Here's the upcoming schedule of teachers for this group (which meets weekly on Tuesday nights in Berkeley from 7:30 - 9 pm):

June 4:  Walt Opie
June 11:  Walt Opie
June 18:  Shahara Godfrey
June 25:  Kevin Griffin
July 2:  Jeff Lindemood
July 9:  Walt Opie

From "A Conversation with the Elements" by Mark Nepo

(Note: Last week I read this excerpt from a piece by Mark Nepo published in the Winter 2012-2013 issue of Parabola. Photo by Walt Opie.)

Moving Through the Dark
In nature, we are quietly offered countless models of how to give ourselves over to what appears dark and hopeless, but which ultimately is an awakening beyond our imagining. All around us, everything small and buried surrenders to a process that none of the buried parts can see. We call this process seeding and this innate surrender allows everything edible and fragrant to break ground into a life of light that we call spring. As a seed buried in earth can't imagine itself as an orchid or hyacinth, neither can a heart packed with hurt or a mind filmed over with despair imagine itself loved or at peace. The courage of the seed is that, once cracking, it cracks all the way. To move through the dark into blossom is the work of the soul.  -Mark Nepo

Teachers for February and March

Walt Opie will be away for February and March, so the following teachers will lead the group on these dates:

February 5 - Kevin Griffin

February 12 - Rebekah Laros

February 19 - Kevin Griffin

February 26 - Enrique Collazo*

March 5 - Kevin Griffin

March 12 - Rebekah Laros

March 19 - Enrique Collazo

March 26 - Rebekah Laros

*Enrique Collazo has been a sangha member of the Against the Stream Dharma Center in Los Angeles for many years and is in Facilitator training with Noah Levine and Vinny Ferraro.

Step One - Surrender

Kevin Griffin says in One Breath at a Time:

"Surrender is a traditional element of every spiritual journey. Before we can begin to realize our potential, we must break out of limiting concepts of who and what we are and what we think is possible. This may mean giving up long-held beliefs and comfortable behavior patterns... As we begin to surrender, we see that we will have to let go of these destructive habits of mind before we can move toward freedom."

Kevin Griffin (author of One Breath at a Time: Buddhism & the 12 Steps AND A Burning Desire: Dharma God & The Path of Recovery) is leading the Berkeley Dharma and Recovery group this week (Tuesday, December 4) from 7:30 - 9 pm at the Northbrae Community Church. This is a great opportunity to sit with Kevin and ask questions you might have about dharma practice as it relates to recovery. For more info on Kevin, you can visit www.kevingriffin.net.

Walt Opie will lead the group on December 11 and 18. We will not meet on Tuesday, December 25 or Tuesday, January 1 due to the holidays.

The Principles of the 12-Step Program

Step 1 - Honesty
Step 2 - Hope
Step 3 - Faith
Step 4 - Courage
Step 5 - Integrity
Step 6 - Willingness
Step 7 - Humility
Step 8 - Brotherly Love
Step 9 - Justice
Step 10 - Perseverence
Step 11 - Spiritual Awareness
Step 12 - Service

Jack Kornfield on Formal Confession Practices from "The Wise Heart"

Twice a month, at the full and new moon, the monks and nuns of the (Thai) forest monastery seek release from past misconduct through formal practices of confession. They ritually gather together under the canopy of trees to confess their mistakes, seek understanding, and ask for forgiveness. Each confession ends with a commitment to start anew... In this spirit, one of the common practices that Buddhist psychologists and teachers use to help students is to listen to their confessions. When we hear their misdeeds and regrets, we work with compassion, forgiveness, and letting go. We know that this unhealthy past is not who they really are. --Jack Kornfield, "The Wise Heart"