Monday, March 10, we will meet in person.
Go to calendar for our schedule
Address for OHMC meditation space:
3812 Northampton St. NW, Washington DC 20015
Please arrive a few minutes early so we can invite the bell on time. You may also arrive 15 minutes early to practice working meditation by helping us set up cushions.
Dear friends,
This week, we will meet Monday evening, March 10, from 7-8:30PM EST in person at our meditation space (3812 Northampton Street NW); Wednesday morning, March 12, from 7-8AM EST online; and Friday, March 14, from 12-1PM EST in person & online (hybrid).
Annie will facilitate this Monday. Annie shares:
In the midst of these challenging social and political days, what keeps me out of despair are the most basic teachings of the Buddha. In his very first teaching after enlightenment, the Dhammacakkappavattana sutta, the Buddha shared the Four Noble Truths. The first truth is that difficult situations, like the one we are in, are real and completely unavoidable. In the second and third noble truths, he lets us know that we have some ability to influence these difficulties by considering how we habitually feed suffering and how to stop doing that. The Buddha knew that we have free will and the ability to put an end to suffering. Sometimes, I forget that.
In the mindfulness trainings, also aimed to diminish suffering, it is suggested that we become more aware of suffering and not turn away from it. In this moment, at least here in Washington, D.C., I’m finding it pretty easy to be aware of the suffering. Every time I look at my phone or have a conversation, it’s usually about the suffering being experienced throughout the world. I think we all agree on the reality of suffering.
What we do after we witness suffering is where we have some freedom and possibly the ability to alter the situation.
When we watch, listen, or read about suffering, we may give rise to feelings of anger and hatred toward the ones causing the suffering. And, we might also give rise to feelings of care, love, and protection for those who are experiencing the suffering. Both of these are valid responses to suffering and both deserve our mindfulness and our compassion.
For me, the question is which of those seeds do I continue to water—the seeds of hatred and anger or the seeds of love and care? What happens when I water each type of seed?
When I’m able to keep my attention on my sadness, grief, and broken heartedness and stay connected to my deepest intention that all beings be well, I water the seeds of love and care. Practicing this cultivation of boundless love means I consider each person who is being targeted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), each person who has lost a beloved job and vocation, and those losing healthcare coverage and other needed benefits. I can touch the suffering of every family separated by war and violence, and the many trans people whose existence is being questioned and whose rights are being lost. This brings up sadness and compassion in me and motivates me to act in ways that protect and care for those beings.
This kind of care is not the same as pity. We all will face pain and fear, if not now, then some day in the future. When I was diagnosed with leukemia, I remember people saying, “I’m so sorry you’re sick.” While I appreciated their care, I knew that none of us escapes suffering and someday they too would very likely have a life-threatening illness. When I pay attention to caring for others, it’s as a fellow traveler on this often difficult path of life, not as a separate observer of their pain.
When I allow myself to fixate on anger and hatred toward those causing the suffering, I generate more hatred, fear, and disconnection in myself and toward other beings. It’s easy for me to let this habit energy take over, and when I do, my actions don’t move me toward healing because I am preparing for war in my body and mind.
Thay has said, and we have experienced, that “the more powerful your mindfulness and concentration becomes, the greater your freedom becomes.” With mindfulness, we can keep bringing our attention back to the ones who need our support,focus on love and care, and still be motivated to stop the harm. We will call out and resist words and actions that cause our harm because we care so much. “Just as a mother loves and protects her only child at the risk of her own life” is how the Discourse on Love describes this kind of fierce compassion. Actions coming from hatred generate more hatred. Actions coming from compassion generate more compassion.
While we work to heal and transform our own suffering, we also work to heal and transform our collective suffering. We say no to the abusive and bullying behavior of those in positions of power, while holding deep love for ourselves and all our relations. We meet the colonizers with fierce compassion that does not accept abuse and also recognizes the humanity within us all. —Dharma Teacher Joe Reilly
This practice —returning again and again to love and care rather than anger and hatred —can be easier and more magnified by practicing with the spiritual and social support of a community. As Thay has often said, the next Buddha may be the sangha. Practicing like this together, our communities can become true forces for healing and deep wells of love and care, supporting us and many many others.
This is the secret that the Buddha discovered —we do have free will and we can develop the capacity to notice when we are watering seeds that lead to more anger and hatred, and when we are watering seeds that will generate more love and care. We get to choose. This practice is what the Buddha called Wise Effort, the kind of effort that can heal our aching world.
The path of love is not a path of weakness as some would have us believe. Boundless love is the path of strength because it includes everyone and everything in the cosmos, including ourselves. Nothing is left out. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., told us that “Love is the most durable power in the world” and I believe that.
Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it. —Rumi
My practice right now is to focus on taking down all the barriers to love in my heart, the habits of anger and fear that arise so easily when my friends and so many other beings are suffering so greatly, and to keep my focus on fierce and compassionate resistance and build and sustain communities that care for all. The more I can transform fanaticism and intolerance in my heart, the more I can resist and transform it in the world.
This week, after our meditation period, we can reflect on how we can show up together to resist fanaticism and protect the vulnerable and the challenges of staying focused on love and care and not hatred and anger.
With love,
Annie.