Buddhist Faith Fellowship of Connecticut

09/02/2025

09/02/2025

September's Community News: Field Trip Event, new Buddhism 101 course + Meeting Dates

1. Field Trip: 2nd Annual Tibetan Cultural Festival and Animal Blessing

Date: Sat., September 6th | Redding, CT | Friends & Family
Come along for a spiritual, social, and cultural field trip to the 2nd Annual Tibetan Cultural Festival & Animal Blessing in Redding, CT on Saturday, September 6, 2025, starting at 10:30 a.m. You don’t have to be a Buddhist or even a member of our Fellowship to participate. This is a free of charge event. No need to RSVP; just show up. Includes Vendor booths, food, art exhibition, Tibetan circular dance, children’s program (kite and mask making), Tibetan cultural performance and flag ceremony, and more. We will be either car pooling or caravaning to Redding from a meeting point: TO LEARN MORE, VISIT HERE: https://bffct.org/bff/events/field-trip-2nd-annual-tibetan-cultural-festival-and-animal-blessing/

2. Buddhism 101 Course: Zen & Koan Practice - Autumn
Dates: September 23 & 30 | Online | Advance Registration Required

A new online Buddhism 101 course is now available with Dharma Teacher and Lineage Holder Melissa Lewis. This experiential course explores Zen and Koan practice, guiding students to directly engage with the essence of Zen meditation through practice rather than study. Students will receive a koan for home practice to deepen their personal experience. No books or readings are required. For full course details and enrollment information, please visit our web site. TO LEARN MORE & ENROLL, VISIT HERE: https://bffct.org/bff/buddhism-101-zen-practice-workshop-2/

3. Practice & Talk Meetings
Dates: September 21 & 28 | Middletown, CT

Come together for a meaningful exploration of Buddhist teachings and practices. These gatherings are an opportunity to connect with fellow Sangha members, share insights, practice mindfulness, and deepen your spiritual journey. Visit our web site at https://bffct.org/bff/

4. Silent Simplicity Retreat - Autumn

Date: October 12, 2025 | Middletown, CT | Advance Registration Required
Autumn renewal with mindfulness. This 2.5-hour retreat includes meditation instruction, mindful breathing, walking, and noble silence to help you reflect and refresh your spirit. TO LEARN MORE & ENROLL, VISIT HERE: https://bffct.org/bff/silent-simplicity-retreat-autumn/

5. Mindful Movement & Meditation Online Class
Day & Time: Thursdays 7 p.m. | Online | Free | No Advance Registration Required

Get off the couch! Join Dharma Teacher Melissa Lewis for a gathering of heartfelt, healthy living practices. Dive deep into self-care techniques such as meditation, breathwork, and gentle movement to nurture mind, body, and spirit. No experience necessary, beginners and seasoned practitioners equally welcome. VISIT OUR WEB SITE FOR DETAILS AND LINK: https://bffct.org/bff/events/mmmmindful-movement-meditation-online-class-2/

08/30/2025

This morning’s Mindful Bike Ride along the beautiful Hop River Trail was such a refreshing experience! A heartfelt thank you to Ruth for the wonderful ride, her thoughtful exchange truly enriched the journey. Grateful for the peaceful moments and connection found on two wheels today. Here’s to more mindful journeys together soon!

08/29/2025

08/29/2025

FIELD TRIP: Cycle with mindfulness, Discover nature’s calm. It's going to be a beautiful Labor Day Weekend. Come and join us outdoors.

Experience the beautiful Hop River State Park Trail as we ride together on this peaceful, scenic route from Vernon to Bolton State Park and back. This approximately 2.5-hour ride features gentle stops for mindfulness and reflection, guided by our thoughtful organizers.

What to know:

1) Date & Time: Saturday, August 30, 2025, 10:00 a.m. (Arrive by 9:50 a.m.)

2) Meeting Spot: Hop River Trail Parking Lot, 51 Church St, Vernon, CT (Look for the silver Honda CR-V with bright Tibetan prayer flags on the bike rack)

3) Bring your bike (standard or e-bike), helmet, water, and open heart

4) Suitable for all skill levels, no Buddhist or mindfulness experience necessary

5) Free event with a suggested $10 donation to support our programs (Visit our web site via QR Code).

