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Ann Arbor

Welcome to the Jewel Heart Ann Arbor Chapter Webpage! 

HIGHLIGHTS FOR ANN ARBOR PROGRAMS & SANGHA ACTIVITIES 

For more details, including Jan – Apr  2025 programs, scroll further below

JEWEL HEART SUNDAY PROGRAMS – Local/National, onsite/online

Ancient Wisdom. Modern Times. with Demo Rinpoche. Free weekly Sunday Talks, 11:00am – 12:00pm, Onsite/online. All welcome. Onsite, tea/snacks and optional discussion follows the morning talk. Please note there will be no live onsite/online Sunday talk on Sunday, December 29 and January 5, due to the Holiday Intensive Retreat on December 29 and the center closed for the holiday on January 5.  Recordings will be posted on the Ancient Wisdom. Modern Times. webpage for viewers convenience. 

White Tara Guided Meditation.  Free Sundays, 9:30 – 10:30am. Onsite/online. All welcome. Click to explore the White Tara Meditations/Practice webpage. Please note there will be no onsite/online White Tara sessions on December 29 and January 5.  Resumes on January 12.  

JEWEL HEART ANN ARBOR DHARMA PROGRAMS – Sept – Dec 2024 

MONTHLY LAMA CHOPA & TSOH –  Join us onsite/online on Saturday, December 21 at 7:00pm for the annual Je Tsongkhapa Day Lama Chopa & Tsoh with lots of brilliant candles and lights. Click to participate by Zoom.

Looking ahead to 2025, we will meet monthly, onsite only, on the 10th lunar day at 6:00pm with Lama Chopa practice and tsoh. Jadal Tulku will lead the sessions. First session is January 9.

OPEN MEDITATION is on break.

JEWEL HEART ANN ARBOR DHARMA PROGRAMS – Jan – Apr 2025

Looking ahead, Jewel Heart Ann Arbor will offer two Jewel Heart Courses beginning in January and relying on the new email registration system.
 

CREATING SPACE: Clarity & Insight through Meditation – Mondays, January 6 – February 3, 2025,  7:00 – 8:30pm. No session January 20, due to holiday. FREE, Registration required Meditation provides us with a clear stable mind, necessary for a happy life as well as the foundation for deepening our spiritual journey. This is a condensed four week course, offering hands-on experience with all of the basic elements of meditation – attention to breath, posture, plus techniques for coping with distractions and laxity of mind. All levels of experience are welcome. Facilitators – John Madison and Wendy Weiner. Click here to register. 

SEM – THE NATURE OF MIND
Wednesdays, January 8 – March 19, 7pm – 8:30pm
*No class February 19
This course addresses the relationship between energy and mind, the mind’s capacity for liberation and wisdom and continuity of consciousness, as well as highlighting the mind as an object of concentrated meditation. Discussion group format including concentrated meditation, presentation, and guided analytical meditation.
Facilitators: Elizabeth Hurwitz and Helen Breault. Click here to register. 
 

GOM: DAY OF MEDITATION – Saturdays, January 25 and March 22, 2025, 9:00am – 5:00pm. FREE

Meditation is an essential tool to help develop peace, joy, concentration and wisdom. GOM Days provide an opportunity to participate in silent group meditation sessions. Instructors will provide light guidance and will be available for assistance. Participants are welcome to come and go as suits their personal schedules throughout the day. Click here to register. 

JEWEL HEART ANN ARBOR SANGHA ACTIVITIES – Sept – Dec 2024 

TAI CHI – Sunday Tai Chi has returned to 4:00 – 5:00pm. $5 per session.  Tai Chi will meet on January 5.

LOVING KINDNESS CRAFTERS – Monthly Sundays, December 22, 1:00pm A special “heads-up invite” for onsite participants to join the Loving Kindness Crafters and help complete the patient blankets being made. They will be delivered to U of M’s End of Life. No experience necessary – just cutting the cloth edges and tying.

YOGA STRETCH WITH SAMANTHA LIEBERMAN – Weekly Thursdays, 9:15 – 10:15am  No session December 26.

LOOKING AHEAD – Beginning Friday, January 3, 2025, 9:30am, Samantha Lieberman is moving her weekly STRETCH program to Jewel Heart. Come educate yourself on the how, the why and the importance of stretching. $17 per session. More details soon.

FREE FILM & DISCUSSION – Monthly Fridays, 7:00pm – December 13: Civilization of Maxwell Bright.  

