Monday, August 7, we will meet online.
newcomers night This Monday Aug 7.
Learn more here
Need Zoom tech support? Email Phyllis here.
(support available before sangha starts)
Dear Friends, this week we will meet on Monday evening online 7-8:30PM, Wednesday morning from 7-8AM in person at our meditation space (3838 Northampton Street) and Friday 12-1PM online.
We will continue reading Zen and The Art of Saving the Planet, pages 225-255: True Love: Is It The Real Thing?
Magda will facilitate. Please bring a cup of tea or any other drink you would like to enjoy in each others’ company as we discuss how this beautiful chapter may help bring meaning to our lives. There is no obligation to read the chapter ahead of time.
TRUE LOVE FOR MY MOTHERS
Thich Nhat Hanh’s (Thay’s) message in True Love feels very personal to me during my two-week stay with my ninety-year-old Mother in Puerto Rico. At my Mother’s vulnerable age, she needs the full presence that is at the core of Thay’s definition of love. Being with my Mother has become an act of mindfulness, understanding that every moment may be the last I spend with her physical manifestation. Thay’s words about exercising true love by taking care of the Earth could just as well be said about my Mother: I should take care of my Mother in the way my Mother has taken care of me. My Mother and I are one.
Meanwhile, in Puerto Rico’s harsh, record-breaking temperatures, I feel Mother Earth’s vulnerability. I need to take care of Mother Earth as she has taken care of me. Mother Earth and I are one.
In San Juan I do walking meditation on my bare feet at the beach in the early mornings. I feel Mother Ocean’s overwhelming beauty with her varied shades of blue, her unbounded energy. I find an endless rhythm that helps me keep my own. I breathe in tune with the ocean’s life force. I breathe in with one wave; I breathe out at the breaking of the wave, releasing my suffering.
I feel “true love” for Mother Ocean. I am fully present as I walk with her. I feel her vulnerability. She has lost her harmony as she is not ready for these excessive temperatures and the melting ice. Her powers of regeneration are diminished.
The ocean is part of my earliest memories of growing up in Puerto Rico, raising me in her own way and serving as my first meditation teacher. I know I must take care of Mother Ocean as Mother Ocean has taken care of me. Mother Ocean and I are one.
One of the reasons I love to wake up early each morning is to greet the Sun. I bow to Mother Sun in gratitude, for her energy is ubiquitous and indispensable to all of Earth’s life. Borrowing Sister True Dedication’s words, the Sun is an “arc of love.”
Thay sees many connections between love and light. He writes that “love is light,” that “love shines,” that “love illuminates without discrimination.” His words bring to mind those warm, loving people who radiate light, as though they carry the sun inside them. Well, in a way, we all do. We could not exist without the myriad ways sunshine manifests in us and sustains us. I care for Mother Sun as Mother Sun cares for me. Mother Sun and I are one.
Thay’s words beautifully convey this experience of oneness:
“When we can see our beautiful Earth is not inert matter but a living being, right away something is born in us: some kind of connection, a kind of love. We admire, we love the Earth and we want to be connected. That is the meaning of love: to be one with. And when you love someone, you want to say, ‘I need you, I take refuge in you.’ It’s a kind of prayer; yet it’s not superstition. You love the earth and the Earth loves you. You entrust your love to the Earth and you know it will never betray you. You would do anything for the well-being of the Earth and the Earth would do anything of your well-being. And this connection begins with mindfulness. You realize that you are here as a child of the Earth and you carry the Earth within you. Mother Earth is not outside of you; she is inside. Mother Earth is not your environment; you are part of Mother Earth. And that kind of insight of interbeing, of non-discrimination, helps you to be truly in communion with the Earth.” (p. 226)
THE SIX ELEMENTS OF TRUE LOVE
Thay teaches that when our practice feels small, we should practice self-compassion so that our compassion will grow. As I sit with my Mother, usually alone since my sister is out of town, I rely on my meditation practice to replenish my compassion and patience.
The six elements of true love that Thay describes give me a map to follow: maitri or loving kindness so my Mother will rejuvenate in companionship; karunā or compassion, to help her feel less of the suffering she has accumulated during the first nine decades of her life; muditā or joy, to give her plenty of reasons to want to live longer; upeksā or inclusivity so that she feels that her presence and voice are still meaningful to the world. I also want her to feel that I trust her to make her own decisions as an adult with ample experience and wisdom. Finally, I want to treat her with well-deserved reverence as someone who can still gain enlightenment in her tenth decade, a Boddhisatva.
I feel that these six elements can also guide us in our love for Mother Earth, Mother Ocean, Mother Sun, and all of the creatures they nourish.
EARTH HOLDERS
This chapter about “True Love” made me feel grateful for Earth Holders everywhere, especially the local Chesapeake Earth Holders I work with. As Thay teaches us earlier in the book, Earth Holders should meditate, and engage in action with the courage of warriors and the creativity of artists to help restore nature’s harmony.
My gratitude to the Earth Holders inspired my painting in which I depict their hands as a balance-restoring yin and yang: one black with a Buddhist white ring and the other white with a Celtic black ring. Living among the painting’s animals are a meditator who is one with the love tree, a warrior who shoots a love arrow, and an artist who carries a love palette. Each Mother animal is depicted with her offspring, symbolizing spring, creation and regeneration.
QUESTIONS TO EXPLORE
1) In what ways can I manifest “true love” as an Earth Holder and as an Ocean holder?
2) How can I act as a meditator, a warrior and an artist for the Earth and its creatures?
3) How can I cultivate true love for myself when my practice feels small, so that my compassion can grow?
4) How can I share the light of true love with those who are most
vulnerable?