We meet each week on Thursday nights, 7:00pm at BRUU, with an experienced teacher to guide us on the first week each month.  For four months of 2026, the BRUU Sangha is exploring “Building Serenity From The Inside Out.”  We will cover in depth the Four Noble Truths and how we can suffer less during our current tumult.

Buddhism emphasizes mindful listening as a practice tied to compassion, awareness, and wisdom. This concept is woven through Buddhist teachings and practices, connecting it to mindfulness, ethical conduct, and inner transformation. By practicing mindful listening, one aligns with the Buddhist ideals of presence, compassion, and wisdom, deepening connections with others and fostering inner peace.

By practicing meditation in community and growing in understanding of the Dharma, the Sangha wants individuals and the community to awake to their true selves.  We practice mindful listening with partners and explore the best way to respond rather than react.

In these sessions we’ll learn emotional resilience, deepen our connection with others, and bring steadiness to life’s joys and challenges. Through guided meditations, reflection, and group discussion, you’ll have the opportunity to experience each heart quality directly and consider how to weave them into your daily life.

In Fall 2025 we added a second teacher, Anna Penna, on the third Thursday of each month. She will add to the teachings that Ann Deschamps does on the first Thursdays of each month. Anna has been a practitioner of mindfulness meditation for close to 10 years, having found her teachers in Joseph Goldstein, Sharon Salzberg, and Shell Fisher.  She has also used her RYT500 certification in yoga to combine mindful movement and meditation, teaching free offerings in Hatha yoga and Chair yoga through Fauquier County Parks and Rec.  Anna is an anesthesiologist in private practice.

The classes & meditations led by Ann and Anna start at 7:00 PM and will be in the Flamingo Lounge. Please arrive several minutes before the start time at 7:00pm. If you have not attended a prior BRUU Sangha gathering, please contact Randy Earl at sangha@bruu.org to get necessary information for access to the building.

A dana basket will be there for generosity to the Sangha. Online generosity can be expressed at Zell using bookkeeper@bruu.org or Paypal  In the memo lines, note BRUU Sangha.