“Synchronicity, Non Dualism,

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1 NEWS, VIEWS AND VISIONS FROM T.P.A. SYRACUSE TRANSPERSONAL PSYCHOLOGY ASSOCIATION...SYRACUSE, NEW YORK TPA / P.O. BOX 122-TP / LIVERPOOL, NY 13088 FOUNDED 1979 www.tpasyracuse.yolasite.com IN THE SPIRIT VOLUME 32 NUMBER 5 MAY 2017 Join TPAs Facebook Page for last minute updates and much more! “Synchronicity, Non Dualism, and The Two Truths of Tibetan Buddhism” —Bob Yavits The 2 Truths of Tibetan Buddhism posit that we are living in two different realities simultaneous- ly. One is called Conventional, and the other is Ultimate. Could this be the cause of much our confusion in the world? What is the nature of Ultimate reality? What methods does Tibetan Buddhism recommend for navigating through each reality? How does all this relate to the na- ture of our "self" and is there a difference be- tween that "self" and the "Self" or the "Mind?" Join us for a discussion of how Tibetan Bud- dhism, Non-Dualism and Synchronicity can help us to answer these and other questions. Bob Yavits holds a BS in Psychology and an MS in Communication, both from Ithaca Col- lege. Bob has worked for nearly 30 years as an Instructional Software Specialist at Tompkins Cortland Community College, while maintaining a primary interest in philosophy and the mind. Bob discovered that by practicing what Bud- dhists call "right livelihood," he was able to con- tinue to explore the meaning and workings of the mind, from the point of view of Buddhism, Christianity, Hin- duism, Advaita Vedanta, Non- Duality, and the remarkable reve- lations of his own experience. Date: Saturday, May 20th Dinner: 6:00-7:00 Bring Food/drink to share. Meeting/Community: 7:00-7:30 Presentation: 7:30 Place: Carolyn Clarks 3178 Lords Hill Road South Onondaga 315-492-3070 Directions: Location for the meeting is at the corner of Nichols Rd. and Rt. 80 in South On- ondaga. From the city, you can follow Valley Drive due south for about 10 minutes. Watch the Rt. 80 signs as you enter the village. If youre coming over Onondaga Hill, follow Makeyes Road into the village, crossing the main street and following the RT. 80 signs. Carolyns white house appears just before the road rises to climb Lords Hill Road. Donation: $5.00 ay, June 24 Next Meeting: Saturday, June 24 38th Birthday Celebration & Drum Circle at Pam and Lou Rosatis home Drum Circle is dedicated to Mary Rocco Maitland

Transcript of “Synchronicity, Non Dualism,

Page 1: “Synchronicity, Non Dualism,

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NEWS, VIEWS AND VISIONS FROM T.P.A.

SYRACUSE TRANSPERSONAL PSYCHOLOGY ASSOCIATION...SYRACUSE, NEW YORK

TPA / P.O. BOX 122-TP / LIVERPOOL, NY 13088

FOUNDED 1979 www.tpasyracuse.yolasite.com IN THE SPIRIT

VOLUME 32 NUMBER 5 MAY 2017

Join TPA’s Facebook Page for last minute updates and much more!

“Synchronicity, Non Dualism, and The Two Truths of

Tibetan Buddhism” —Bob Yavits

The 2 Truths of Tibetan Buddhism posit that we are living in two different realities simultaneous-ly. One is called Conventional, and the other is Ultimate. Could this be the cause of much our confusion in the world? What is the nature of Ultimate reality? What methods does Tibetan Buddhism recommend for navigating through each reality? How does all this relate to the na-ture of our "self" and is there a difference be-tween that "self" and the "Self" or the "Mind?" Join us for a discussion of how Tibetan Bud-dhism, Non-Dualism and Synchronicity can help us to answer these and other questions. Bob Yavits holds a BS in Psychology and an MS in Communication, both from Ithaca Col-lege. Bob has worked for nearly 30 years as an Instructional Software Specialist at Tompkins Cortland Community College, while maintaining a primary interest in philosophy and the mind. Bob discovered that by practicing what Bud-dhists call "right livelihood," he was able to con-tinue to explore the meaning and workings of the mind, from the point of view of Buddhism,

Christianity, Hin-duism, Advaita Vedanta, Non-Duality, and the remarkable reve-lations of his own experience.

