John Bell

Join us as we welcome guest Dharma teacher John Bell
September 13, 2026, 10am -1:30pm via ZOOM

CATERPILLARS and BUTTERFLIES - JOURNEY FROM SMALL SELF TO COSMIC SELF

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We are whole and unbroken. But we forget this. Or rather, the awareness of our miraculous being gets narrowed, obscured or repressed by a steady stream of hurtful messages or unwholesome experiences from a damaged world. Even if we can’t articulate it, most of us carry an inner sense that we are more loving, more generous, more courageous, more creative, more intelligent, more powerful than we can usually show. And most of us long for deeper connections with each other, the natural world, “the more beautiful world our hearts know is possible,” and the fabric of the Great Mystery of life itself. 

If any of this resonates with you, please come join us as we explore questions like: Where is home? Where do we belong? What if we embraced ourselves with unconditional love? What is unbroken wholeness? What do we need to let go of in order to be free? How is the planetary meta-crisis a crisis in our relationships in all dimensions? The day includes silence, a dharma talk, guided meditation, poetry, singing and small group sharing. 

About John Bell

John Bell is an ordained Buddhist Dharma Teacher in the Plum Village tradition of Thich Nhat Hanh. He has been facilitating the Mountain Bell Sangha in the Boston area since 1997 and offers retreats around the country. He has served on the Plum Village Caretaking Councils of the North American Dharma Teachers Sangha; ARISE, the racial justice initiative; Earth Holder Community, the earth justice initiative; and most recently, the Beloved Community Circles for Mindful Action network. In recent years, he has been arrested twice with a group of local faith

leaders for protesting the installation of a fracked gas pipeline near Boston, MA. Besides many published articles and handbooks, he is the author of YouthBuild’s North Star, and his most recent book, Unbroken Wholeness: Six Pathways to the Beloved Community. His blog is “Begin Within,” www.beginwithin.info