday 9 am-noon.

Regiuster here:

Thank you for joining the Winter Retreat "Goodness" January 3-5. Please fill out our registration form. Space is limited, so reserve your slot by paying online or mailing your check.

11/06/2024

Goodwill: Key to Happiness and Liberation

Tuesdays, 7 -8:30 pm
November 12 through December 17
Online through Zoom
Suggested donation: $75

The attitude of goodwill opens the possibility of trusting relationships with others, of constructive conversation, of harmony and even friendship. Ill-will and fear closes those possibilities down. Goodwill is thus key to a happy social life. Goodwill pertains to how we meet everything inside us and thus is key to a happy inner life as well. This six-week course will explain the power of goodwill, how to cultivate it, and how it undoes prior negative conditioning (karma). Each class will include 30 minutes of guided meditation followed by teaching and dialogue with participants. Those who commit to daily meditation will benefit most from this class.

Thank you for joining our meditation course November 12 through December 17, 2024 Please fill out our registration form.

09/04/2024

The Art of Softening

Tuesday evenings, 7-8:30 pm
September 17-November 5
Online through Zoom
Suggested donation: $100 (Scholarships available)

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScqCK45GtswmNnk7IdnjFPUpmJhNvWZsxoRhMTSW8Rnt-S8Mw/viewform

Minds and hearts harden as we armor ourselves with views and opinions, defend ourselves emotionally from life's pain, attempt to control our experience, and feel separate from others.This course explores the path of softening amid our experience and the strength and wisdom found there. It brings softening into the practice of meditation to discover ease and openness of being. Each class includes 30 minutes of guided meditation followed by teaching and dialogue. Students will gain the most who do a daily practice of meditation during the course.

Thank you for joining our meditation course September 17-November 5, 2024 Please fill out our registration form.

09/04/2024

Join us:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSctsu8IWpehs_TLKz2RYvIepdhN_jWnVMhwjY8LxVgadVkukw/viewform
The Mount Mansfield Retreat is still open for registration. Join us for this time in the beautiful outdoor location of Underhill State Park at the base of Mt Mansfield, with a silent climb of the mountain on Saturday. Options are available if you aren't up for climbing. The retreat goes from Friday evening through late morning on Sunday, September 13-15.
This year's theme, "Aware and Attuned," uses the natural environment and our life in a camping community as supports for awakening. We will observe noble silence to be less distracted by socializing so we can be attuned in other ways. The combination of being outdoors, on the mountain, together in silence, and receiving instructions has proven over the 10 years we have been offering this experience to be a powerful catalyst for opening our hearts.

Filling out this form is Registration, Step # 1. Please note, your spot will be officially reserved when we receive the retreat fee. Step #2: $150/person should be sent to Peter Corbett, 2 Strong Avenue, Northampton, MA 01060 . Checks should be made out to Bodhisara Community. (You may include the e...