THE STORY SANGHA:

A MONTHLY WRITING ACCOUNTABILITY GROUP WITH PROMPTS

Practice Makes Perfect: Writing Our Way Through the Ten Perfections

During this 10-class (February to November) study series, we will look at using the 10 paramis (or perfections) as a guide to making us better writers.

Also known as the 10 paramitas, the ten perfections are concise, common-sense Buddhist teachings for integrating our awakening into everyday life. These 10 qualities are useful in any situation—at work, home, at the office, as you’re driving, and as you’re sitting with your sangha.

The 10 perfections in the Theravāda tradition are generosity (dāna), morality (sīla), renunciation (nekhamma), insight (pañña), energetic diligence (viriya), patience (khanti), truthfulness (sacca), resolution (adhiṭṭhāna), loving-kindness (metta), and equanimity (upekkhā).

For these 10 weeks, we will write, and share, and read, and revise...together! We will jointly hold space, for ourselves and others, to create a writing sangha where we can feel comfortable sharing as much or as little as we would like. Each meeting, we will discuss a perfection before working on writing prompts based on that perfection. We will then share them (this is optional) and leave space for any questions.

Bring a pen and notebook, or your laptop, and come join us!

February 24, 2024: Determination (adhiṭṭhāna)

March 23, 2024: Energy (viraya)

April 27, 2024: Loving Kindness (metta)

May 25, 2024: TBD

June 22, 2024: TBD

July 27, 2024: TBD

August 24, 2024: TBD

September 28, 2024: TBD

October 26, 2024: TBD

November 23, 2024: equanimity (upekkhā)

About Our Teacher:

Timothy Charles Davis (Acharya AtīvaDātu) helped co-write The Southern Foodways Alliance Community Cookbook (UGA Press). In 2015, The Hot Chicken Cookbook: The Fiery History and Red-Hot Recipes of Nashville’s Beloved Bird (Spring House Press/Blue Hills Press) was published. Davis’ partial publication credits include pieces for Southern Living, Cornbread Nation, Salon.com, Mother Jones, First We Feast, Saveur, Christian Science Monitor, Gastronomica, and Oxford American. He is a former staff writer and food columnist at Creative Loafing in Charlotte, NC and Weekly Surge/Sun News in Myrtle Beach, SC. He also contributed as an associate editor to Gravy, the official newsletter of the Oxford, Mississippi- based Southern Foodways Alliance. He has taught writing at Belmont University, Cumberland University, Nashville State Community College, Lipscomb University, Volunteer State Community College, and Watkins College of Art, Design + Film. He is an ordained Dharmacharya through Heartwood Refuge and Academy in Hendersonville, NC, which is a multi-lineage lay ordination program led by the Venerable Dr. Panavatti Karuna. He is also a member of the Zen Peacemakers Order ministerial program, where he serves as a mentor/facilitator. He has taught two prior online retreats for Flowering Lotus Meditation Center: Spokes in the Wheel: Better Writing (and Living) Through the Noble Eightfold Path, and More than Words: Writing as a Means of Discovery.

Practice Makes Perfect: Writing Our Way Through the Ten Perfections

THE STORY SANGHA: A MONTHLY WRITING ACCOUNTABILITY GROUP WITH PROMPTS