MOUNTAIN MINDFULNESS SOCIETY
Satigiri Sangha
Offering support and guidance for those who wish to explore, establish, or deepen the practices of mindfulness and meditation with either a secular or Buddhist approach. In person individual consultations or group sessions can be scheduled in Crossville or Knoxville TN. Zoom sessions also offered.
What to expect
Guiding theme- Earnestly cultivating embodied presence with a balanced union of penetrating honesty and well developed benevolence
Central principle - Exploring core teachings & practices of the Eightfold Path
Foundational practices - create a good base for personal exploration
Pragmatic approach - where to start and how to proceed
Accessible format -appropriate for those of any spiritual tradition, or none
Inclusive atmosphere- fosters a culture of appreciation for diversity
Growth opportunity -support for expanding/deepening practice available
Healthy community - real people exploring the path together in the spirit of true friendship
-Follow the facebook link at top or bottom of page for recent announcements-
***Follow this RESCOURCES link, or the links at top or bottom of page for book recommendations, Dharma recordings, meditation groups, etc***
NATURAL & GRADUAL
To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted -Ecclesiastes 3
Just as the ocean has a gradual shelf, a gradual slope, a gradual inclination, with a sudden drop-off only after a long stretch, in the same way this Doctrine and Discipline (dhamma-vinaya) has a gradual training, a gradual performance, a gradual progression, with a penetration to gnosis only after a long stretch.
— Ud 5.5
UPCOMING EVENTS
BASICS OF BUDDHISM
3RD THURSDAY OF EACH MONTH 6-7PM ET
IN PERSON AT LOTUS LIGHT CONTEMPLATIVE COMMUNITY CENTER
Please join us in person at Lotus Light Contemplative Community Center in Knoxville.
These sessions will consist of a short guided foundational meditation, Dharma talk on core Buddhist teachings and principles including Refuge, 4 Noble Truths, 8 Fold Path, Compassion, Cultivation and others. We will include plenty of time for Q&A / discussion.
Abhaya will be guiding, at times assisted by other seasoned practitioners in the Sangha in order to offer a view of various approaches.
These sessions will be geared toward those who are beginning to explore Buddhism but are wondering where to start and are unclear about its structure, practices, and terminology as it relates to personal experience. It would be an excellent refresher for long term practitioners as well.
There is a CALM ABIDING MEDITATION group led by another Lotus Light member which meets immediately afterwards and is open to all.
In accordance with tradition and in the service of keeping the Dharma accessible to all, these sessions are offered freely, made possible and sustained by your generous donations.
MEDITATION WITH KNOX INSIGHT SANGHA ~ IN PERSON AND ZOOM
MON MAY 19th 7-8:30PM ET
***Abhaya has contracted COVID (again) so there will be a different Sangha member leading***
Abhaya will be leading meditation for Knoxville Insight Sangha on Mon May 19, 2025 from 7-8:30ish Eastern Time. All are welcome to join in person or via Zoom. This is free of charge, donations to our host Lotus Light are accepted at https://lotuslightcenter.org/donate/ Please follow this link for more info on Knoxville Sangha and the Zom link. https://knoxvillesangha.org/wp/
SATURDAY MORNING DHARMA SERIES
GUIDED MEDITATION, DHARMA TALK, DISCUSSION
WITH FLOWERING LOTUS MEDITATION
SATURDAY JUNE 21, 2025 9-10:30 AM CENTRAL TIME
LETTING GO
Abhaya will offer guided meditation, Dharma talk, and discussion time via Zoom for Flowering Lotus Meditation's Saturday Morning Dharma Series on June 21, 2025 from 9-10:30 am Central Time. Regtistration link HERE
"Let it go" is certainly a common phrase, and after being featured as a song in Disney's movie Frozen it has almost become cliché. While this is a core concept in Buddhist practice it is about as helpful as the backfiring mantra "SERENITY NOW!!!" from Seinfeld unless it is put into context and cultivated through practice. Let's explore together in the framework of the Eightfold Path and find ways to do just that, and perhaps identify unrecognized areas that would benefit from the loosening of our grasping and clinging. We'll also look at the flip side of the coin regarding when NOT to let go.
