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Southern Dharma offers meditation retreats and programs from a variety of lineages in Buddhist and related traditions.

Dear friends of Southern Dharma Oasis, With sadne

Dear friends of Southern Dharma Oasis,

With sadness, due to circumstances beyond our control, we are suspending our Free Store and all programming. Certain programs have been relocated to other sites.

You may continue to make use of the potable water on the side of the building at any time. We are not accepting any donations of supplies, including clothing. Please do not leave any items outside the building. If you have questions about any of the upcoming events or you need supplies, kindly email info@southerndharma.org.

We will communicate regarding next steps through our email newsletter. You can subscribe at our website: www.southerndharma.org

With Metta,

Southern Dharma Staff

Over the last few weeks, we’ve delivered 100+ pr

Over the last few weeks, we’ve delivered 100+ propane heaters to folks without power, including Weaverville’s Hillside Community in Weaverville, who are trying to rebuild their historic community center.
Find more about them at savehillside.org

🪷 TODAY! 🪷 Open House and Song Circle at Sou

🪷 TODAY! 🪷 Open House and Song Circle at Southern Dharma Oasis. Join us for some snacks and some songs, visit with the staff and volunteers and tour the space if you haven't been able to drop by yet. Light refreshments at 12:00, the song circle begins at 1:00. See you there!

Our Hurricane Helene Work Retreat has begun! Here

Our Hurricane Helene Work Retreat has begun! Here is Huxley Coulter, one of our team leads for the retreat, geared up and ready to serve. Interested in volunteering? There's still time to sign up! Find more information at our website, linked in our bio.

Instagram post 17936769404928665

Instagram post 17936769404928665

Four hours and four hardy volunteers later, our v

Four hours and four hardy volunteers later, our volunteer chainsaw team cleared out fallen trees from Hurricane Helene off our SDRC founder Liz Kent’s property. Thanks, team!

☕️ ✨ today at 3pm ✨☕️ Local grief wor

☕️ ✨ today at 3pm ✨☕️

Local grief worker and facilitator Ekua Adisa has transformed one room in Oasis into a nurturing space for people to rest, reflect, and create. The Healing Space will now be open from 3-6pm every Tuesday-Saturday. Come rest and lay down your burdens in a spot of stillness with us.

📣We are looking for more local volunteers to re

📣We are looking for more local volunteers to redistribute supplies throughout the region! 📣

We have a particular need for volunteers who are proficient in Spanish, but all local volunteers are welcome. If you can help, please come to our Southern Dharma Oasis distribution site between 3-6pm Tuesdays through Saturdays at 150 Westwood Pl, Asheville, NC 28806.

Come join us for Integrated Dharma in our light-fi

Come join us for Integrated Dharma in our light-filled meditation hall at Southern Dharma Oasis. (The plants are loving it!)

🪷 Where 🪷 Southern Dharma Oasis, 150 Westwood Pl. Asheville NC 28806
🪷 When 🪷 Sunday 10/26 at 6pm
🪷 Who 🪷 Teacher David McKay

And if you're wondering why folks in the Asheville

And if you're wondering why folks in the Asheville area need water pumps, this is what our public utility water looks like straight out of the faucet. These hand washing stations from Down River Equipment let us wash our dishes and hands with potable water (trucked on site by BeLoved Asheville) and keep our community healthy and well.

How do you wash your hands without clean water? Ho

How do you wash your hands without clean water? How do you wash dishes? Our retreat manager Dagny Deutchman knew just the thing from her years working as a river guide: A foot-pump hand wash station by @downriverequipment. @nrsweb donated four hand washing stations to us for Southern Dharma Oasis to use while we continue our aid distribution efforts after Hurricane Helene.

With hundreds of people in attendance and faith te

With hundreds of people in attendance and faith teachers from different backgrounds represented, the Candlelight Vigil held by the @cityofasheville was a beautiful success. We were thrilled to see Venerable Pannavati act as one of the faith leaders for the event. Venerable Pannavati is ordained in both Theravada and Chan traditions, and is the founder and Abbott of Embracing Simplicity Hermitage in Hendersonville, NC.

Three weeks of smiles from Southern Dharma’s wor

Three weeks of smiles from Southern Dharma’s work since Hurricane Helene! 🪷💚🪷

Today is the SDRC team's first day off since Hurri

Today is the SDRC team's first day off since Hurricane Helene hit.
As we move into longer-term restoration and recovery, we hope for our community and the greater community of western Carolina to find respite.
We'll be back open tomorrow at 3 pm to accept volunteers and offer materials to anyone who needs them!