HAPPY HIKERS – Monthly Saturdays. December 21 – Bird Hills Nature Area, 1850 Newport Rd, Ann Arbor, MI 48103. Check the weather to plan appropriately. 

ANN ARBOR SANGHA COUNCIL MEETINGS –  Tuesday, January 7, 5:45pm. All are welcome.

Please check here for onsite cancellations during inclement weather.

Jewel Heart Ann Arbor local program questions – write [email protected] or call 734 994 3387.

Covid Guidelines

Jewel Heart was founded in Ann Arbor in 1988. We were privileged to receive the late Kyabje Gelek Rimpoche’s teachings on a regular basis, and the privilege continues with Jewel Heart’s Spiritual Director, Demo Rinpoche. Jewel Heart also hosts many other preeminent teachers and scholars in Tibetan Buddhism.

Read More about the Ann Arbor Chapter…

In 2008, we were honored when His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama accepted Jewel Heart’s invitation to teach in Ann Arbor and inaugurated our spacious new location at 1129 Oak Valley Drive.

Throughout the year, we offer retreats, courses, guest speakers, workshops, and talks geared to help individuals bring peace, joy, and understanding into their lives and the lives of others. Jewel Heart offerings are based on the authentic and accessible teachings of Demo Rinpoche, Jewel Heart’s Resident Spiritual Advisor and the late Kyabje Gelek Rimpoche, founder of Jewel Heart.

When fully open for onsite participation, we hold film nights, a book group, a knitting group, tai chi classes, and community events, such as potlucks, a community garden, and fun-raisers. We are also involved in outreach activities, providing classes in mindfulness meditation to prisoners and living will workshops offered by Jewel Heart Health Center and Community Hospice.

The Jewel Heart Store, located at Jewel Heart Ann Arbor, sells books, transcripts, Tibetan rugs, and dharma objects. Jewel Heart Ann Arbor also has a main assembly hall, multiple rooms for courses, kitchen and dining facilities, and green space with a pond.

If you have questions about local programming, please email [email protected]or call 734 994 3387.

Arbor Farms
Don’t forget to do your grocery shopping at Arbor Farms and 3% will be donated to Jewel Heart.
 
Facebook Chapter Link

 

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Location and Events

View Location

View Calendar of Events

Archived Programs

Contact

Phone:
(734) 994-3387

Email:
[email protected]

Location and Events

View Location

View Calendar of Events

Archived Programs

Contact

Phone:
(734) 994-3387

Email:
[email protected]

Ann Arbor Programs Jan – April 2025

UPDATE – WE NOW HAVE AN ONLINE REGISTRATION PROCESS FOR ANN ARBOR  ONSITE-ONLY DHARMA COURSES BEGINNING JANUARY 2025

For your convenience,  scroll below for January – April 2025 Onsite Dharma Programs.

CREATING SPACE: Clarity & Insight through Meditation – Mondays, January 6 – February 3, 2025,  7:00 – 8:30pm. No session January 20, due to holiday. FREE, Registration required

Meditation provides us with a clear stable mind, necessary for a happy life as well as the foundation for deepening our spiritual journey. This is a condensed four week course, offering hands-on experience with all of the basic elements of meditation – attention to breath, posture, plus techniques for coping with distractions and laxity of mind. All levels of experience are welcome. Facilitators – John Madison and Wendy Weiner. Click here to register. 

GOM: DAY OF MEDITATION – Saturdays, January 25 and March 22, 2025, 9:00am – 5:00pm. FREE

Meditation is an essential tool to help develop peace, joy, concentration and wisdom. GOM Days provide an opportunity to participate in silent group meditation sessions. Instructors will provide light guidance and will be available for assistance. Participants are welcome to come and go as suits their personal schedules throughout the day. Click here to register. 

SEM: THE NATURE OF MIND – Wednesdays, March 6 – May 7, , 20257:00 – 8:30pm. No session February 19.  Jewel Heart Members FREE, Non-Members $40 or Pay what you can

This course addresses the relationship between energy and mind, the mind’s capacity for liberation, wisdom, and continuity of consciousness, as well as highlighting the mind as an object of concentrated meditation.

The course format includes: Reading assignments based on Gelek Rimpoche’s SEM transcript, and sessions that include concentrated meditation, facilitator presentations, group  discussion, and guided analytical meditation. Visit the Jewel Heart store onsite to purchase the SEM paperback transcript or the Jewel Heart Store online to purchase the SEM downloadable digital pdf.  Click here to register. 

