This year come join us for the joyous occasion!

Sunday, October 21, 2018, 4-7pm

Blessing ceremony at the Ananda Shrine
Chanting and sharing our stories as a Dhamma Community.
Food Dana potluck by attendees
(finger foods, noodles, desserts and fruit)
Silent auction of an oil painting by Dr Thynn
plus other items donated by the community.
1,000 lights offering to the shrines in the evening.

For more info contact:
Dr. Thynn (707) 293-4535
thynnmetta@gmail.com

Dr. Thynn Thynn and Melissa Titone will be starting a new beginning daily-life mindfulness class the first week of September. This class is open to any new students and all returning students who want a refresher.

Thursday evenings, 6:30-8:00pm beginning September 7th. The classes will be recorded for distance learning and those who can’t make a class.

There will be hands on training of how to apply the practice while one moves throughout the day. This will be done without silent sitting. Some background knowledge of the practice from Theravada Buddhism will be taught during the class.

The class will run for 10 sessions.

Suggested donation: $15-$20 per class, but no one is turned away for lack of funds.

For more information or to register to attend in person or online:
email stw2@sonic.net

To All Buddhist Friends!
Sae Taw Win II Dhamma Center would like to announce.

It is with great honor and excitement that I announce our Center is about to build the replica of Shwedagon, the holiest shrine of Burma. Stupa building in our Samantha tradition is not only for donors to acquire merit but it is to create a powerful vortex of spiritual energy of healing. The Stupa will be built in the circle within the circular driveway in front of the Dhamma House. It will be 19 1/2 ft in height and about 22 ft diameter at its base. It will have 6 small companion stupas surrounding it  as well as the 8 astrological corners that will represent the days of the week.

It will be known as American Shw-Da-Gon  Pagoda (American Dat Paung Zu Zedi in Burmese )

We will be breaking ground ( Panet Cha Pwe ceremony ) on May 31 morning. We are happy to invite you to participate at this auspicious occasion.

We plan to begin constructions as soon as we have completed the ground breaking ceremony and hence the Center is  now accepting donations so that we can begin building the platform right away. It is estimated to be around $100,000.

Donations can be sent by check designated to Sae Taw Win 2 and sent by mail to
Sae Taw Win 2 Dhamma Center at 8769 Bower Str., Sebastopol
CA 95472.

Or your funds can be sent through PayPal on our website. Whether you send a check or through Pay Pal please designate your dana as Shwedagon Zedi Fund.

We are. Non-profit religious organization and your donation is tax exempt. Please include your mailing address or email so we can send your tax exempt letter when we receive your contribution.

Architectural details will be forthcoming soon.

May you be peaceful may you be free from strife.

With metta

Dr Thynn Thynn and Board of Directors of Sae Taw Win II Dhamma Foundation.

Newsletter Winter 2017

As we leave behind the old year and welcome the New Year, may I take the opportunity to wish everyone a Happy New Year, and to announce the birth of my second grandson to my daughter Dr. Win Thu Han and my son-in-law Shannon Lo Ricco. In fact,  little Yeza-Han Giovanni Lo Ricco ushered in the New Year for our community because he was born on Jan 1, 2017!!

The year 2016 gave us the opportunity to renew the Center in many crucial aspects, including reviving the teaching programs and repairing the physical premises.  I began teaching a new class, while training Melissa Titone, one of my most senior students, as a teacher trainee.  We intended to resume classes in January, but had to postpone the classes due to the storms that month and continuing this month.  I taught the Senior class on practicing mindfulness or investigating into Self and No-Self during the past year. It has been so good to dive into teaching and training again.

New Board of Directors

At the end of 2016, we recruited some new Board Members from among our old and new students. They’ve become a very active Board to my great delight.

The new lineup is:
Dr. Thynn…..President
Carol Benfell….Secretary
Joel Hack….Treasurer
Kevin Klotz….Member
Daniel Berkman…Member
Tonie Quigley…Liaison to students
Dr. Tin Aung….Member
U Zaw Min…..Member
Dr. Tin-wa…Advisor
Adam Titone…Advisor

Repairs and Other Work

Our Center is in its 18th year, and we have encountered many utility system break downs from wear and tear — the well pump, sewer pump, and boiler system just to name a few.

We are now in the midst of repairing the foundation of the Dhamma house with the help of senior students master builder Mark McLauliff and Jim Morris. Jim is a geotechnical engineer who drove down from Nevada City to give us ideas on how to channel rain water away from the house. We have completed the first phase, and the concrete work in front of the Dhamma House is first rate in terms of creative and functional design. We have been extremely pleased with the results. We still have more to do.

I have plans to construct a replica of the Shwedagon Cedi at the Center. The replica will be dedicated to peace and security in America, especially during these very uncertain times. I hope to form a Cedi Construction Committee (Gopaka) soon.

With extensive and costly repairs going on, we are very fortunate one of our senior students has given a personal loan to the Center that has enabled us to keep the Center running.  The loan is for five years, and we need to pay it back during that period. The Board of Directors and myself would like to appeal to your generosity to support us financially in terms of pledges, a one-time donation or as a beneficiary of your estate.

We would like to thank all of you, our donors, for your continuous support that has kept the Center going for the past 18 years, through which hundreds of local American students have benefited. Whenever I meet my old students, almost everyone tells me they cannot stop practicing daily life mindfulness now.

For the Center to continue bringing the Dhamma to Westerners, we will continue to need your support, large or small, on a regular basis.

Outreach Programs

The Board of Directors is very interested in initiating outreach programs, such as the day-long intensive mindfulness meditation program. This is real life practice mindfulness 101….and will help students develop equanimity (Upekkha) so that their outlook on the current situation may bring wisdom and right view as taught by the Buddha in terms of the Noble Eightfold Path.

Other outreach programs will include giving Dhamma talks to spiritual communities and publication of my second Dhamma book, among other things.

We do hope students who have studied at the Center will be enthusiastic, and participate and support our outreach activities.

I am also preparing to print my Burmese Dhamma book to distribute to the Burmese community in the Bay Area as well as nationwide and beyond.

May the teachings of the Buddha thrive and benefit the world over,

Dr Thynn Thynn on behalf of the Board of Directors
Sae Taw Win II Dhamma Center
8769 Bower St.,
Sebastopol CA 95472

For your convenience, PayPal is available on our website for donations — www.saetawwin2.org.