You are very welcome here.
Welcome to the River and Bridge meditation community.
Our group started out with six people in 2007, and has gradually grown into a friendly and active sangha of 50-60 Dharma practitioners. Based in Winnipeg, we meet regularly to study, meditate and spend time together. Since March 2020 we have been doing this mostly online through Zoom sessions.
A number of us had the good fortune to study Dharma with the late Venerable Namgyal Rinpoche. Our approach to the teachings of the Buddha is inspired by Rinpoche’s spirit of open and heart-felt investigation of all aspects of life, using meditation and community to help guide us.
A community of practice inspired by the teachings of the Buddha
The River and Bridge Group holds several meetings per week, each with a slightly different focus. We offer this variety to help each person find a place within the vast range of Buddhist teachings in which she or he can learn most easily.
These meetings include sessions on insight meditation, loving-kindness meditation, Buddhist philosophy, Vajrayana arising yoga, and a weekly study group discussing birth, sickness, old age and death.
We also have an Introduction to Meditation course twice a year.
General orientation upon arrival.
If you are coming in person, the first time you come, find a chair and make yourself comfortable. We will do our best to say hello to everyone who is new and give you a short orientation. If you are planning on attending online, after our initial contact you will receive an email with a link to whichever Zoom session or sessions you have chosen to attend.
We recite the traditional Refuge Prayer at the start of a session and the Dedication of Merit at the conclusion, both in the Pali language. These practices remind us of the foundations of our lineage and to dedicate any merit from our practice to the wellbeing of everyone and every thing. Copies of these prayers are available — just let us know if you would like one.
If you have questions about anything at all, please contact us. We are a welcoming bunch.
Our teacher.
Brian McLeod has been practicing meditation and studying Dharma since 1978. For many years, Brian was a student of the Venerable Namgyal Rinpoche. He trained as a teacher at the Dharma Centre of Canada in Ontario.
Brian’s teaching is light and direct, with an emphasis on conveying the teachings of the Buddha in easily understood language and method.
Brian leads the River & Bridge Dharma Group in Winnipeg and since 1999, he has been guiding an annual retreat in Germany.
He has university degrees in Forestry and Law (Dispute Resolution).
FAQs
I am new to meditation. Does the group offer lessons?
We offer an introduction to meditation two or three times each year. For exact times, see the home page or send an email to riverandbridge@gmail.com.
Are there any vows or oaths that I need to take to join the group?
We require no formal commitment. We do have two informal commitments or obligations, policing of which is up to individual sangha members:
· Practice kindness.
· Meditate regularly with sincerity.
What kind of meditation do you practice?
We offer instruction in a number of meditation practices, including:
· Loving-kindness (Metta) meditation and breathing meditation (Anapanasati) from the Theravadan tradition;
· Giving-and-receiving meditation (Tonglen) and the Tibetan form of insight meditation known as Mahamudra (from the Vajrayana tradition);
· Arising yoga or archetype-based meditations in the Vajrayana tantric tradition. These meditations use visualization and mantra to focus on specific areas of contemplation such as compassion, healing or discriminating wisdom.
Is there a cost to join the group?
There is no charge to join the group. Group members donate as they can to cover the costs of operating our meditation centre. If we have a retreat there will generally be a fee for expenses or administrative fees, but these are based on actual costs rather than on generating a profit.
We do not charge fees for teaching, which is offered according to the Buddhist tradition of Dana or generosity. Dana is a mutual giving, a recognition that teachers are offering their experience and insight and sangha members are offering their time and energy.
(See this excerpt from one of our affiliate sanghas for a full explanation).
How many people meet during most sessions?
Between eight and fifteen people come to our morning sessions. These sessions are generally available in person and concurrently online via Zoom.
Thursday evening sessions generally have twenty to thirty people in attendance, in person and online.
What form of Buddhism is taught in this group?
We are probably best described as a subset of what has become known as “Western Buddhism”, which is often a synthesis of a number of classical traditions. Inspired by the teachings of the Venerable Namgyal Rinpoche we follow two main traditions — the Theravada teachings that are still alive in Thailand, Myanmar, and Sri Lanka, and the Vajrayana teaching, often referred to as “Tibetan Buddhism”.
For a biography of Rinpoche see this page.