Community Calendar

Thursdays 6:00 - 7:00 pm
In-person and via Zoom
Calm Abiding Meditation
This meditation is common to many traditions of Buddhism. In this practice, we rest our attention on a simple meditative support, such as the breath. Instead of following thoughts and emotions as we usually do, we release them and maintain our connection to the support.

“From this practice, we can experience a stable and calm mind. We learn to maintain and return to a sense of stillness, no matter what our outer circumstances. The mind is relaxed, alert and aware. The results of this practice are serenity, freedom in the face of circumstances, and ultimately Buddhahood.”

From Meditation for Beginners, by Bokar Rinpoche.

To attend Calm Abiding Meditation via Zoom, email the office at OFFICE@KSCASHLAND.ORG to join the mailing list.

These small gatherings are for those who practice or would like to learn about Christian contemplative, or mystical, spirituality. The meetings are open to the public, educational, supportive, and non-dogmatic, but we are currently meeting in the Ashland Public Library's Guanajuato Room, which has limited space. (Disclaimer: These meetings are neither sponsored nor endorsed by the Ashland Public Library.) Please arrive on time to have the doors at the rear of the building unlocked; the library will not yet be open. —Fr. Scott Carter

Yoga classes for beginners and 50+
Stretching and breathwork

Learn about the life and legacy of one of the 20th century’s human rights pioneers: Helen Keller, who was deaf and blind since childhood. Author, advocate, and human rights pioneer, Helen Keller, used her courageous spirit to champion rights for women, people with disabilities, and people living in poverty. What was the driving force behind a deaf and blind woman to improve the lives of others?

Alex, founder of Zen Institute, at age 28 quit his job as a corporate accountant and began his training in Zen Buddhism. He volunteered for two years at the Sacramento Children’s Home, where he helped abused children, and for 3 years he taught meditation at Folsom State Prison. Alex witnessed the positive transformation of the inmates as a result of their meditation practice amid the most difficult conditions.

Alex collaborates weekly on radio and television by sharing his knowledge of human potential, and by sharing topics related to mindfulness, children, women’s rights, how the subconscious mind works, and business.

As a continuation from a previous 2024 Windows in Time talk on Peter Britt’s glass negatives in the Southern Oregon Historical Society archives, Ben Truwe will focus on the trips Britt took to Crater Lake, Klamath County and California.

Medford resident Ben Truwe is a recovering printer and a former trustee of SOHS. He is the author of the Looking Back Jackson County history books and curator of the massive Southern Oregon History, Revised web site, spending decades tracking down, transcribing and annotating historical source documents from the 1850s to the 1950s and making them easily available online.

The monthly Windows in Time lunchtime lectures feature well-known writers and historians and bring alive the people, values, and events that shaped our southern Oregon heritage. Lectures are jointly sponsored by the Southern Oregon Historical Society (SOHS) and Jackson County Library Services. Programs are presented in Medford (first Wednesdays, in-person and online) and again in Ashland (second Wednesdays, in-person). Registration is only required to attend the Zoom version of Medford's program. Recordings of Medford presentations are available on the JCLS Beyond YouTube channel

Chemawa Indian School near Salem, Oregon is the oldest continuously operating off-reservation boarding school for Native children in the United States. Founded in 1880 as the Forest Grove Indian Industrial Training School, the school was moved to its current location in 1885. The school underwent several name changes before officially changing to Chemawa Indian School in 1939 and keeping that name until the present day. The boarding school housed children not only from Oregon’s Sovereign Nations but also from tribal communities throughout the country. Many scholars, both settler and Indigenous, have researched and reported on the history of the boarding school and the consequences of forced assimilation of Native children. This Windows in Time presentation will review some of this research but also describe new research opportunities made available through the online Chemawa American, the school’s weekly newspaper recently digitized for the Oregon Digital Newspaper Program.

Maureen Flanagan Battistella is an affiliate faculty member of the Southern Oregon University College of Natural and Social Sciences. Her research interests include community documentation, oral history and heritage preservation, the work published to the Stories of Southern Oregon on YouTube, the Internet Archives and the Southern Oregon Digital Archives at Southern Oregon University. Battistella currently serves as an Oregon Heritage commissioner and on the Oregon Digital Newspaper Program’s advisory board. She holds a BS and MLS from Rutgers University.

The monthly Windows in Time lunchtime lectures feature well-known writers and historians and bring alive the people, values, and events that shaped our Southern Oregon heritage. Lectures are jointly sponsored by the Southern Oregon Historical Society (SOHS) and Jackson County Library Services. Programs are presented in Medford (first Wednesdays, in-person and online) and again in Ashland (second Wednesdays, in-person). Registration is only required to attend the Zoom version of Medford's program. Recordings of Medford presentations are available on the JCLS Beyond YouTube channel.

Thursdays 6:00 - 7:00 pm
In-person and via Zoom
Calm Abiding Meditation
This meditation is common to many traditions of Buddhism. In this practice, we rest our attention on a simple meditative support, such as the breath. Instead of following thoughts and emotions as we usually do, we release them and maintain our connection to the support.

“From this practice, we can experience a stable and calm mind. We learn to maintain and return to a sense of stillness, no matter what our outer circumstances. The mind is relaxed, alert and aware. The results of this practice are serenity, freedom in the face of circumstances, and ultimately Buddhahood.”

From Meditation for Beginners, by Bokar Rinpoche.

To attend Calm Abiding Meditation via Zoom, email the office at OFFICE@KSCASHLAND.ORG to join the mailing list.

Celebrate Jane Austen's 250th birthday this month! Living History performer Tames Alan gives an engaging description of what it was like to be alive during the time Jane Austen wrote her books. In the first half of this program, Tames appears in an authentic Regency dress like those any of Jane Austen’s characters would have worn during the day. Using quotes from the characters and the characters’ behaviors from Austen’s books, Tames shows how they reflect the reality of the times, especially concerning finances, entailment of estates, and all the social ramifications of marriage. She explains why this era is called the Regency and how ideas about love and marriage underwent significant changes during this era.

Changing into an evening dress that would be appropriate for a ball or assembly dance, Tames describes each piece of clothing, including undergarments, fabrics, and hair and makeup, which marked a transition between the 18th century and the Victorian era. She then discusses ballroom etiquette, the importance of proper introductions, food and drink, and the dances that made up a major part of the hunt for a husband during this time.

This free performance will be offered at the following JCLS branches:

Ashland, Tuesday, December 2nd at 3pm

Central Point, Thursday, December 4th at 5:30pm

Medford, Friday, December 5th at 3:30pm

Applegate, Saturday, December 6th at 12:30pm

These small gatherings are for those who practice or would like to learn about Christian contemplative, or mystical, spirituality. The meetings are open to the public, educational, supportive, and non-dogmatic, but we are currently meeting in the Ashland Public Library's Guanajuato Room, which has limited space. (Disclaimer: These meetings are neither sponsored nor endorsed by the Ashland Public Library.) Please arrive on time to have the doors at the rear of the building unlocked; the library will not yet be open. —Fr. Scott Carter

On December 7, local nonprofit Anima Mundi Productions is bringing the internationally celebrated composer and performer Dr. Shireen Abu-Khader to Ashland to present the world premiere of a new concert film that takes us into the rich world of Middle Eastern music; as part of this live presentation, she will also engage with the audience and perform her own compositions—as well as traditional pieces that draw on classical, folkloric, and spiritual traditions from the Levant and beyond, often blending Arabic maqams with Western harmony.