Monday, February 17, we will meet online.
Dear friends,
This week, we will meet Monday evening, Feb 17th, from 7-8:30PM EST online; Wednesday morning, Feb 19th, from 7-8AM EST in person at our meditation space (3812 Northampton Street NW); and Friday, Feb 21st, 12-1PM EST in person/online (hybrid).
On Monday, Mary Smith and Annie will facilitate and we will explore the Second Mindfulness Training: True Happiness.
In the Second Mindfulness Training (full text at the bottom) we are reminded:
I am committed to practicing generosity in my thinking, speaking, and acting.
And in the ARISE (Awakening through Race, Intersectionality, and Social Equity) sangha’s contemplation on this training (full text at the bottom), we read:
In our journey towards true happiness, we recognize that societal constructs have often been used to divide and oppress. Acknowledging that there is no genetic or biological difference between different racial and ethnic groups, and that these identities were constructed by one group to establish dominance over others, we commit to turning toward racial and other forms of othering with an open heart and compassionate action.
Related to these both is the sutra The Discourse on Love, in which the Buddha suggests practicing generosity as Boundless Love:
Just as a mother loves and protects her only child at the risk of her own life, cultivate boundless love to offer to all living beings in the entire cosmos. Let our boundless love pervade the whole universe, above, below, and across. Our love will know no obstacles. Our heart will be absolutely free from hatred and enmity. Whether standing or walking, sitting or lying, as long as we are awake, we should maintain this mindfulness of love in our own heart.
Generosity in Thinking, Speaking, and Acting
What does it mean to us today to “practice generosity in our thinking, speaking, and acting”, “cultivate boundless love”, and to “turn toward all forms of othering with an open heart and compassionate action”?
Mary and Annie reflected on how we might practice this generosity of heart.
We might include everyone in our wishes for wellbeing and not allow our false belief in a separate self to limit the full expanse of our loving kindness. What people, races, genders, ability differences, or political leanings do we leave out of our hearts?
We might be sure to include ourselves in our boundless love, not giving up our own needs and wellbeing in order to try to reach an idea of spiritual perfection.
When we feel hurt, we can practice pausing, without judgement, to create a list (usually on paper) of interpretations (20?!) of ideas about why I or others have behaved in hurtful ways. Focus attention on the one that will best nourish our boundless love, while at the same time honoring my boundaries.
We can remember that we are all born with potential in each moment to be compassionate or judgmental, to be generous in our thinking, or to be eager to create a story in which we are the hero. It is true on the world stage as it is in our own home and with our own friends and coworkers.
Here’s a very small example Annie noticed today: In our daily chanting group, there is a woman who comes most mornings. When someone other than our regular facilitator is leading, she will always say something kind to the substitute facilitator such as “I look forward to the mornings when you lead” or “I am so grateful for the calm that you bring to our sangha.”
This is a kind of generosity in speaking that includes everyone. Recognizing one person’s beautiful actions doesn’t take away from anyone else. We can develop the include everyone in our boundless loving kindness. This kind of gentle recognition waters the seeds of belonging in everyone.
Mary recently became more aware in the grocery store how so many folks are targets of bias and discrimination based on their looks or identities. When she checked out, her eyes were wider, when was more aware, and as a result, she will be better able to use the breath to pause, inhale, exhale, and speak to defend right action. And, when necessary, to take right action.
This kind of inclusive generosity of thinking, speaking, and acting is what the second mindfulness training calls us to. To resist the act of separating people into good and bad, right and wrong, people who look or act like me, and those who don’t.
Othering
To help us resist this habit of othering, and leaving people out of our hearts, we can:
Cultivate Awareness: Notice when we have unconscious biases or habits of being too frugal with our love. Noticing how these kinds of biases can often negatively affect BIPOC, trans and LGBTQIA people, immigrants, women, and other “othered” groups.
Practice Deep Listening: Engage with others’ experiences without judgment, fostering genuine connection, even when we disagree.
