This is the wiki site for Appamada, a center for contemporary Zen practice, study, and inquiry, with resident teachers Flint Sparks and Peg Syverson. The wiki is a kind of library or archive of materials related to this sangha, including recordings of talks, materials for classes, readings, poetry, and sutras.

The name Appamada comes from the traditional Pali language in which the Buddha's teachings were first set down in writing. Appamada has a long and interesting history you can read about in the articles on this site, but basically it can be translated asmindful care, or watchful concern. It is an active, aware engagement with present moment experience and an intimate relationship with all that is. We have studied the use of this term in the Buddha's teachings, reflected deeply, and come to realize that this term expresses our aspirations and our experiences with our teaching, our practice, and this sangha. The Buddha compared appamada to an elephant's footprint, which is large enough to hold the footprint of every other animal; in the same way, this quality of mindful care was said to contain all of the Buddha's other teachings.

We recommend that you read Stephen Batchelor's excellent article, "The Buddha's Last Word: Care,"  explaining the concept of appamada in Buddhist practice. To get a sense of how important appamada was in the Buddha's teachings, you might read the very short Appamada Sutta, in which Thanissaro Bikkhu translates this term as "heedfulness."

Quick Reference

Teachers

Flint Sparks and Peg Syverson

Location

913 East 38th St.

Austin, TX 78705 (map)

Home

www.appamada.org

Community Site

www.community.appamada.org

Zazen

6:30 AM Monday-Friday

7;30 PM Wednesday, informal tea follows

8:00-10:45 Sunday, informal brunch at Central Market follows

Inquiry Group

12:30 PM Tuesday

Sunday Dharma Talks

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

Intensive readings and recordings

All years

Study

Study guide (still in development)

What does "Appamada" mean?

Chants and Sutras

Ethics and Grievance Policy

Current Events

Community Site: Events 

Appamada Groups

Introduction to groups at Appamada

Ordinary Mind

Appamada is the evolution of the Ordinary Mind Zen group in Austin. You can find the archives of Ordinary Mind Zen-Austin here (http://ordinarymind.pbworks.com), and the original blog here (http://ordinarymindaustin.blogspot.com).