Monday, June 10 we will meet online.
Dear friends,
This week: we will meet Monday from 7-8:30PM EDT online, Wednesday morning from 7-8AM EDT in person at our meditation space (3812 Northampton Street NW), and Friday 12-1PM EDT online.
We invite you to join us for online sangha with special guest, singer, songwriter, social worker and ordained Dharma Teacher, Joe Reilly.
Joe has been writing and singing songs with the Plum Village community for many years, and he received the dharma lamp from the Plum Village community in 2021 and wrote about that experience:
As you can see, my insight gatha became an entire song! Singing and songwriting are my primary modes of Dharma expression, and thanks to the encouragement of one of my mentors Peggy Rowe Ward, I sang my gatha and it grew into three verses.
For me the invitation to receive this lamp transmission has been a call to better see myself and our Sangha with the eyes of interbeing. There is a part of myself that does not feel worthy of the title of “Dharma Teacher.” I am no Buddhist scholar and am not at all perfect in my practice efforts. I am no big deal!
Yet I have been on the path now for some years and have offered my sincere heart to this Beloved Community, who has in turn given me their trust and love. When I look with the eyes of interbeing, I know that there is no separation between myself and our Noble Fourfold Community. We inter-are. The conditions have arisen to invite me to be of service in this way, and I was able to accept because of my fellow Dharma siblings who were invited and also had the courage to accept.
This was something we were able to do together, as a Sangha. I aspire to continue to build inclusive Beloved Community that creates a safe and healing refuge for all to join, especially those who share the same wrong notion that they are somehow unworthy or do not belong. I want to sing and share Dharma that reaches beyond the conditioning that divides us and helps us reunite with ourselves and with one another as fellow humans on the healing path.
In gratitude and respect,
Joe
Joe Reilly (he, him) is a singer, songwriter, social worker, and ordained Dharma Teacher in the tradition of Thich Nhat Hanh. Joe was raised Catholic and currently studies and practices progressive Catholicism, Native American spirituality, and engaged Buddhism. Joe has been a student of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh since 2004 and is often found singing and writing songs on spiritual retreats. He currently lives in Waawiyatanong/Detroit, where he co-leads the Building Beloved Community Sangha. He is of Cherokee, Choctaw, Italian, and Irish descent and identifies as Native American. Find his music at www.joereilly.org
Camille is facilitating Monday evening , and shares:
I grew up singing in church with family and friends and in my school's choir. The practice of singing in community has always brought me much joy. In the past few years I have enjoyed more chanting and singing and listening to songs that are meaningful and come from the heart. I find that singing together in community to be an invitation to help heal ourselves, each other, and mother earth. For me Joe Reilly represents all of that.
We are very happy to welcome Joe to sangha to share his music and mindfulness practice.