February 2018 Newsletter Members Celebrate the New Year On New Year s Eve, a small group of members got together to celebrate the level passing of several members and also to throw away 2017. We went around the room saying what we were glad to throw away from 2017, what we were grateful for from 2017, and anything we looked forward to in 2018. Then we toasted the new year at midnight! Thank you Universe! Visits to Korea Main Center Inside this issue: A Month of Service 2 Photos! 3 About the Brooklyn Meditation Center Words from Seuseungnim (founder) Meet a Member 5 4 4 This month, we had a group of members going at the same time! Some of those members include Pam, Melissa, Yunin, Jiya, Aisilda, Sharon, Francina, and Pearl. Members select to go to speed up the completion process. A week at the main center is the equivalent of meditating in Brooklyn for a month. Here is a photo of some of them at the airport! What s New at the Center 5
A Month of Service We are the Universe, we live for others and not ourselves. In late December and January, members and helpers helped others in the community. Clothing Collection and Donations In late December a campaign to collect coats, scarves, gloves, and toiletries for Camba was initiated. Some members brought donations, others sorted through it to determine what to donate and what to (literally) throw away! We also collected $220 to buy new clothes. The Universe mind is selfless and generous. We are still taking donations! Bring toiletries, coats, scarves, and gloves. Joyous members sorting donated cloth- Members, Elizabeth & Heather at CHIPS Feeding the Hungry The holidays and winter are both hard times for people to be in need. This is why members and helpers went to serve and eat dinner with those in need at St George Episcopal Church in Flushing. In January, level 4 members and helpers started volunteering at Chips in Park Slope (picture to the left) to help prepare and serve meals to the hungry. Our plan was for this to be ongoing, however a pipe burst at Chips. We are looking for ideas of what else we can do! Looking Ahead A Fundraiser to Help People Meditate A lot of people who want to meditate can not necessarily afford it. Here at Brooklyn Meditation, we want to encourage those people to meditate by providing a scholarship fund. On Saturday March 24th from Noon to 5pm we will have a Brunch Fundraising Event at Shane's Cafe in Prospect Heights Brooklyn. DJ Magz will provide music for the afternoon. There will be a suggested donation of $10 for the the Brooklyn Meditation Scholarship Fund and Park Slope Women's Shelter. Eat brunch, listen to cool tunes, and help others complete! Do you have any other ways that you think Brooklyn Meditation Center can help the community? If so, reach out to CJ or Elizabeth!
Members of other centers and various helpers volunteering Christmas Eve Members who had been to Korea came back to share their experience and recommend it to others
About the Brooklyn Meditation Center Open Hours Monday Friday 8:30 am 10 pm Our Regular Events Monthly retreats every month we have an all-day retreat in our Brooklyn location. During the retreats members share information and skills with each other, meditate, and share food. It is a chance to learn, grow, and meditate together. Summer gatherings across the region in the summer every month during the weekend, we meet with other meditation centers in New York and New Jersey. It is a chance to meet new and more like-minded people, and also have fun meditating, eating, and playing together. Fall marketing across the region in the Fall, meditation center helpers go on a scheduled rotation to visit another center to help spread the great news about this form of meditation and its remarkable benefits to people. Helpers also come to this center from other centers to help out! Parties! - We celebrate holidays and members milestones (level passings) on a regular basis year-round. Words from Seuseungnim (founder) Emptying the Mind The mind does not really exist. That it does not exist means it exists. Though this may seem to mean two completely different things, Polarities always coincide. Emptying the mind does not mean emptying a mind that never existed; it means to eliminate the individual mind. The individual does not exist. But because he has a life, he has a mind, which means that mind that thought mass is his self. And that self was created In other words, his thought-mass became imminent Due to his karma and habits Therefore emptying the mind means Becoming free of the thought mass.
Meet a Member Nathalie My husband once told me something that infuriated me. He told me that I was the main reason for my negative state of mind, not him, not our kids, not anyone else. It was difficult for me to understand and accept that statement at the time, but he was right. I was angry because I was allowing myself to feel that way. I was disappointed, frustrated and upset because I had expectations that were not fulfilled. I had expectations because of what I recorded in my mind from things that I saw, heard, read or experienced from childhood onward. When I started meditating, I learned how to get rid of the countless images that were registered into my brain. Slowly, the incessant thoughts that clouded my mind and made me feel and act like an out of control lunatic started to vanish. After a few weeks of meditating, I noticed that my emotions were becoming less intense and the angry outbursts, less frequent. I am grateful that I found this center which provided me with a method to permanently clear my mind. Moreover, I not only feel like a member of an extended family but I also like who I am becoming. I am on an exciting path: one that leads to freedom, freedom from my demons, freedom from my delusions; a path that leads to inner peace, a path that leads to peaceful bliss. News from the Center So many changes! We want to keep everyone informed. Ben has left the Brooklyn Center for a center in Queens. Good luck Ben! We have so many members that we now have a coat closet! It is through the door before the hallway. Thanks Universe! Helpers around the world attended Truth Coming Day. All New York centers closed on January 26-27 for Truth Coming Day, the day that marks when our Founder first created the method for completion. We are hoping the helpers and level 7 or above students had a good time and came back with more ways to serve the Universe. An excerpt of a quote from Jose, who attended, is: Going there to meet so many brothers and sisters showed me, and made me understand that coexistence is real. People can actually live together in the world. So let s get there as fast as we can because we want to live in the world for real. Potential book drive coming soon! Speak to Heather if you want to get involved with this idea. South Street Seaport Museum is looking for volunteers. Talk to or email Diana if interested (dianacombs2016@outlook.com)