There are only a few more days left in which to book your place on Bodhipaksa’s weekend retreat in Florida, February 22 to 24. Bookings will close on February 19th, at midday US Eastern time.

Explore the Buddhist teaching and practice of Bodhicitta, on a residential weekend retreat in the beautiful surroundings of the Florida Retreat Center, about 35 minutes south of Tampa.

The Bodhicitta is the Heart of Awakening. It’s something that happens as our practice gains momentum and develops a life of its own. Seemingly from nowhere, compassion begins to emerge, and our main task is to get out of the way and let it happen.

On this weekend retreat, Bodhipaksa will …

Explore the Buddhist teaching and practice of Bodhicitta, on a residential weekend retreat in the beautiful surroundings of the Florida Retreat Center, about 35 minutes south of Tampa.

The Bodhicitta is the Heart of Awakening. It’s something that happens as our practice gains momentum and develops a life of its own. Seemingly from nowhere, compassion begins to emerge, and our main task is to get out of the way and let it happen.

On this weekend retreat, Bodhipaksa will introduce the teaching of the Heart of Awakening, and we’ll explore practices for allowing compassion to take root and grow within our hearts.

Places on the retreat are very limited!

To allow people of varying income …

Amy C. Rippel, Orlando Sentinel: Whether you are Christian, Jewish, Muslim or any other religion, Mark Winwood wants you to embrace your inner Buddhist ideals.

It’s not about changing religions. It’s about living a happier, more meaningful life that is full of strength, confidence and clarity. Winwood, founder of the Yalaha-based Chenrezig Project and a self-taught Tibetan Buddhist teacher, hopes that local residents — no matter what religion, ethnicity or affiliation — will embrace the Buddhist teachings.

Through the Florida Dharma Film Festival, which begins Friday at the Windhorse Wellness Center, he hopes to bring together Eastern philosophies to the west.

Feature films with ties to Eastern ideals will be shown during the free …

Southwest Florida residents have the chance to see something few westerners ever get the opportunity to see — the creation and blessing of a sand mandala by a group of Buddhist monks.

Throughout the week, the group of five Tibetan monks will be at Unity of Naples building the Chenrezig mandala one grain of colored sand at a time.

Once complete, the sand painting will be blessed and ritually dissolved to symbolize the impermanence of life.

“This is the first time I’ve seen this being done live,” said Susanna Tocco, 36, of Naples. “It’s amazing — the precision, the patience. It’s …

Read the original article (includes image gallery) »

Every day, the Hare Krishnas chant a melodic meditation and serve food to students in UF’s Plaza of the Americas. A decent number of students usually line up — especially on Spaghetti Wednesdays — but no one seems to know much about the people who serve the vegetarian-friendly fare.

An hour and a half before the sun rises, the Hare Krishnas gather for meditation, called japa, in the temple of the Krishna House, just off campus on Northwest 14th Street.

They recite their mantra with the help of Japa Mala beads, a strand of beads — not unlike the rosary — that helps devotees keep track of their chanting. Each strand has …

Boca Raton Some local veterans’ combat days are long gone, but they still have nightmares, edginess, short fuses and other symptoms of post-traumatic stress.

Many seek help from support groups, psychologists and drugs. But some are finding that a different kind of therapy releases the tension: yoga.

Connected Warriors, a weekly class at studios in Boca Raton, Fort Lauderdale and Wellington, is filled with veterans and their families who seek to manage their stress through yoga poses. They learn how to breathe, meditate, stretch and balance with people who understand their battlefield encounters.

“I am learning to stop being on the defensive,” said Maria Mariska Allsopp, of Dania Beach, who retired after 25 years as a sergeant major in the Army. “I am …