Date: Saturday, May 20th

Dinner: 6:00-7:00 Bring Food/drink to share.

Meeting/Community: 7:00-7:30

Presentation: 7:30

Place: Carolyn Clark’s

3178 Lords Hill Road

South Onondaga

315-492-3070

Directions: Location for the meeting is at the corner of Nichols Rd. and Rt. 80 in South On-ondaga. From the city, you can follow Valley Drive due south for about 10 minutes. Watch the Rt. 80 signs as you enter the village. If you’re coming over Onondaga Hill, follow Makeyes Road into the village, crossing the main street and following the RT. 80 signs. Carolyn’s white house appears just before the road rises to climb Lord’s Hill Road.

Donation: $5.00

Next Meeting: Saturday, June 24

Next Meeting: Saturday, June 24

38th Birthday Celebration & Drum Circle

at Pam and Lou Rosati’s home

Drum Circle is dedicated

to Mary Rocco Maitland

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Tibetan Bhuddism

The Tibetan expression of Buddhism (sometimes called Lamaism) is the form of Vajrayana Buddhism that developed in Tibet and the surrounding Himalayan region beginning in the 7th century CE.

Tibetan Buddhism incorporates Madhyamika and Yogacara philosophy, Tantric symbolic rituals, Ther-

avadin monastic discipline and the shamanistic features of the local Tibetan religion Bön. Among its

most unique characteristics are its system of reincarnating lamas and the vast number of deities in its

pantheon.

Tibetan Buddhism is most well-known to the world through the office of the Dalai Lama, the exiled

spiritual and political leader of Tibet and the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989. Historically,

"Tibet" refers to a mountainous region in central Asia covering 2.5 million sq km. Today, "Tibet" offi-

cially refers to the Tibetan Autonomous Region within China, which is about half the size of historical

Tibet.

Between the 11th and 14th centuries, the Tibetans translated every available Buddhist text into Tibet-an. Today, many Buddhist works that have been lost in their original Sanskrit survive only in Tibetan translation.

The Tibetan Buddhist canon is a loosely defined list of sacred texts recognized by various sects of Ti-betan Buddhism, consisting of more than 300 volumes and many thousands of individual texts. In ad-dition to earlier foundational Buddhist texts from early Buddhist schools, mostly the Sarvastivada, and mahayana texts, the Tibetan canon includes Tantric texts.

The Tibetan Canon underwent a final compilation in 14th Century by Buston (1290-1364). It is divided

into two parts.

Tibetan Buddhism includes a pantheon of Buddhas, bodhisattvas, and Dharma protectors. Arya-

bodhisattvas are able to escape the cycle of death and rebirth but compassionately choose to remain

in this world to assist others in reaching nirvana or buddhahood.

The most famous Tibetan Buddhist text is the Bardo Thodol ("liberation through hearing in the inter-

mediate state"), popularly known as the Tibetan Book of the Dead. The Bardo Thodol is a funerary

text that describes the experiences of the soul during the interval between death and rebirth called

bardo.

Non-initiates in Tibetan Buddhism may gain merit by performing rituals such as food and flower offer-

ings, water offerings (performed with a set of bowls), religious pilgrimages, or chanting prayers and

using prayer wheels. They may also light butter lamps at the local temple or

fund monks to do so on their behalf.

Buddhist principles include principles such as non-harm to other living beings.

At certain festivals a large painting known as a thongdrol is also briefly unfurled

— the mere glimpsing of the thongdrol is believed to carry such merit as to free

the observer from all present sin. Tantric practitioners make use of rituals and

objects. Meditation is an important function which may be aided by the use of

special hand gestures (mudras) and chanted mantras (such as the famous

mantra of Avalokiteshvara: "om mani padme hum"). Om Mani Padme Hum

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It is hoped that EVERYONE may share the privileges and responsibilities of making our meetings run smoothly and equitably. To help make this happen we have initiated these “sign up sheets” which we hope will ensure we each have an occasional opportunity to “take charge” of some aspect of our TPA meetings while allowing others the chance to chill out and enjoy being part of the group. These sheets consist of five categories:

1. Hosting- Those hosting TPA programs at their homes or at community sites graciously set up the space for the community potluck and the evening presentation. Our hosts set the scene for the entire evening. For them, the TPA meeting starts at 5:30 pm when their helpers (at least TWO) arrive to help them finish whatever tasks still need to be done. The TPA potluck begins at 6:00 pm. Hosts, purchase or use their own plates, cups, napkins and eating utensils for the potluck. TPA offers hosts $20 to help with their expenses.