PRISON MENTORING, MINDFULNESS & MEDITATION MINISTRY
PLEASE DONATE TO SUPPORT THE CONTINUATION OF THIS PROGRAM
In November 2022 after MANY months of government red tape navigation Abhaya became the first Buddhist Minister to be on volunteer staff at Morgan County Correctional Complex, a Tennessee state prison in a remote location with approximately 2500 men incarcerated at all levels of security from minimun to max serving sentences from months long to some who will live out the remainder of their lives in custody. He is now spending most Fridays commuting to and from the prison, volunteering by providing Buddhist religious services, secular mindfulness training, and individual mentoring via the state's Take One program as well as facilitating The Lionheart Foundation's Houses of Healing mindfulness, meditation, and cognitive-behavioral skills program designed for the incarcerated.
PREVIOUS OFFERINGS
SERMON AT TVUUC 04/07/24
BUDDHIST APPROACHES TO BALANCE
Anyone interested in spiritual cultivation will sooner or later run into the quandary… should I direct my energies toward caring for others or cleaning up my own act and fulfilling my potential? We will reflect on SN 47.19 Sedaka Sutta: The Bamboo Acrobat, a lovely parable concerning this offered by The Buddha.
The link below starts the video at the beginning of the sermon, but the service as a whole is lovely to watch as well since the songs and reflective readings all tie in well with the message. Many thanks to Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church (TVUUC) for the invitation to share
SERMONS AT UUCC
Offerings at Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Cookeville (UUCC)
Recordings of various messages delivered at UUCC, one of Abhaya's early spiritual homes.
Topics include Looking for Shelter in Stormy Times and Spiritual Friendship
DHARMA TALK AT HEARTWOOD 03/27/22
PRIORITIZING THE PRELIMINARIES
A Dharma talk given at Heartwood Refuge and Retreat Center on not getting the horse before the cart. The Sutttas stress time and again the importance of starting with a strong, stable foundation in order to build our lives into a House of Cultivation. This talk explores some examples of how to do that from the traditional Buddhist perspective.
2020 TEACHING SERIES FOR HEARTWOOD
FOUR PROTECTIVE MEDITATIONS
Following a retreat with Bhikkhu Bodhi on the Four Protective Meditations Abhaya led a follow up teaching and practice series continuing that theme
Though in principle the Buddhist path leads straight and unerringly from bondage to freedom, when we apply it to ourselves it often seems to take a tortuous route as imposed by the twists and turns of our own contorted mental topography. Unless we have exceptionally mature wholesome roots, we cannot expect to approach the goal "as the crow flies," soaring unhindered through the quick and blissful skyways... Instead we must be prepared to tread the path at ground level, moving slowly, steadily and cautiously through the winding mountain roads of our own minds.
-Bhikkhu Bodhi
Guiding Teacher
Acharya Abhaya Darpana
Rev. Dustin Davis
Abhaya committed to the path of Dharma in 2010, subsequently ordained in May 2020 as a Dharmacharya (Buddhist Lay Minister) in the Embracing Simplicity Contemplative Order under Venerable Pannavati and the late Venerable Pannadipa.
From July 2021 to January 2025 Abhaya relinquished full time employment and the benefits that go with it in order to dedicate more time and energy to Dharma study, practice, and volunteer service work.
In Dec 2023 he completed Upāsaka training under the mentorship of Ajahn Sona via the Secluded Study Training Program for Dedicated Lay Buddhist Practitioners Around the World offered by Birken Forest Buddhist Monastery (Sītavana), a Theravada Buddhist monastery in the Thai Forest Tradition.
His primary practices of Samādhi, Satipaṭṭhāna (4 Establishings of Mindfulness) and Ānāpānasati (Mindfulness with Breathing) in the styles offered by Bhikkhu Anālayo, and the Brahma Vihāras (Divine Abidings) spring from an affinity for the approaches offered in Early Buddhism. He also has an appreciation for the later traditions, having undertaken Mahāmudrā, Dzogchen, and Zen retreats including formally receiving the 5 Mindfulness Trainings from Thích Nhất Hạnh in 2013 when he was given the Dharma name Healing Courage of the Heart.
