Green Mountain Meditation Center at Serenity Central of New England

08/13/2026

🌿🧘‍♂️ Meditate with a Buddhist Monk 🧘‍♀️🌿

We are grateful to share a new opportunity to cultivate mindfulness, inner peace, and compassion through meditation.

Join Bhante Rrathana — The Green Mountain Monk for guided meditation sessions at The Yoga Place in Bennington, Vermont.

✨ Starting September 4th
📅 Fridays at 12:00 PM
📍 The Yoga Place
523 Main Street, Bennington, VT

These meditation sessions will offer a peaceful space to:
🌱 Calm the mind
🌱 Reduce stress
🌱 Develop mindfulness and awareness
🌱 Cultivate compassion and inner balance

Everyone is welcome—whether you are new to meditation or continuing your practice.

For more information, contact Jane at:
📧 [email protected]
📞 802-447-0393

Learn more about meditation and mindfulness:
🌐 www.GreenMountainMeditation.org
[email protected]

May we all discover greater peace, wisdom, and happiness within. 🙏🌿


Green Mountain Monk Green Mountain Meditation Center at Serenity Central of New England Bhante Rathana

08/11/2026

🌿 Forgiveness Is Freedom, Not Forgetting
Forgiveness does not mean saying that someone’s harmful actions were right. It does not mean forgetting what happened, abandoning your boundaries, or allowing someone to hurt you again.
The Buddha taught:
“Hatred is never appeased by hatred;
by non-hatred alone is hatred appeased.”
— Dhammapada 5
When someone hurts us, it is natural for anger and resentment to arise. But if we continue carrying hatred in our hearts, we become the ones who continue to suffer.
The Buddha also taught:
“Conquer anger with non-anger;
conquer the unskillful with the skillful.”
— Dhammapada 223
This does not mean we should remain in harmful relationships. We can walk away. We can create distance. We can say no. We can protect ourselves. But we can do all of this without allowing hatred to poison our own minds.
🌸 Forgiveness can be a form of letting go.
It can mean:
“What happened was wrong, and I will learn from it.
I will protect myself and maintain healthy boundaries.
But I will not carry hatred for the rest of my life.”
The Buddha's teaching reminds us:
“Not doing any evil, cultivating what is wholesome, purifying one’s own mind—this is the teaching of the Buddhas.”
— Dhammapada 183
So forgiveness is not necessarily a gift to the person who hurt you.
It is a gift to your own heart. 🌿
Choose wisdom over hatred.
Choose compassion over revenge.
Choose boundaries over bitterness.
Choose peace over carrying the past.
May we all learn to release what weighs heavily on the heart and walk forward with mindfulness, wisdom, and mettā. 🙏
— Green Mountain Monk 🌿🙏

08/10/2026

08/10/2026

08/10/2026

🍂🍁 Turning Leaves, Turning Mind 🍁🍂
Peak Color, Deep Presence | October 16–18, 2026
As autumn transforms Vermont’s Green Mountains into a breathtaking tapestry of color, we invite you to slow down, reconnect, and experience the beauty of the changing season.
Join us for an immersive autumn retreat filled with meditation, yoga, joyful movement, forest experiences, mindfulness, and meaningful connection. 🌿🧘‍♀️🧘‍♂️
Together, we will explore the wisdom of impermanence and discover how the changing leaves can remind us to embrace change, cultivate presence, and find peace within ourselves.
✨ Led by:
🙏 Bhante Rathana — Green Mountain Monk
🌲 Amy Pramuk — RYT-200 Yoga & Certified Forest Therapy Guide
🏡 Shared quarters: $300
🌿 Private quarters: $400
📅 October 16, 17 & 18, 2026
📍 Serenity Central of New England, Vermont Green Mountains
Come breathe, walk, meditate, move, and reconnect with yourself and the natural world. 🍁
Registration: serenityne.org
Green Mountain Monk Green Mountain Meditation Center at Serenity Central of New EnglandBhante Rathana

07/29/2026

🪷 Vassa Invitation (Rainy Retreat) Ceremony at Serenity Central of New England🪷

With hearts full of gratitude, we thank everyone who joined us for our Vassa Invitation Ceremony, marking the beginning of the sacred Rainy Retreat.

For more than 2,500 years, Vassa has been a treasured tradition in the Theravāda Buddhist community. During these three months, monastics dedicate themselves to deeper meditation, study of the Dhamma, and spiritual cultivation, while lay practitioners are encouraged to strengthen their practice through generosity (dāna), morality (sīla), and meditation (bhāvanā).

It was a blessing to gather as a community to begin this sacred season with devotion, mindfulness, and loving-kindness. Thank you to everyone who attended, offered support, and shared in the spirit of the Dhamma.

May this Vassa inspire us all to cultivate wisdom, compassion, and inner peace in our daily lives.

May all beings be happy, healthy, and peaceful.🙏

07/29/2026

Some of life's greatest lessons are learned only after we lose what we once took for granted.

Freedom is often unnoticed until it is taken away.
Health is rarely appreciated until sickness arrives.
Wealth seems ordinary until hardship comes.
A smile becomes precious when tears fill our eyes.
And when the heart is consumed by suffering, we discover that true peace is life's greatest treasure.

The Buddha repeatedly encouraged us to reflect wisely on the impermanent nature of life—not to become fearful, but to become grateful. Every moment is an opportunity to appreciate the blessings we have today and to use them with kindness, wisdom, and compassion.

May we cherish our freedom while we are free, care for our health while we are well, use our resources generously, smile often, and cultivate inner peace before life's storms arise.

What blessing are you grateful for today?

🌿 May all beings be happy, healthy, and peaceful.

07/25/2026

Rise and shine! 🌞 Start your day with a sense of calm and clarity! Join us for an all levels yoga class at Weeping Willow Yoga's serene outdoor space in Jacksonville! Class is at 8am, no cost to attend and mats are available! 🧘‍♀️

453 VT Route 112 - under the tent!