Rachel Switala
Touching the Earth, Letting go

Dear friends,

This week, we will meet Monday evening, Jan. 13, from 7-8:30PM EST in person at our meditation space (3812 Northampton Street NW); Wednesday morning, Jan. 15, from 7-8AM EST online; and Friday, Jan. 17, from 12-1PM EST in person & online (hybrid).

On Monday, Camille will facilitate. Camille shares:

This Monday evening we will share together the practice of Touching the Earth. It is a beautiful practice offered regularly in Plum Village centers around the world. This writeup with the touchings was shared online last year and will be shared in person on Monday night, January 13. The script of the touchings is below.

This practice is about “emptying ourselves” as we bow down to touch the earth in order to make life possible in the present moment. We can begin to release ideas, stories, notions, anger, attachments, and let go of the idea that we and this world we know are permanent.  When we touch the earth we can empty ourselves and surrender these ideas and any unwholesome qualities in us.

Touching the Earth, Letting go
Rachel Switala
Surrendering to the Present Moment

Dear friends,

This week, we will meet Monday evening, Jan. 6th, from 7-8:30PM EST online; Wednesday morning, Jan 8th, from 7-8AM EST in person at our meditation space (3812 Northampton Street NW); and Friday, Jan. 10th, 12-1PM EST online.

On Monday night Camille will facilitate. Camille shares:

Breathing in, I calm my body and mind. Breathing out, I smile.
Dwelling in the present moment, I know this is the only moment.
I have arrived. I am home, in the here and in the now.
Happiness is available in the present moment.
Awareness of impermanence allows us to touch deeply the reality of life and live deeply in the present moment.

These mantras of Thich Nhat Hanh (Thay) are some of the many mantras that I repeat to myself often, especially when feeling lost or not very grounded. Like many of us, I experienced much suffering in this past year, both emotionally and physically–in my loved ones, in myself, and in the world. My practice of mindfulness–walking, sitting, eating, singing, going to sangha, and hearing the words of my sangha and Thay–helps me slow down, take better care of myself, and nourish myself by coming back to my body, breath, and mind.

Surrendering to the Present Moment
Rachel Switala
Finding Contentment moving into the New Year: ...

Dear friends,

This week, we will meet Monday evening, Dec. 30, from 7-8:30PM EST in person at our meditation space (3812 Northampton Street NW); Wednesday morning, Jan. 1, from 7-8AM EST online; and Friday, Jan. 3, from 12-1PM EST in person & online (hybrid).

This Monday evening, Annie will facilitate. Annie shares:

Dear Friends,

This week we will read the Five Mindfulness Trainings and focus on the Second Training: True Happiness (full text below). Annie will facilitate.

As we head into a new year, and when gift giving and receiving, we may be reflecting on what we think we need to be happy. Some years ago, at a retreat with Thich Nhat Hanh (Thay), I purchased this piece of his calligraphy:
Samstusta
You Have Enough

Samstusta, or the related sanskrit term, Santosha, may be defined as contentment or feeling satisfied, or not needing something outside of ourselves to run after. This concept shows up in the Yoga Sutras as one of the niyamas, or practices, as well as in Buddhist writings. It’s something we humans have known was a source of our well-being for at least two centuries.

‘What you are looking for is not outside of you; it is already here. You already are what you want to become. Concentrating on aimlessness releases your longing and craving for something in the future and elsewhere. (Thich Nhat Hanh, Lion’s Roar)

I have written about and reflected on contentment for a while. (2019 blog post here.) That’s because, for me, finding contentment can be a challenge in a world full of delicious addictions, surrounded by advertisements and suggestions. And don’t we all get caught in the habit of comparing what we have to what others have? Yet, those precious moments and days when I feel completely content are the most wonderful gifts of ease and bliss. 

Finding Contentment moving into the New Year: the Second Mindfulness Training
Rachel Switala
Mindfulness can Illuminate Our Blindspots

Dear friends,

This week, we will meet Monday evening, December 23th, from 7-8:30PM EST online; Wednesday morning, Dec 25th, from 7-8AM EST in person at our meditation space (3812 Northampton Street NW); and Friday, Dec 27th, 12-1PM EST online.

On Monday night Susie will facilitate. Susie shares:

When a friend asks for help in a challenging situation or complains about something in their life, I listen deeply and ask if they want my input. If they do, I will likely respond with a suggestion, which sometimes my friend resists because they only want to repeat their story. They may be unaware that they are repeating the same story and the acting out of the same habit energies. They may have a blindspot.

I think about my own blindspots: What am I resistant to? What suggestion has a friend offered that I couldn’t receive because I wasn’t ready, and I just wanted to repeat the story I have told for decades?

Mindfulness can Illuminate Our Blindspots
Rachel Switala
What Waters Your Bodhicitta?

Dear friends,

This week, we will meet Monday evening, Dec. 16, from 7-8:30PM EST in person at our meditation space (3812 Northampton Street NW); Wednesday morning, Dec. 18, from 7-8AM EST online; and Friday, Dec. 20, from 12-1PM EST in person & online (hybrid).

This Monday evening, Camille will facilitate. Camille shares:

At a recent Plum Village retreat in a sangha group sharing, we was “What waters your bodhicitta?” and the other “What keeps you going?”  Bodhicitta refers to the “mind of enlightenment” in Buddhism. The essence of bodhicitta is to have a good and kind heart and to help and serve all beings with compassion. In essence it is like the mind of loving kindness.  For me, the two questions were interrelated, and in my mind, I want to be kind and feel joy and happiness.I want others to feel joy and happiness and to do whatever it takes to relieve our suffering. The actual “doing,” which can be challenging, is what I try to water and what keeps me going.

One of my daughters has been suffering deeply with anxiety, depression, a deep lack of self-worth and many other challenges. When I experience the suffering of others, I can easily go to the habit energy of worry and fear. For a long time, I found that my daughter’s suffering was weighing deeply on me and causing me to lose my grounding and create more suffering.  As I worked at deepening my practice and making more space in my heart for myself, I discovered that her suffering had actually watered my bodhicitta. I was inspired to have a stronger practice with more awareness and space to understand, find compassion, and really hear her struggles.

What Waters Your Bodhicitta?

sangha

Watering the Seed of Vulnerable Self-Expression To Water the Seed of Collective Care

Watering the Seed of Vulnerable Self-Expression To Water the Seed of Collective Care

Special Guest Sandra Kim will lead our sangha this Monday.

A sangha that aspires to support its members in becoming free from suffering and realizing our interbeing-ness needs to have a culture of collective care - where all are cared for because all are caring. While at any given moment, who and how we are giving and receiving may be different, we can trust in the sangha to hold us.

Like all aspirations, nurturing a culture of collective care in our sanghas is not easy, particularly in a society that promotes hyper-individualism, consumerism as the cure to all, and work being the only valid activity to focus on. And in our society that expects people to be perfect in order to be acceptable, it can be very difficult for many to acknowledge their own difficult feelings and express their need for support.

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