Visit our web site for more information: https://bffct.org/bff/events/mindful-e-bike-ride-hop-river-trail/

08/28/2025

When stillness meets awareness, we discover that nothing in life is truly mundane. A simple breath, a passing cloud, the sound of footsteps on the floor—all reveal themselves as doorways to the sacred when the restless grasping of the mind quiets down. Stillness does not mean absence of thought or movement, but a receptive presence that allows awareness to illuminate each moment as it is. In this union, even the smallest acts—drinking tea, folding clothes, greeting a friend—become charged with depth and meaning. The sacred is not found in some distant temple or hidden scripture, but in the immediacy of lived experience touched by mindful stillness.

This insight is deeply aligned with Buddhist practice, where ordinary life is the very ground of awakening. Zazen, mindfulness, and ethical living are not escapes from daily life but ways to meet it fully, with open awareness. The sacred reveals itself not through embellishment but through clarity—seeing the true nature of things without clinging or aversion. When stillness and awareness converge, the world ceases to be divided into holy and unholy, spiritual and ordinary. Everything becomes a reflection of the Dharma, shimmering with the quiet radiance of reality itself.

08/28/2025

It's tonight! ✨ A weekly retreat for your wellbeing — now every Thursday night! ✨ USE QR CODE or visit our web site for link.

Hosted by Melissa, a compassionate wellness coach and integrative nurse care consultant with The Clear Light Foundation, this free online gathering offers the perfect space to explore meditation, breathwork, and gentle movement in a supportive environment. Whether you're a beginner or an experienced practitioner, this class welcomes you with open arms.

What to expect:

1) Guided meditation and breathwork to calm your mind

2) Gentle movement to awaken and refresh your body

3) A nurturing space to build resilience and find peace amidst life’s challenges

08/26/2025

Emptiness is not a barren void but the luminous depth of our own Tathāgatagarbha, the buddha-nature that is never absent. Zen Master Bankei (17th century) called this reality the “Unborn”—the ever-present awareness that does not come into being or pass away. In the Unborn, there is nothing to grasp and nothing to fear, for it is boundless, clear, and already whole. To realize this is to discover that emptiness is not negation, but the ground of freedom and awakening.

This unborn clarity is not something gained through effort or acquired from outside; it is the natural state that reveals itself when clinging falls away. Just as Bankei reminded his students that they were already living from the Unborn without knowing it, so too the teachings on emptiness invite us to recognize that awakening is not a future attainment, but a present reality. When we let go of grasping, the luminous nature of mind—empty yet radiant—manifests with ease.

To live with this awareness is to embody a profound compassion. Seeing that ourselves and others are rooted in the same unborn buddha-nature, we can meet life with patience, humility, and care. Every breath, every encounter, becomes a reminder of the freedom already within us. The path, then, is not about becoming something else, but about resting in the luminous Unborn that has always been our true home.

08/24/2025

I big thanks for all those who attended this morning's "Meditation on the Green" in Wethersfield. We practiced Fusho "Unborn" sitting meditation and had a wow experience with it. Then, we discussed a reading from "No Mud, No Lotus" by Thich Nhat Hanh. We decided perhaps it will be better to have another outdoor meditation in Middletown next month while it is still warm. Stay Tuned!!

08/24/2025

Meditation on the Green at Old Wethersfield Green starts at 10:00 a.m.

08/23/2025

☀️ Let’s do something different this Sunday! Instead of being indoors, we’ll gather under the summer sky for Meditation on the Green 🌳. A chance to enjoy the warmth, breathe deeply, and practice together in nature. See you there! 🙏

08/23/2025

Find Peace Outdoors This Sunday—Meditation on the Green, Wethersfield Green - 10 a.m.

Join us for a peaceful 30-minute seated meditation under the open sky this Sunday, August 24, at 10:00 a.m. on the historic Old Wethersfield Green along Broad Street in Wethersfield. Surrounded by the shade of trees and the spacious green, this mindfulness gathering offers a rare chance to pause, breathe, and reconnect—with yourself, nature, and community. Beginners and seasoned practitioners alike are welcome.

Please bring a cushion, zafu, or folding chair for comfort. We’ll be meeting near the large tree by the Wethersfield sign (see photo above)—look for Tibetan prayer flags! Stay afterward for light socializing, Q&A, or a mindful stroll. Suggested donation: $10.

Learn more here: https://bffct.org/bff/events/meditation-on-the-green-wethersfield-green/

Join us for a peaceful, 30-minute sitting meditation on the historic Wethersfield Green along picturesque Broad Street. Surrounded by towering trees and open sky, this gathering offers a rare chance to pause, breathe, and reconnect—with nature, yourself, and others. This is not a religious event. ...