USG currently offers mindfulness programs VIRTUALLY and IN PERSON, under the direction of Mrs. Latifah Griffin-Rogers, Director of Spiritual Development.

This page includes all of USG’s practice based spiritual development including meditation, yoga, and conscious dance. The Adult Spiritual Development page has discussion based spiritual development.

The Zoom links for all weekly Mindfulness and Wellness sessions are sent out in a separate monthly email entitled “News and Zoom Links from the Center for Mindfulness at USG.” If you would like to be put on the list to receive these announcements, contact communications@usguu.org. If you have questions about the classes, please email mindfulness@usguu.org

Teacher Donations and the Practice of Dana                        
In the Buddhist tradition the teachings are offered freely, and the teachers lives are supported by donations (dāna.) Dāna translates into the Buddhist principal of generosity. Please donate to our teachers. USG does not pay or employ the teachers; most teachers provide their services free of charge, and in doing so sustain mindfulness programs at USG. Suggested donation for non-fee sessions is $10-$20. If you cannot afford this amount, feel free to attend without giving, or give whatever is affordable.

Special Programs

Save The Date: Practice and Reflection with Leslie Booker Saturday, March 25, 10:00am – 4:00pm Online via Zoom For more info and teacher’s bio, click here. Registration will be forthcoming at that link (Delaware Valley Insight).

Recurring Programs

Sundays

Monthly Sunday Morning In Person Mindfulness Sit at USG

NEXT: Sunday, March 19, facilitated by Bob Chapra from 9:00-10:30am.
Springboard Meditation Sangha currently hosts monthly in-person meditation sessions at the Unitarian Society of Germantown in collaboration with USG. These are simple gatherings for meditation and discussion, pre-pandemic style, usually with no Zoom component.
The Springboard Sangha teachers offer their time and guidance freely, in the spirit of generosity. If you are inspired to support Springboard Sangha’s mission as a community hub for lay Buddhist practice and teachings (they are a 501c3), you can donate here: paypal.me/springboardsangha. Thank you for your generosity.

*For more info, click here.

Co-sponsored by Springboard Sangha and USG

Wednesdays

Meditations for the Mid-Week led by Deborah Cooper, Wednesdays, 2:30-3:30pm

Please join Deborah Cooper as she leads us into calm and reflection with meditation, inspiring writings and poems from the great meditation teachers, and teachings based on her own extensive training as a mindfulness teacher.  Deborah also shares how she has applied mindfulness in her own life experiences and guides us in applying mindfulness to ours.  

Dana to Deborah:

• Paypal at: paypal.me/deborahmeditation or
• US Mail at: 125 W. Durham St., Philadelphia, PA 19119
  

Thursdays

THURSDAY NIGHT MINDFULNESS
Online with Jesse Frechette from 7:15-8:30pm 
Access: bit.ly/Jessethursday
Please note that bit.ly links are case-sensitive.

Appropriate for all levels. Enter into this practice with a beginner’s mind and fresh eyes, whether this is your first time or you have been practicing for many years.
The fee to the instructor for this one hour session is $15-$20 if financial circumstances allow, but no amount is too small and all are welcome regardless of ability to pay.
Please send to:
Venmo: Send to Jesse-Frechette-1
Use PayPal under “family and friends” and send to: jesse@centermindful.org 
Mail check to: 1405 Reiner Rd., Eagleville, PA 19403

TRY STRONG AND STEADY YOGA FOR ALL AGES!
All classes offered virtually
(discounted drop-in rate for USG members)

Connect with a heart-opening community and boost your flexibility, strength, and balance with a weekly class. First trial class is FREE.

NEW SESSIONS BEGIN WEEK OF MARCH 30
Tuesdays, 9:30am: chair-to-mat for bone health. Link
Wednesdays, 12noon: gentle mat class. Link
Fridays, 9:30am: chair-to-mat for joint health. Link 
Saturdays, 9:30am: deep stretch mat class. Link 

Details about classes and events at whiteflameyoga.com; special rate for USG members. Interested? contact Esther at ewyssflamm@gmail.com.

Unitarian Universalism and Buddhism

Like UU’s “free and responsible search for meaning”, Buddhism is non-creedal. In his first mindfulness precept, Thich Nhat Hahn says Buddhist teachings are not doctrines but guiding means to help us develop understanding and compassion. One of the Buddha’s last teachings was to “be a lamp unto yourself”.

The inherent worth and dignity of every person is evident in Buddhist teaching that everything in the universe shares Buddha nature.

The Universalist emphasis on the saving power of love can be seen in the Mahayana Bodhisattva vow to renounce nirvana until all beings are enlightened, and in reverence for Avolokiteshvara, the bodhisattva of great compassion.

UU respect for the interdependent web of all existence mirrors the Buddhist teaching of emptiness, what Thich Nhat Hahn calls inter-being–that everything in the universe exists only in its connection with everything else, and nothing has an absolute separate identity.

UU affinity for Buddhism goes back to Thoreau. There has been an active Unitarian Universalist Budddhist Fellowship for many years. It is still considered an independent affiliate of the UUA.