TBA IMG
Insight Meditation Group of Houston

Download registration form .

October 25th turned out to be a great day for the ABC Fall Edible and Medicinal Plant Trail Walk. This is a self-learning educational exploratory walk of the about 4 miles of trails at the American Bodhi Center (ABC).  There are total of 12-14 bridges that dotted through out the path in the center ( trail map ). The group had an initial preparatory meeting in the dinning hall and started the day around 9:45 am. The following picture highlight the trail we took.  We had lunch around noon in the middle of the forest among cows and horses.  The relaxing day ended back in the dinning hall by 2:00 pm.  After cleaning up and pressing the the plant samples most departed around 3:00 pm. Geared up and ready. Lunch after a fun day! Trail we took Oct 25th 2014 (in red) The following are some of the edible and medicinal plants that we " believed " we have found and we have collected samples so that their identification can be confirmed.  We came across ...

The one day Zen retreat held at the American Bodhi Center was Saturday, July 11, 2014. The retreat was a great opportunity to experience this type of mediation. Many of us on there had never meditated in the Zen Tradition before. One of the differences noted about Zen tradition was that we would all move into walking meditation every 30 minutes. We walked for 10 minutes all together as a group and then we returned back to sitting meditation. As we sat in our meditation positions, the teacher talked us through many Zen teachings. The teachings brought up all kinds of insightful thoughts for me. As a Buddhist it is always refreshing to learn a new way to meditate. I look forward to another Zen retreat sometime in the near future. With Metta, Damon

3-Day Insight Meditation Retreat Great weather, beautiful surroundings of the American Boddhi Center and the guidance of Ven. Katapunno made for an exceptional 3-day insight meditation retreat for all those who attended. For many, it was a first for meditating with a group. Focusing on intention and mindfulness for multiple days is no small feat for most of us, not just the newbies. But it was inspirational to see a relatively new group of meditatiors approach the meditation retreat with eagerness and dedication. Lectures by Ven katapunno on understanding the different types of joy one may experience during meditation were insightful and helpful. But one has to say that the one of the most poignant moments was when practitioners shared their thoughts and realized that they share the same hurdles as others do and that coming together to practice meditation as a group can be a great support as we strive to practice what we have learned. C.P.F.

April 12, 2014 TBA IMG  Under the Beautify Tx Spring Weather at ABC  As yogis, we sometimes have questions like; where should I start?  what is Samatha (Tranquillity), Samadhi (Concentration) and Vipassana (Insight)?  Which on should I start first?  What do the Sutta actually say about the 2 topics. Is Samatha same as Samadhi or Jhana? Sama-samadhi is the 4 Jhana, therefore Samadhi is same as Jhana? Is this correct? What do the Sutta tell us is the Function of Samatha and Vipassana. Under the guidance of Ven. Katapunno, we listened to the 2007 audio lecture by Ven. Aggacitta's Dharma talk on this important subject of the basic understanding of the Buddha's meditation method.   What is Samatha and What is Vipassana (your understanding)? Anguttara Nikaya (AN) 4.94 (The Further-factored Discourses Samadhi Sutta: concentration (Tranquility and Insight) ). {AN 4.94: Samadhi Sutta — concentration (Tranquillity and Insight)( http://www....

Venerable Katapuno will lead the discussions on the practices and techniques of both Insight and Tranquillity Meditations. ** When & Where ------------------------------------------------------------ This Saturday / April 12th, 2014 American Bodhi Center: 29123 Mellman RD, Hempstead, TX 77445 Program: 9:00 AM- What is Tranquillity (Samatha) Meditation? What is Insight (Vipassana) Meditation? Meditation Practice 12:00 PM- Potluck lunch, bring vegetarian dish! 1:00 PM- How to overcome problems of Meditation. Meditation Practice 3:00 PM- Support for Meditation. Meditation Practice RSVP and indicate if you can bring a vegetarian dish.

Opening the Doors to Happiness With the thorough teaching approach by Venerable Kaizhao (開照法師) and Venerable Kaiyin (開印法師) and skillful English translation from Ven. Zhihan (智翰法師) many of the yogis experience first hand the benefits of Loving Kindness (Metta) Meditation. Venerable Kaizhao and Venerable Kaiyin are well respect monastics from East Malysia Santavana Forest Hermitage ( temple website in Chinese ).  The 7-Day retreat covers extensive material from the fundamentals to the exhaustive practices of Metta Meditation.  The fundamentals  gave everyone a solid base of understanding, such as that expressing anger is healthy, missing the important point that often time we are the first causality of the acts of hatred. Bhikshu Zhihan ( 比丘 智翰 ) provided effective instant English translation.  Venerable Zhihan is fluent in many languges including English, Chinese and more importantly Spanish.  For Spanish speaking people you can visti his web sit...