2. Host Helpers Host - Helpers may be asked to set up tables, chairs, put out donation basket, wel-come folks, hang up coats, place food on prepared tables etc. At the end of the evening, host-helpers work with their host to make sure their home or the community site where the meeting was held is left clean and is put back in the order in which it was found.

3. Facilitate the Community Meeting--This individual will be interrupting the one-on-one conversa-tions taking place during dinner by calling together the group for a community meeting. Sometimes this isn’t easy - but it is important! The purpose of this valuable community time is to establish con-nections that individuals can follow up on at a later time. Thus, around 7:00 pm, this individual will call TPA to come together in a circle where he/she will:

a) warmly welcome and ask new participants experiencing TPA for the first time to introduce themselves. Ask them to share who or what has brought you to TPA tonight?

b) ask for “big news” items relevant to ENTIRE group that have been gathered ahead of time - asking folks to keep them as to-the-point and as brief as possible.

c) ask if there is / are specific intentions for the optional closing circle that night.

FINALLY, ASK the group to come to silence and open the space for ANYONE who has a per-sonal announcement, a thought, a feeling he /she wants to share with the group To help the facilitator stay within our time frame, a designated timekeeper will raise a hand or give a signal when 25 minutes are up. This leaves the facilitator 5 minutes to tie things up and offer thanks / gratitude to all who gathered together in TPA that evening. At 7:30, the facilitator will introduce the presenter and his / her topic.

4. Clean Up: - Usually there is a little break between the presentation and the closing circle. It is dur-ing this break that as many of us as possible join in with those who kindly signed up for clean up and begin this task. Those who sign up for clean up will stay with host until all folks leave making sure that TPA leaves this meeting space, “even better that we found it.”

5. Facilitate Closing Circle—This ritual offers a gentle, inspirational closing to the meeting. Let your own creative instincts guide your steps on how best to lead the closing circle. You may choose to read a poem, send healing thoughts to members who are ill, offer affirmations about the presenter’s theme - it is up to you. Of course, you may enlist the input of others as you guide the process.

You may want to make it clear that participation in the closing circle is optional, especially since sev-eral members travel a far distance to meetings and need to leave early. For those who must leave, offer them loving thoughts and prayers for their safe journeys home.

TPA 2017 SIGN UP SHEETS

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Message from Madis Senner

Friends:

I will be speaking at the Cooperstown Library at 11 AM and 3PM at the Shift Spiritual and Psychic Fair at 3 PM in Oneonta this Saturday. Below are the other events

If you are looking for things to do this summer, here are two weekend events to consider:

Summer Fun—Peterboro Civil War Weekend, Author's Book Signing June 10/11

I will be joining other authors for a book signing (Sacred Sites in North Star Country) at the Peterboro Civil War Weekend. Reenactments, talks and more…

Summer Fun—Faery and Earth Festival, Saturday August 19, Thompson Park, Watertown, NY

If you are making the drive and wanting to make a day of it, you should consider visiting Swami Vi-vekananda’s Cottage in the Thousand Islands Park.

http://motherearthprayers.blogspot.com

Dear TPA Members

Every month, we will include names of people that volunteer for our meetings. If you signed up for a job

and can't make it, would you let us know. May 20thmeeting

Hosting: Carolyn Clarke

Host Helpers: ?

Facilitates: Betsy Yavits

Clean Up: ?

Facilitate Closing Circle: Dale Gallagher

We do understand if you can't commit to a job ahead of time but before the meeting begins if you arrive

early, can you ask the host if they need any help? At the last meeting, it was so nice of Midge and

Mark Briggs to help John and I to set up. Out of courtesy, it would be considerate to ask. Also, we can

all pitch in with clean up. This is a community group and we all need to participate. We understand that

you may have emergencies that occur before the next meeting. This can work if the night of the meet-

ing, you can review the list and sign up that night if there is a blank spot. Let's make this a cooperative

and a true community endeavor.