MONTHLY LAMA CHOPA AND TSOHS – Meeting onsite on the 10th lunar day monthly at 6:00pm with Lama Chopa Practice and Tsohs. Jadal Tulku will lead the sessions. Schedule coming soon.

CHANTING WORKSHOP WITH JADAL TULKU (Tulku-la) on the Long Life prayer and mandala offering for Tokden Rinpoche – Onsite only, Sunday, October 27, 2024, 2:00pm.

MANDALA OFFERING WORKSHOPS with Jadal Tulku  

Jadal Tulku, known to most of us as Tulku-la, will offer a few informal sessions on how to make mandala offerings, from the simple 4 line verse with hand mudra to the more elaborate 37 heaps mandala offering.  These will take place on Sundays, from 3 pm – 4 pm in an informal style, onsite only and not recorded, starting Sunday June 30, 2024 at Jewel Heart.

Stay tuned for future offerings.

GOM DAY OF MEDITATION  – FREE, All Levels Welcome!

Meditation is an essential tool that helps develop peace, joy, concentration and wisdom. The day includes practice sessions with light guidance.  Instructors available for assistance. Silence will be enjoyed throughout.
Saturday, September 28, 2024 9:00 am – 5:00 pm

No registration required. Come when you can.

Detailed Schedule

9:00am-10:30am session, 10:30am-11:00am break/questions
11:00am-12:30pm session, 12:30pm-1:00pm break/questions
1:00am-2:30pm session, 2:30pm-3:00pm break/questions
3:00am-4:30pm session, 4:30pm-5:00pm break/questions
You are welcome to meditate through break if you choose.

ATTAINING LASTING SATISFACTION  

This course is based on the newly released transcript from Gelek Rimpoche talks on the qualities of a genuine spiritual path, on how it can bring us closer to our pure nature and help us attain lasting satisfaction in this lifetime. Facilitators Wendy Weiner and Joseph Breault.

Wednesdays, June 5 – July 31 & September 4 – October 16, 2024 No sessions July 3, 24
Onsite only, 7:00 – 8:30pm
Members Free/Non-Members $75 donation. No one turned away, pay what you can.

For questions, write [email protected]

ANCIENT WISDOM. MODERN TIMES. WITH DEMO RINPOCHE

Join Demo Rinpoche for weekly public talks on a variety of topics based on Buddhist wisdom that remains relevant for modern life. Followed by optional facilitated group discussion, onsite and online.

Sundays Weekly 11:00am – 12:00pm, FREE, Onsite and Online – No sessions, October 6 due to Fall Seminar. As well as November 10, 17 and 24. Earlier recordings will be posted on the Ancient Wisdom. Modern Times. webpage on those dates to view at your convenience. Live Sunday talks will resume on December 1.

WHITE TARA GUIDED MEDITATION

Tara, mother goddess of Tibetan Buddhism, is known for her quick and compassionate activity. White Tara is particularly associated with healing and long life. These guided meditations use visualization techniques to overcome physical, mental, and emotional suffering.

Sundays Weekly, 9:30 – 10:30am, Online/Onsite – No session October 6 due to Fall Seminar, as well as November 10, 17 and 24. White Tara guided meditations will resume on December 1.

Ann Arbor Sangha Activities Jan – April 2025

HOLIDAY PIE & BAKE SALE – Sunday December 15, following the Sunday talk

LOVING KINDNESS CRAFTERS – Fourth Sunday Monthly, 1:00pm
DATES: September 22, October 27,  December 22.  No session in November

Interested in knitting, sewing, quilting, baking or other crafts? No knowledge necessary, beginners and experts and all between are welcome. The crafters will be creating Tie Blankets using Polarfleece. They will be delivered for patients of U of M’s End of Life support.

TAI CHI – Sundays Weekly, 3:00 – 4:00pm – Note the new time
Learn and practice Wu Style Tai Chi Chan with instructor Marilyn Feingold.
DATES: September 1,8, 15, 22, 29, December 1, 8, 15, 22. No sessions October 6 through November 24, and December 29.
COST: Drop-in, $5 per session at the door.

OPEN MIC@JEWEL HEART – Second Sunday Monthly, 6:00pm Sign-up  5:30pm.

