As we welcome the new year, Long Beach Meditation (LBM) invites the community to participate in its upcoming programming focused on meditation, mindfulness, and service. This is the time of year where many people, with the best intentions, make new year’s resolutions. LBM is offering a different approach, one that is grounded in peace, well-being, and compassion.
Starting on Sunday, January 8, 2023, LBM will begin a five-week course, Everyday Mindfulness, designed to help participants build an effective and on-going meditation practice. Led by Rosamaría Segura and Jampa Kalsang, the course will cover the foundations of meditation and provide concentration techniques. Appropriate for beginners as well as experienced meditators who want to refresh the fundamentals of their practice.
Immediately following the class, participants are welcome to stay and join LBM’s weekly meditation and dharma talk, which are donation-based and open to the public. In addition to the weekly Sunday sit, there’s weekly programming every Monday and Wednesday along with one-day retreats and a Full-Moon Meditation experience which are hosted monthly. Each offering is a unique reflection of the unity and diversity which characterizes LBM.
“Since finding Long Beach Meditation earlier this year (around April or May), I have become a regular attendee of Monday night mediations and Full Moons with Franz, have attended a weekend silent retreat for the first time in my life, have joined the book club, and attend Sunday talks and Saturday retreats as often as my schedule allows. Why so much involvement so quickly? Because of the loving-kindness that radiates from the teachers, staff, board, and other attendees, and because of the positive impact both on my present life and in my outlook on the future. This is truly a place of growth and healing – a sangha in the truest sense of the word. It offers services to all — Zoom or in person, no one turned away for lack of funds — and I’m looking forward to deepening my practice while developing new friendships with this special group of people. ” – Sangha Member, Aostara Kaye
Reflecting back, 2022 was filled with continued changes. The organization found itself needing to pivot during the height of the pandemic and now finds itself permanently adapting to ensure that 20-plus years of uninterrupted programming continues. Through the incorporation of an online meeting space, LBM now reaches across the U.S., Canada, and beyond. LBM is committed to improving how its members experience the various offerings in both the in-person and online sphere by investing in new technology as the organization embraces the reality presented by the post-pandemic world.
Looking ahead, LBM is committed to strengthening its community connections and acts of service. You can find LBM’s members participating in a beach clean-up on Saturday, January 21, 2023 organized by the Community Action Team (CAT). After the cleanup, Franz Manfredi, an LBM teacher, will be hosting a 30-minute guided meditation practice.
LBM is led by a guiding teacher, Jokai Blackwell Roshi, Board, and Teacher’s Council whose guiding star is to offer a welcoming space for all who are interested in learning the healing practice of meditation and mindfulness. All races, genders, ethnicities, sexual orientations, ages, abilities, and religious or political affiliations are welcomed. LBM has been part of Long Beach’s community since 1993; the small nonprofit brings a unique set of teachers and practitioners who follow various styles of meditation and Buddhist traditions that include Korean, Tibetan, Japanese, and American influences.
Visit Long Beach Meditation in person at Bay Shore Church, 5100 E The Toledo, Long Beach, CA 90803, or online at https://www.longbeachmeditation.org/