WE NEED YOUR MAILING ADDRESS:

During the coming weeks we expect to release our new brochure for the 2010 Winter Feast for the Soul along with some other promotional materials which we would like to make available to you. Please send us your mailing addresses for that purpose. We promise that this list will not be published or shared for any purpose.

You can do this by sending an email to winterfeastforthesoul@gmail.com. Please write “Mailing Address” in the subject line.

NEW ADDRESSES FOR WINTER FEAST:

Please make a note of the following address changes for Winter Feast for the Soul:

US Mail: P. O. Box 1104 / Hailey Idaho 83333

Email: winterfeastforthesoul@gmail.com

“SUNSHINE FOR THE SOUL” TO PREMIER AT SUN VALLEY FILM FESTIVAL IN SEPTEMBER:

For the second year, our newest promotional DVD will be shown at the Sun Valley Spiritual Film Festival. We titled the latest release “Sunshine for the Soul”, highlighting the fact that the commitment to daily practice brings new light to the soul during the “darkness” of the winter season. Meditation is known to have a positive effect on those who are affected by the lack of light during the winter, known as Seasonal Affective Disorder (S.A.D.).

The new DVD differs from the one released a year ago in that it is a series of interviews with people who have participated in the 2008 and 2009 Feasts. It also sets out our intentions for the 2010 Feast.

“Sunshine for the Soul” will be available on You Tube, as well as on our website by mid-September.

LOCAL ORGNIZERS NEEDED FOR 2010 WINTER FEAST:

Many of you worked in your local communities before and during the 2009 Winter Feast promoting the Feast and creating opportunities for people to understand the meaning of the Feast and encouraging them to join us.

Please consider becoming an organizer this year, whether you were with us last year or not. Zubin Mary Goldman is creating tools to assist you in that work. Those will be announced toward the end of the month and in our next newsletter.

You can let Zubin know that you are interested in becoming an organizer by emailing her at wfzubin@gmail.com. Please copy our office on that email: winterfeastforthesoul@gmail.com and type ORGANIZER in the subject line.

PRISON OUTREACH PROGRAM:

As we mentioned above, our new DVD is being shown at the Sun Valley Spiritual Film Festival later this month. Because of our intention to create a prison outreach program for the 2010 Winter Feast, our DVD was paired with a documentary film “The Dhamma Brothers” based on an experiment conducted at an Alabama prison where meditation was taught in an attempt to rehabilitate a group of prisoners. During a 10-day Vipassana meditation intensive retreat some remarkable results are witnessed. The film concentrates on four inmates, all convicted of murder. It also includes interviews of guards, prison officials, and local residents. You can view a trailer of “The Dhamma Brothers” on You Tube: http://www.dhammabrothers.com/trailer.html.

It is our intention to work with people already working in the prison system, either as employees, or volunteer meditation teachers and guides who can offer the opportunity to be part of the Feast to those who are incarcerated. Last year a Buddhist sangha in Boise Idaho who were already working with men in the local Incarceration Center invited them to join the Feast. Ten men responded and committed to the Feast. One of them wrote regularly to our director: “We are doing sacred work,” he wrote. “What we are doing will change the world. Thank you for letting me be part of this. It is changing my life.”

During our explorations to find the prisoners who might be interested in joining us, Valerie was asked to write a series of articles about meditation and the Winter Feast for the Soul for a prisoner’s journal called “Freedom Inside”. Through the articles we are able to invite prisoners who subscribe the journal to join us in 2010. The first article was published in July and the second will come out later this month. Several prisoners have already committed to be part of the Feast as a result of reading the first article.

These articles are available for downloading on our website under the heading of Prison Outreach. Please feel free to forward them to people who might be able to get them into the hands of men and women who are incarcerated.

Any suggestions that you might have to help us reach people who are already working in the prisons will be greatly appreciated. We know of a few Vipassana Buddhist organizations, but I’m sure there are many others that we are unaware of.

That’s all for now, friends. Have a wonderful month as we enjoy the end of summer and the glorious days of fall.

May peace be within you and all around you,

Valerie Skonie