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Mindfulness | Meditation | Buddhism

A community within All Souls for meditation practice and the sharing of dharma teachings from a wide range of teachers and lineages.
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May you be held in compassion.

May you be safe and well, healed and protected.

May your struggles, your suffering, and your fears be eased.

May you live with a peaceful heart.

Our Program

The MMB Program at All Souls offers opportunities for people of all backgrounds to practice and learn with dharma teachers of an array of lineages. Our program was founded in 2016, by our assistant minister Rev. Pamela Patton, who is both a Unitarian Universalist and a Buddhist, and who has been involved with All Souls for 30 years. Her own spiritual practice is in the Gelug tradition of Tibetan Buddhism, and her dharma home is Shantideva Center in Brooklyn, our sibling center. See the buttons below to learn more about Rev. Pamela, the rest of our teachers and community meditation facilitators, and to visit the Shantideva Center website.

Our Regular Offerings

Daily Meditation Practice: Our community meditation leaders host a half hour meditation through Zoom from 8:30-9 Monday through Saturday. Click here to join.

Weekly Dharma Study Groups: Hour-long meditation and discussion groups via Zoom several times per week.

MONDAYS 10-11: Meditation and Discussion with Reverend Pamela Patton and Guest Teachers. Click here to join.

Join us for a talk and a meditation followed by a discussion. The topics are different each week — some examples include destructive emotions and the Buddhist understanding of impermanence.

ALTERNATING TUESDAYS 1:00-2:30: Dharma Study Group with Harry Miller. Click here to join.

This is a drop-in group — all are welcome to attend once or as many times as you like. We explore basic teachings of Buddhism using both a philosophical and, more importantly, a practical, approach. We study important Mahayana texts like the Heart Sutra and the Diamond Sutra. We perform a close reading of the texts, paragraph by paragraph and line by line when necessary. It is a very interactive class.

THURSDAYS 10-11, Transforming our Suffering with Reverend Pamela Patton. Click here to join. 

We are currently reading and discussing Altruism: The Power of Compassion to Change Yourself and the World by Matthieu Ricard. You are most welcome to attend whether or not you’ve done the reading. We start with a short meditation; Pamela summarizes the chapter; Harry Miller reflects on the teachings, and then we have a discussion (you can choose whether you’d like to go to a breakout room or stay in the main room for a larger group conversation). Each session is standalone, so you can drop in whenever you wish.

Weekly: In-Person Sits with a rotating crew of Community Meditation Leaders

We have a 30-minute sitting practice on Wednesday evenings at 6pm and Sunday mornings at 10:30am before Sunday worship, in the Minot-Simons room at All Souls NYC, 1157 Lexington Ave. 

Monthly Dharma talks with guest teachers from a range of lineages, on Sundays from 1:30-3pm at All Souls NYC, 1157 Lexington Avenue. See our calendar below for upcoming talks.

Sanctuary Sounds Join us for our monthly sound bath series, the Third Sunday evening of the month, held in our resonant sanctuary space. We invite a range of gifted sound artists to offer an immersive hour of mindfulness, rest, and recovery, with an appetizer of poetry. See our calendar below for upcoming Sanctuary Sounds.

Learning Series We also occasionally offer in-person and online series to deepen our practice together. Past series include: Mindful Eating, Being Alone, Date with Death, Lectio Divina, and half-day Meditation Retreats. Join our mailing list below to stay in the loop about our learning series.

Upcoming Mindfulness | Meditation | Buddhism Events

Guest Teacher: Dr. Pilar Jennings

Getting Unstuck

Four Sundays: 10/19/25, 11/23/25, 02/08/26, 04/12/26

In-Person from 1-2:30pm at All Souls NYC

In this 4-part series, Dr. Pilar Jennings will explore the wish for favorable change of all kinds alongside the frustration so many face when attempting to make needed change.  Together, we’ll talk through the insights offered in Buddhist psychology that support our natural capacity for change.  Using insights offered in the psychotherapeutic tradition, we’ll explore what contributes to feelings of stuckness, and our shared potential to work this through.

