Good
morning, Sangha:
For those
unable to attend last night’s meeting know that you were missed and that you
were held in our thoughts. It was wonderful to see several new faces last night
as well.
Even when
you can’t attend I hope that, wherever you are and whatever you’re doing, you’re
able to pause and bring the Sangha to mind. If you are unable to meditate,
taking several refreshing in-breaths and out-breaths can bring you back to your
true home and connect you with the Sangha. As one member who couldn’t make last
night’s gathering noted, “Even though I was stuck in a project, I stopped and
mediated with my Sangha. It was amazing and renewed my energy for the project
when I resumed my work.”
So we can
water one another’s seeds no matter where we find ourselves.
Last
night, for our meditation, we practiced metta
or loving-kindness meditation. This was what I shared before we began:
Two Sundays ago I attended a
half-day workshop on peacemaking modeled on the life and teachings of Gandhi.
Attendees asked how they could speak into the political process wisely,
balancing their concern about particular candidates or platforms against their
desire for inner peace.
One woman said she sees her anger
as a necessary catalyst for change. But it was also clear she wasn’t so sure
this was the wisest path.
The moderator said it’s important
to acknowledge the energy behind our feelings of anger, fear and anxiety
without crossing over into hatred and demonization, which is a kind of violence
we do to ourselves as well as others.
He said that while it’s good and
appropriate to have boundaries and to work with all our gifts and passion to
enact political change, no matter how much we may “win” we lose if we forfeit
our inner peace and humanity. And peace must come from within.
One way to water the seeds of love
and compassion, and to sustain us as we pursue peace in our own hearts, in our
homes, in our communities, in our workplace, in the political arena, is through
metta or loving-kindness meditation.
This practice isn’t about feeling
good or happy or warm and fuzzy or accepting the behavior of people; it’s about
setting our intention. About nurturing the bodhicitta, or awakened heart.
Pema Chodron writes: “Sometimes
when we do this kind of bodhicitta practice, we touch on people who immediately
awaken warm feelings in us. Other times, though, we just feel numb. And then
there are the times when we contact the hardness of our heart. Noticing this is
very good, because it shows us when we’re open and when we’re closed. We should
notice all of these things with compassion and loving-kindness towards
ourselves, because the more we’re able to feel tenderness towards ourselves,
the more easily it flows to others.”
So the intention is enough. We
take a posture that we wish for happiness of ourselves and the happiness of
all. This is different from struggling to fabricate a certain feeling, to
create it out of our will, to make it happen. We just settle back and plant the
seeds without worrying about the immediate result. That is our work.
Metta can take a number of forms,
and feel free to experiment with different words and phrases in your own
practice. For today, I invite you to hold a particular person in your mind,
starting with yourself. As we breathe in and out mindfully, we say to
ourselves: “May I be safe from harm. May I be happy. May I be healthy. May I
live with ease.” Then we repeat this.
Next, we move to someone who has
inspired or encouraged our meditation practice, perhaps a spiritual role
model. As we hold this person in our
minds, we again say: “May she be safe from harm. May she be happy. May she be
healthy. May she live with ease.” And we repeat that.
Then we move to someone we love
and care for deeply: a parent, a child, a partner, a dear friend. “May he be
safe from harm. May he be happy. May he be healthy. May he live with ease.” Again,
twice.
Then we bring to mind someone
neutral – the bagger at the grocery store, or someone you see often but don’t
know; someone who doesn’t stir up any particular feelings in you, good or bad.
Just bring them to mind and repeat the metta lines twice.
Then move to someone who
challenges us. If we haven’t done this before, it’s prudent to start with
someone who doesn’t stir us up too much -- maybe a coworker, or a relative, who
annoys us. In time, as you cultivate your practice, you might consider people
who trigger you more deeply. It could be someone you know personally or could
even be a politician or public figure you’ve never met but who stirs up
feelings of anger and maybe even violence.
“May she be safe from harm, may
she be happy, may she be healthy, may she live with ease.” Again, twice.
Finally, we bring to mind every
living thing on the planet. “May they be safe from harm, may that be happy, may
they be healthy, may they live with ease.”
At the
conclusion of our meditation, I read the following:
Shantideva, Indian Buddhist sage
700 A.D., wrote the Bodhisattva Prayer for Humanity. His Holiness the Dalai
Lama recites it each morning upon awakening:
May I be a guard for those who
need protection
A guide for those on the path
A boat, a raft, a bridge for those
who wish to cross the flood
May I be a lamp in the darkness
A resting place for the weary
A healing medicine for all who are
sick
A vase of plenty, a tree of
miracles
And for the boundless multitudes
of living beings
May I bring sustenance and
awakening
Enduring like the earth and sky
Until all beings are freed from
sorrow
And all are awakened.
And this, a Zen saying:
“In spiritual practice there are
only two things: you sit and you sweep the garden. It doesn't matter how big
the garden is.”
For the
Dharma Talk, we read from “The Heart of the Buddha’s Teaching” by Thich Nhat
Hanh, pp. 24-27.
During
announcements, I shared that I will be out of town the week of spring break,
and that because some of our members have requested a weekend meeting time,
I’ve scheduled Iowa City Public Library Room B for 1:30-3 p.m. Sunday, March
20. I hope to see you there.
I also
shared that I’d like to plan a walking meditation, following by a conversation
at a local coffee shop, some upcoming weekend, now that the weather is slowly
getting warmer. I’ll share more on that soon.
Finally, Jeet
Sain, the owner of Om gifts in downtown Iowa City, has graciously offered
members of the Iowa City Sangha a 15 percent discount on meditation cushions.
Of course there’s no obligation to buy a cushion, or to buy one from there, but
if you’re inclined, I have several business cards with a note from her.
Otherwise, you might just mention that you’re from the Sangha.
At the end
of our meeting, we introduced a practice common in Sanghas: Sharing the Merit
of our Practice. This was a chance for us to call to mind someone we know who
is suffering or might otherwise benefit from any merit acquired through our
meditation practice.
Finally,
thanks to those who came up to ask if they could help with future Sangha
meetings. I’m touched by your generosity and will certainly take you all up on
the offer. As the saying goes, many hands make light work!
Wishing
all of a mindful and centered weekend.
Stephen
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