Yesterday was Dagney Deutchman’s last day workin

Yesterday was Dagney Deutchman’s last day working with us as Southern Dharma Oasis’ chief of staff. Dagny has been an extraordinary companion, chaos manager, and somatic grounder for all our recovery efforts. Today she starts her journey back to Montana, and in honor of her service we’d like to share this poem:

To be of use
BY MARGE PIERCY

The people I love the best
jump into work head first
without dallying in the shallows
and swim off with sure strokes almost out of sight.
They seem to become natives of that element,
the black sleek heads of seals
bouncing like half-submerged balls.

I love people who harness themselves, an ox to a heavy cart,
who pull like water buffalo, with massive patience,
who strain in the mud and the muck to move things forward,
who do what has to be done, again and again.

I want to be with people who submerge
in the task, who go into the fields to harvest
and work in a row and pass the bags along,
who are not parlor generals and field deserters
but move in a common rhythm
when the food must come in or the fire be put out.

The work of the world is common as mud.
Botched, it smears the hands, crumbles to dust.
But the thing worth doing well done
has a shape that satisfies, clean and evident.
Greek amphoras for wine or oil,
Hopi vases that held corn, are put in museums
but you know they were made to be used.
The pitcher cries for water to carry
and a person for work that is real.

Please join us for the City of Asheville’s inter

Please join us for the City of Asheville’s interfaith candlelight vigil at 6pm on Tuesday, October 22 to remember all that was devastated and lost by Hurricane Helene.

The Venerable Pannavati has been invited to make remarks on behalf of the Buddhist community for the ceremony.

Southern Dharma's friend Candice Soave connected u

Southern Dharma's friend Candice Soave connected us with Daryl Shankland of Flatrock who encouraged her son Dr Carter Freiburg to bring us supplies. He and Vascular Surgery Associates and Carroll Hospital Center of Westminster MD raised funds to bring us an abundance of supplies! We are so grateful for the support near and far.

On behalf of the Board and staff of Southern Dharm

On behalf of the Board and staff of Southern Dharma, we invite you to participate in a virtual Town Hall on Saturday, October 19th from 9:00 - 10:00 am.

Executive Director Sonia Marcus will share updates and discuss our possible next steps as a sangha. Other members of the staff and board will also be present to share their experiences during this extraordinary time. There will also be an opportunity for participants to offer feedback and ask questions.

RSVP’s are requested. Please send an email to info@southerndharma.org to let us know that you plan to attend and to receive the Zoom link.

Life at Southern Dharma Oasis: Lots of work, lots

Life at Southern Dharma Oasis: Lots of work, lots of smiles, lots of love.

Southern Dharma is on the ground in Madison and Ya

Southern Dharma is on the ground in Madison and Yancey counties distributing chainsaws and generators out to neighborhoods and community hubs, where folks are still out of power and water. If you'd like see more of what we're doing, follow our newsletter at southerndharma.org.

We were happy to connect with @footprintprjct over

We were happy to connect with @footprintprjct over the weekend, a nonprofit focused on outfitting disaster areas with sustainable technology solutions. We were able to donate five solar-powered generators to them to distribute to the community thanks to our donor's generous support. Their team has been on the ground in the region since the get-go of Helene recovery efforts, and they show no signs of slowing.

Some insights from our sangha member David Auble,

Some insights from our sangha member David Auble, a Buddhist Chaplain and advisor for current chaplains in training at @upayazencenter — David stopped by our aid hub while volunteering for the Red Cross in Asheville to support with Helene recovery work. Gratitude to David and all others on the dharma path working in service to the wellness of all beings 💚

We are so excited to announce that our Sunday Inte

We are so excited to announce that our Sunday Integrated Dharma series this week is going to be hosted at our new site over here at Southern Dharma Oasis on 150 Westwood Plc in West Asheville. David McKay will be hosting our integrated dharma session this evening.
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Come on over and see our beautiful new community space.
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Please come a little bit early tonight, and join us for community practice from 5:00 PM - 7:30 PM.
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We look forward to sitting in community with you.
Thank you for being in such resilient community with us.
With Metta🙏🏼

🪷 Exciting News! 🪷 Our resupply and distribu

🪷 Exciting News! 🪷 Our resupply and distribution site has greatly expanded and is now open and operational!!

Thank you @oasischurchofasheville for offering your space for our to house our Hurricane Helene response efforts. We are now open for community connection over at Southern Dharma Oasis.

We are now able to house out of town volunteers, store more supplies, and act as a larger hub for the community.

If you're out of town and are interested in volunteering with us, please contact us or join our newsletter to fill out our volunteer form.

If you're a local person in the area and want to volunteer, please feel free to show up any day at Southern Dharma Oasis at 150 Westwood Place from 1 PM - 3 PM or get added to our Volunteer Site WhatsApp Group. We're looking for a minimum of 8 volunteers on a daily basis.

Please stop by and say hello,
We are excited and grateful to continue co-creating resilient community with you

🪷Metta to all!🪷

PS - For those of you who are feeling extra strong, we are specifically looking for 4 volunteers tomorrow (10/13/24) who are able to lift several heavy items :).