WELCOME!

The WHUUF Buddhist discussion and meditation group meets in community to share wisdom and insights on Buddhism, Meditation and Mindfulness.

We uphold the WHUUF Covenant of Right Relations (https://whuuf.net/about-us/covenant-right-relations/) and practice the Noble Eightfold Path shared by the Buddha to end suffering, develop skillfulness, and be in harmony with our community (https://www.lionsroar.com/buddhism/eightfold-path/).

Join us in person or by Zoom on Sundays from 9 – 10 AM.

IN PERSON: We gather in the Fireside room located down the hall from the WHUUF main office.
BY ZOOM: https://uuma.zoom.us/j/97751343013 (Meeting ID: 977 5134 3013)

ANNOUNCEMENTS

DISCUSSION TOPIC FOR SUNDAY, 3/8/2026

We are reading Buddhism Is Not What You Think: Finding Freedom Beyond Beliefs by Steve Hagen (2003). Thanks to Robert Rubenstein for providing the link for an electronic version of the book: https://archive.org/details/buddhismisnotwhatyouthinkfindingfreedombeyondbeliefsstevehagen_752_h. In the event that there is no moderator, the group will discuss the Noble Eightfold Path.

Thanks to Anne Dryad for moderating Chapter 11 this Sunday. Her notes are below:

Chapter 11: Neither Sacred Nor Profane, pages 52-55

“

We can’t actually say what Truth or Reality is. Whatever we do say is dualistic by the virtue of the fact that it’s been verbalized, put into conceptual form.

Zen teaching goes beyond any merely intellectual understanding. We need to come back to This Moment. We can start to recognize our dualistic thinking as it takes place within our mind. We can learn to see our grasping and judging. We can SEE how we reach for what we deem sacred and how we spurn what we imagine to be profane.

When we SEE how we do this, we can also learn to SEE how not to get caught up in it.

Truth isn’t an idea or a belief. It isn’t graspable. It isn’t even conceivable. Still, it can be directly SEEn.

The fact is, Truth is something we already KNOW; we only need to come back to it and settle down. We only need to be reminded of it.

“

DISCUSSED ON 2/22/26

The text and image below were taken from a Facebook post on the “Buddhism” page (accessed 2/17/26, original author and creator unknown). They are included in this newsletter by request:

“We want growth without discomfort.
Healing without facing pain.
Peace without letting go of what disturbs it.

Yet every real transformation asks for a quiet sacrifice.

To become disciplined, you must lose some laziness.
To become peaceful, you must release some control.
To become free, you must outgrow some attachments.
To become who you are meant to be, you must loosen your grip on who you have been.

This is why change feels frightening.
Not because the future is uncertain…
but because the familiar must be surrendered.

And the familiar, even when it hurts us, feels like home.

So we cling to habits that drain us.
Roles that confine us.
Stories that limit us.
Comfort zones that quietly keep us stuck.

But here is the deeper truth:

You are not losing yourself in change.
You are losing only what was never truly you.

Growth is not theft.
It is refinement.
It removes what is heavy so you can move lighter.
It releases what is false so you can live truer.

Yes, change will take something.
It always does.

But what it gives in return is almost always greater:
clarity, strength, peace, authenticity, freedom.

So if you feel resistance rising in you, pause and ask gently:

“What comfort am I afraid to release?”

Because on the other side of that answer…
your next life is waiting. ”

WEDNESDAY MORNING MEDITATIONS

Online group meditation offered by WHUUF is on Wednesday mornings at 7:30 AM for 30 minutes. There is no book discussion. Participants are welcome to keep their cameras off if that is more comfortable. Check in at https://uuma.zoom.us/my/revtracy.