This week annie will facilitate.
This week, we will contemplate together the following words which were part of an answer Thich Nhat Hanh gave at a Q&A session in the UK in 2010:
So our practice should transform us more, should bring more compassion and freshness into our person.
Then when we don’t suffer anymore, we can with our compassion, with our freshness, with our understanding, help the other person come out of that situation.
So I would suggest that we stop thinking that we have done our part, only he has not done his part. We can very well improve our quality of practice.
And we should believe that when we have become true compassion, true freshness, true understanding, things will change. Because every one of us needs these three elements.
In his answer, Thay reminds us to stop blaming the other person for our conflicts and instead to focus on our own practice and how we can have more compassion, freshness and understanding. Sounds easy, but it has been a challenge for me. I often want to point the finger "out there" rather than doing what I can do to change myself and my behavior.
After our sitting and walking meditation periods, I will offer a guided meditation. Afterwards, we will have time to share about our experiences with these practices in relation to ourselves and our loved ones.
Where might we be judging and blaming others instead of doing our own work? How can we keep the focus on our practice? How have you cultivated true compassion, true freshness and true understanding in your practice? Where have you been challenged?
I look forward to being with you all.
xo