Upcoming Sanctuary Sounds

ft. Laraaji

Sunday, Octover 19th from 7-8:30pm

in the Sanctuary at 1157 Lexington Avenue

We will open with poetry by Hafiz, followed by a sound journey with:

Ambient Visionary tone communicator, multi instrumentalist, improvisational pianist mystic, Laraaji. Most recent recorded music “SUN PIANO” “MOON PIANO” “Segue To Infinity”— to offer Celestial Grand Piano Sound Bath.

 

 

Guest Teacher: Peace Twesigye

Mindfulness of Mind

Sunday December 14, 2025

In-Person from 1-2:30pm at All Souls NYC

Mindfulness of Mind: Seeing What is Right Here

The mind so close—so immediate—that we hardly notice the effect it has in our life, like fish not seeing the water they swim in. We’ll explore the third establishment of mindfulness, mindfulness of mind, as a way to gently turn our attention toward this subtle and powerful dimension of experience.

Together, we’ll practice noticing the movements of the mind without judgment, practicing recognizing when the mind is restless or calm, contracted or spacious, or pushing or pulling on experience. By bringing awareness here, we discover that the mind is not something we must always identify with or let direct our lives’, but something we can observe with curiosity and care.

Through this practice, an ease and balance naturally emerge—an ease that is not confined to the meditation cushion, but can ripple into the flow of our daily lives. This practice invites both beginners and seasoned practitioners to taste the freedom that comes from seeing the mind clearly, and from resting in a steadier, more spacious awareness.

More about Peace:
Peace Twesigye is the former Director of Programming for Buddhist Studies and the Thích Nhất Hạnh Program for Engaged Buddhism at Union Theological Seminary. Peace has taught meditation and Buddhadharma throughout the northeastern United States, in France, and online. A recognized Insight Dialogue teacher, Peace brings together meditative awareness, Buddhist wisdom, and our relational nature as a path to awakening. Peace is currently in the retreat teacher training program offered by Insight Meditation Society and Spirit Rock Meditation Center which will conclude in 2028. Additionally, Peace serves on the board of Lion’s Roar Foundation and previously served on the board of the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies. Peace Twesigye has two master’s degrees; the first in violin performance, and the second in education, with a specialization in students with disabilities, and is committed to the path of being a lifelong student.

Our Partner Dharma Center

Shantideva Center is dedicated to cultivating wisdom and compassion through the study and practice of Tibetan Buddhism. We are affiliated with the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition (FPMT), which is based on the Buddhist tradition of Lama Tsongkhapa as taught by our founder, Lama Thubten Yeshe and Spiritual Director, Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche.

Programs include Buddhist teachings and retreats with qualified teachers, study programs, meditation, pujas and ritual practices, community service, and special events.

“Buddhism and Unitarian Universalism value many of the same things,

including experiential practice, study and self-inquiry,

mindful awareness cultivation, insightful wisdom development, and

loving-kindness, combined with active compassion in the world.”

— Lama Surya Das, from the Forward of Buddhist Voices in Unitarian Universalism

Community Meditation

Community Meditation

Online

Join us for short weekday meditations led by members of All Souls Buddhism and Mindfulness. We hope this will help you get started with meditation or keep going. No meditation […]

Community Meditation

Community Meditation

Online

Join us for short weekday meditations led by members of All Souls Buddhism and Mindfulness. We hope this will help you get started with meditation or keep going. No meditation […]

Community Meditation

Community Meditation

Online

Join us for short weekday meditations led by members of All Souls Buddhism and Mindfulness. We hope this will help you get started with meditation or keep going. No meditation […]

Community Meditation: Sunday Sit

Community Meditation: Sunday Sit

Minot Simons Room 1157 Lexington Ave., New York, NY, United States

Join us for this weekly 30 minute meditation before worship on Sundays. All experience levels welcome. The closing bell will ring with plenty of time to head over to the […]