DATES:  September 8, October 13, November 3, December 8

All welcome. Email [email protected].  Donations welcome.

LOCATION: 1129 Oak Valley Drive, Ann Arbor, 48108

HATHA YOGA WITH SAMANTHA LIEBERMAN – Thursdays Weekly, 9:15 – 10:15am
DATES: August 8, 15, 22, 29. September 5, 12, 19, 26, October 3, 10, 17, 24, 31, November 7, 14, 21, December 5, 12, 19  No sessions November 28, December 26.
COST: Drop-in $15 per session – First visit FREE! Cash or Venmo at door. Seniors receive 10% discount. Discounted packages available. Bring your own mats.

Sam Lieberman has been practicing yoga since 1988. She received teacher trainings in Yoga Fit and Yoga Medics. Yoga Medics is a medical model approach with emphasis on alignment and therapeutic needs.

FREE FILM AND DISCUSSION – Fridays Monthly, 7:00pm

Bring friends and enjoy a free film &  follow up group discussion onsite. Free concessions available.

LOCATION: 1129 Oak Valley Drive, Ann Arbor 48108 – No film in November

September 13 – LIFE AND TIMES OF ALLEN GINSBERG (2013) One of America’s greatest poets, and a leader of the Beat Generation; this is the story of Allen Ginsberg, and his close friendships with William S. Burroughs and Jack Kerouac.
Ginsberg challenged the conformity of the 50s, which allowed the protests of the 60s to develop. He and his group joined with Timothy Leary and transformed him. Ginsberg’s role in the infamous protests at the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago shows him as brave face of calm in a violent time.

October 11 – HECTOR and the SEACH for HAPPINESS  (2014) Disillusioned psychiatrist Hector confesses to his girlfriend that he feels like a fraud for dispensing recommendations to patients who never seemed to improve or get happier. He considers breaking out of his lackluster routine. Summoning up some courage, Hector gives his starved curiosity free reign and embarks on an international quest to find the right formula to bring him joy and vitality.

December 13 – THE CIVILIZATION OF MAXWELL BRIGHT.(2005) After a series of bad relationships, a man orders a mail order bride and receives more than he bargained for. She was everything he wanted and nothing he expected.

SANGHA GAME NIGHT – Friday, September 27, 6:30 – 9:30pm
LOCATION: Jewel Heart Cafe, 1129 Oak Valley Drive, Ann Arbor 48108
Everyone is invited to bring a favorite game or two, otherwise take their chances with what others bring. A few games anticipated are – Uno and variants, Codenames, Splendor, Pictionary, Monikers Late arrivals welcome.

In general, it is anticipated someone will join a group of 3-6 people and agree to a game for 30-60 minutes. One person will take the lead explaining the game and facilitating game play. Then a NEW game is selected by someone else for variety as people move in or out as desired.
People sharing their favorite games and learning new games is encouraged. Snacks will be provided.

 HAPPY HIKERS – 3rd Saturday Monthly at various Ann Arbor parks, 1:30 – 2:30pm

DATES/LOCATIONS: No hike in November

September 21 – Marshall Nature Area, Freeman Red & Yellow Loop, 3355 N Dixboro Rd, 48105

October 19 – Lilly Park-South Trails Loop, 4365 Platt Rd, Ann Arbor, MI 48108 (map)

December 21 – Bird Hills Nature Area, 1850 Newport Rd, Ann Arbor, MI 48103, USA (map).

Questions? Contact Heather MacKenzie at [email protected] for information.

DHARMA DISC’ERS DISC GOLF – Saturday Afternoons Monthly, 2:00pm – 4:00pm – New and experienced players welcome!

DATES: Saturday, August 24, Sunday, September 22. NOTE: October will be our last session in 2024 and we will meet on Sunday, October 27. This closing session will include some unique prizes. Join the fun! New players are always welcome.
LOCATION: Mary Beth Doyle Park, 3500 Birch Hollow Drive, Ann Arbor 48108. Meet in parking lot adjacent to swing set.
Instructions – Time of play is usually 1-3 hours, depending on number in group and how many holes we play. Typically 18 holes but you can also play 9 or however many you like.
Wear good hiking shoes with a good gripping sole as ground may be muddy. Discs will be available to use for the day. If you have your own discs (or plan to purchase a starter set), please bring your own. You might also want to bring a small bag or backpack to carry your discs.
Note: Play is weather permitting. Please check this webpage first.
Contact: [email protected]

 

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