Embrace Interbeing: Understand that our happiness and suffering are interdependent with the happiness and suffering of others.
Open Our Hearts: Remember, as Thich Nhat Hanh says, that “everybody suffers” and try not to say or do anything to add to the suffering in the world. Listen beneath words or countenance to what others are feeling.
Nourishing Positive Seeds
We all have the same seeds within us; what we choose to water determines what grows. Our mindfulness practice helps us develop awareness and have choice about which seeds we water. By nurturing seeds of compassion, understanding, and generosity, we can contribute to a more harmonious world.
May we continue to allow our practice to open and stretch our hearts, resist othering, and find ways to care for all beings.
with love,
Mary and Annie.
True Happiness (Second of Five Mindfulness Trainings)
Aware of the suffering caused by exploitation, social injustice, stealing, and oppression, I am committed to practicing generosity in my thinking, speaking, and acting. I am determined not to steal and not to possess anything that should belong to others; and I will share my time, energy, and material resources with those who are in need. I will practice looking deeply to see that the happiness and suffering of others are not separate from my own happiness and suffering; that true happiness is not possible without understanding and compassion; and that running after wealth, fame, power and sensual pleasures can bring much suffering and despair. I am aware that happiness depends on my mental attitude and not on external conditions, and that I can live happily in the present moment simply by remembering that I already have more than enough conditions to be happy. I am committed to practicing Right Livelihood so that I can help reduce the suffering of living beings on Earth and stop contributing to climate change.
She they he who wants to attain peace should practice being upright, humble, and capable of using loving speech. She they he will know how to live simply and happily, with senses calmed, without being covetous and carried away by the emotions of the majority. Let him them her not do anything that will be disapproved of by the wise ones. (And this is what she they he contemplates:) May everyone be happy and safe, and may all hearts be filled with joy. May all beings live in security and in peace - beings who are frail or strong, tall or short, big or small, invisible or visible, who are near or far away, already born, or yet to be born. May all of them dwell in perfect tranquility.
Let no one do harm to anyone. Let no one put the life of anyone in danger. Let no one, out of anger or ill will, wish anyone any harm. Just as a mother loves and protects her only child at the risk of her own life, cultivate boundless love to offer to all living beings in the entire cosmos. Let our boundless love pervade the whole universe, above, below, and across. Our love will know no obstacles. Our heart will be absolutely free from hatred and enmity.Whether standing or walking, sitting or lying, as long as we are awake, we should maintain this mindfulness of love in our own heart. This is the noblest way of living. Free from wrong views, greed, and sensual desires, living in beauty and realizing Perfect Understanding, those who practice boundless love will certainly transcend birth and death.
Etena sacca vajjena sotthi te hotu sabbada. [repreat three times]
[By the firm determination of this truth, may you ever be well.]
Contemplation of the Second Mindfulness Training: Belonging and Connecting as True Happiness
Aware of the suffering caused by ignorance and aversion of my own and other’s racial, ethnic, cultural, and social history, its legacy and how this affects me whether I am aware of it or not, I am committed to connecting to these histories. I know that turning toward these histories with an open heart is my journey of awakening to true belonging. I will take the time to learn the history of the racial and ethnic group with which I identify as well as for other socially constructed racial and ethnic groups. Aware that there is no genetic or biological difference between different racial and ethnic groups, and that these identities were constructed by one group to establish dominance over others, I will turn toward racial and other forms of othering with an open heart and compassionate action. I know that this history has led to fragmentation inside and outside body and mind and brought much suffering to all beings. I vow to transform this suffering through the practice of connecting with an open heart. I will notice when emotions of belonging and othering arise and I will ask myself ‘why’? Whatever feelings, perceptions, or mental formations arise, I will embrace and when needed engage with love in action. I am committed to practicing Right Resolve, Right Speech, Right Action, and Right Livelihood so I can help relieve this legacy of racial and social suffering. I will practice looking deeply to see that true happiness is not possible without true connecting leading to belonging and understanding.