Having worked over 30 years in the hospital critical care setting, he brings his intimacy with the illness, death, and dying processes to bear in Dharma sharing. He is also passionate about Dharma as a central support for dealing with addictions of all kinds.
Abhaya's spiritual journey includes being raised Catholic and attending elementary parochial school with Nuns as teachers, then diving deeply into Pentecostal Protestantism, followed by a departure from spirituality, with later membership in Unitarian Universalist churches. He committed to the path of Dharma in 2010, subsequently spending several months of cumulative time in silent meditation retreats and thousands of hours in personal practice and study.
He has two lovely grown daughters, and an amazing canine companion named Bodhi who has served as a therapy dog in hospitals, nursing homes & addiction treatment facilities through the University of Tennessee's Human Animal Bond in Tennessee (HABIT) program.
Abhaya is an affiliated teacher with Lotus Light Contemplative Community Center in Knoxville, TN and serves on their Board of Directors.
ETHICS STATEMENT
I am personally committed to exceptional integrity in my Dharma relationships regarding everything from financial matters to personal interactions and I have found the IMS Teacher Ethics Guidelines to closely mirror my position and approach.
Proper interaction between spiritual guides and students aligns with the traditional 5 PRECEPTS (honor life, don't steal, refrain from sexual misconduct, communicate properly, be sober). It is not only the right, but the duty of each participant in the teacher - student dynamic to maintain the boundaries set by these precepts personally and to hold the other accountable for the same.
The precept regarding sexual conduct is particularly important in spiritual relationships. I am personally committed to refraining from creating harm through sexuality and sexual exploitation. I am mindful of not exploiting my authority and position in order to assume a sexual relationship with a student. I very strictly maintain student-teacher relationships and sexual or romantic relationships as mutually exclusive and incompatible. Their blending is completely inappropriate.
While I am not a celibate monastic (but do regularly undertake periods of practicing brahmacharya / purposeful celibacy), the monastic rule which I summarize below reflects how seriously I take this issue.
Monastics have a rule that if they even suggests to a student—or anyone at all, for that matter—that it would be beneficial to have sex with them, they must undergo a penance for six days. During the penance, they are stripped of seniority and have to confess the offense to all fellow monastics daily. If they hide the offense, then when they're found out they undergo an added probation for as many days as the offense was hidden. If they actually have sex with anyone, they're out—automatically stripped of status as a monastic and prohibited from re-ordaining for the rest of this lifetime.
That all may receive the benefits of seeing ever more clearly, may I continue to diligently polish this mirror called "my presence"
DONATIONS
$15 SPONSORS TRANSPORTATION FOR ONE PRISON VISIT OR OUT OF TOWN SESSION
$25 SPONSORS TRANSPORTATION FOR ONE PRISON VISIT OR OUT OF TOWN SESSION PLUS A MEAL ON THE RETURN TRIP
From July 2021 - January 2025 Abhaya relinquished full time employment and the benefits that go with it in order to dedicate more time and energy to Dharma study, practice, and service work. Since 2022 his tax filings have put him just above poverty level and he subsidizes this volunteer lifestyle from his own personal life savings. In 2025 medical and financial needs have made it neccesary for a temporary return to full time employment.
All Dharma offerings are supported solely by and only continue to be possible through the generous donations of others. In accordance with Buddhist tradition, all teachings are offered freely. If you wish to support the teachings and community through the spiritual practices of Giving & Generosity (Dana & Caga) secure donations can be made with no surcharge via Paypal or Venmo using the links below.
“You give what is appropriate to the occasion and to your means, when and where your heart feels inspired. For the monastics, this means that you teach, out of compassion, what should be taught, regardless of whether it will sell. For the laity, this means that you give what you have to spare and feel inclined to share. There is no price for the teachings, nor even a ‘suggested donation.’ Anyone who regards the act of teaching or the act of giving requisites as a repayment for a particular favor is ridiculed as mercenary. Instead, you give because giving is good for the heart and because the survival of the Dhamma as living principle depends on daily acts of generosity.”
~Ajahn Thānissaro, from 'Refuge'
LET’S CONNECT
Thank you for reaching out. In the spirit of simplification and sustainability, replies are generally only sent out weekly.
Home Base: Crossville, TN 38555
