Heather Martin
resident teacher
Heather Martin has been guiding the Salt Spring Island Insight Meditation Community since 2000, and is now retiring from this role.
Here is a letter from her to our sangha:
As some of you know, I am stepping back further from my role as the resident Dharma teacher to the Salt Spring Insight Meditation Community.
I have been very blessed to have been able to share with you my love of the brilliance of the Buddha’s teachings for the last 20 years, and it has been truly nourishing and inspiring to have connected with so many people exploring deeply your spiritual journeys. However, now I am looking forward to a quieter and less public life.
This means a few things in terms of my future contributions:
My busy teaching schedule has been lessening for some time, and I have reached a point in my life when I will no longer be leading intensive retreats. There is some sadness, of course, as my connection with so many of you has been very dear to me, for which I am so very grateful.
This also means that I will be stepping back from much of my involvement in the local Salt Spring Insight Meditation community. I will continue to share some dharma thoughts at the weekly Meditation group from time to time, but I will be stepping back from many of the behind-the-scenes activities which support the ongoing functioning of SSIMC.
Our community has grown into a well-established group of dedicated practitioners, which I am sure will continue to thrive. We are fortunate that both David Rumsey and Christine Mauro are enthusiastic about continuing to support SSIMC by sharing their love of the dharma and their experience of deep practice. They have offered to help coordinate the bi-weekly Wednesday sittings on Zoom and in person at the Ganges Yoga Studio. They hope that others will step forward to support SSIMC in various ways, for example:
- Sometimes sharing your dharma wisdom on Wednesday evenings at the sitting group (your own or inspired from another). Already there have been some offers to contribute here;
- Offering to support our online presence e.g. helping to manage our website or g-mail account;
- Assisting with meditation hall set up and take down on alternate Wednesday evenings, etc.
In practical terms, please write to saltspringimc@gmail.com with your thoughts and offerings.
To the many people I have met over these years, I thank you: for your sincerity, your openness and trust, and your deep caring for truth, for goodness, and for developing our minds to be the beautiful instruments for clarity and kindness that they can be.
I wish you all every kind of wellbeing, protection from ill will towards all beings, both the giving and the receiving of much kindness in your lives, and a true and deep understanding of the utter interconnection and indeed sacredness of all life.
Sincerely, yours in the Dharma,
Heather.