We need to thank Susan Savion for our wonderful Newsletter and she does this willingly every month.

To Nancy and Dale to coordinate the list of presenters and location of meetings. Personally, I feel

these other jobs are very important to keep us going and it doesn't require a lot of effort. Please consid-

er helping so that it doesn't continue to be only a few people doing everything

Thanks for your support,

—Joanne Verone

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…..Mark Briggs treated us to an evening of discussing

what many have been known to avoid discussing. Not our

group! Quite a few of us have had personal experiences

and/or curiosity about the subject of Alien Abductions and

sightings of UFOs. Mark has been studying the phenome-

non for years and brought his knowledge of the subject. He

has supplied us with additional information in the box be-

low:

…UFOs, Anyone?

There’s a brand-new local group associated with the international Mutual UFO Network (MUFON). If we support it, it will survive and grow. Monthly meetings are Saturdays, 11-2, at the May Memorial Uni-tarian Church in Syracuse. The next meetings are May 20 and June 24

Also, you have a rare opportunity to meet Travis Walton from Arizona, the UFO abductee whom I spoke about in my presentation to TPA. His story was told in the book and movie Fire in the Sky. The movie took several liberties with the truth. So, producer Jen Stein has made a wonderful documentary, Travis (http://traviswaltonthemovie.com/), which will have at least two showings in the Northeast. Travis him-self will be at each of them!

The first showing will be at the Pine Bush UFO Fair on May 20 in the Catskills. (http://www.pinebushufofair.com/).

The second showing will be at the State Theater of Ithaca, 107 W. State St. on Sunday, May 21 at 7:00pm

If you need more information, call me at (315) 446-4914. Mark Briggs

…..Liza LaLomia For several years now I have been studying many forms of natural healing. I started making herbal tinctures because I like to make herbal infusions, but I'm not always in a place in which I can heat a pot of water, steep and strain the ingredients. When I have an abundance of plant material, making a tincture is a great preservation method; instead of the herbal plant material decaying and losing potency, it becomes preserved and concentrated. Just a few drops (straight or in water or tea) can offer effective, fast, and non-toxic relief. Hops for example has many medicinal uses, is a great nerve tonic and can helpful for insomnia, anxiety, muscle tension, stomach aches, and digestive issues among other things. There are also many naturally anti-viral, anti-fungal, and anti-bacterial herbs which are always nice to have on hand whether or not you have access to fresh plant material.

…….Jennifer Stein: There will be very special one time only screening of the film “Travis – The True

Story of Travis Walton” in Ithaca New York at the State Theater of Ithaca, 107 West State Street, Itha-

ca, Sunday May 21, 2017. Thanks so much! https://www.dropbox.com/s/skl0arcnoc54o8o/Ithaca%20PosterV4.pdf?

dl=0

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Shine, and give light. Other people may try to block you, simply walk away and find somewhere else to shine. Shine and share your gifts, that is why you are here. Alt-hough it may be a rainy day, re-member that by sharing who you are and what you have to offer, you can make a huge difference in

the world.

Pam Rosati: Grand Qi-Gong Master Yuanming Zhang, who resides in China, will be

coming to offer a healing workshop over the first weekend of June, in Liverpool. People

can see what he is about, in part, by looking him up on youtube. There are several very

interesting videos of him there, which I find quite intriguing.

There will be more information coming....you may want to pencil in the weekend.

Aziz: Some of you may know, I have joined a choir that is performing on the 21st of this month at the Springside Inn at Auburn. It is the Masterworks Chorale and we will be performing show tunes, songs that have won the Academy Award and so on. The dinner is $70 per person, as it is a fund raiser. Further information is in this e-mail: http://mailchi.mp/68e7aafc9c5d/join-masterworks-at-the-oscars?e=1eb8a09e2a

Even death is not to be feared by one who has lived wisely. —Buddha

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TRANSPERSONAL PSYCHOLOGY ASSN. FIRST CLASS