Monday, January 20, we will meet online.
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Dear friends,
This week, we will meet Monday evening, Jan. 20th, from 7-8:30PM EST online; Wednesday morning, Jan 22th, from 7-8AM EST in person at our meditation space (3812 Northampton Street NW); and Friday, Jan. 24th, 12-1PM EST online.
On Monday night Annie will facilitate. Annie shares:
This Monday is an auspicious day. First, it’s a day we come together to honor two great friends – Thich Nhat Hanh (Thay), who passed away three years ago on January 22, and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who our country officially commemorates on Monday, January 20. And it also happens to be the inauguration day of Donald J. Trump. So there’s a lot to reflect on and be with.
On Monday evening, we will settle into a guided meditation, walking meditation, and silent meditation. After that, we will reflect on how Dr. King and Thay both understood our interconnectedness and as a result both lived courageous lives of compassion for all people, and how we might follow their paths toward living a life of service as well.
Thay and Martin Luther King both understood the deep nature of reality as one of Interbeing – we cannot exist by ourselves. We can only exist because of everything else. Without the sunshine, the rain, the food, our beloveds, etc., we would not be who we are.
Thay writes about Interbeing in Living Buddha, Living Christ:
When we look into the heart of a flower, we see clouds, sunshine, minerals, time, the earth, and everything else in the cosmos in it. Without clouds, there could be no rain, and there would be no flower. Without time, the flower could not bloom. In fact, the flower is made entirely of non-flower elements: it has no independent individual existence. It “inter-is” with everything else in the universe… When we see the nature of interbeing, barriers between ourselves and others are dissolved, and peace, love, and understanding are possible. Whenever there is understanding, compassion is born.
In 1967, Dr. King spoke it this way:
And don’t forget in doing something for others that you have what you have because of others. Don’t forget that. We are tied together in life and in the world. And you may think you got all you got by yourself. But you know, before you got out here to church this morning, you were dependent on more than half of the world.
You get up in the morning and go to the bathroom, and you reach over for a bar of soap, and that’s handed to you by a Frenchman. You reach over for a sponge, and that’s given to you by a Turk. You reach over for a towel, and that comes to your hand from the hands of a Pacific Islander. And then you go on to the kitchen to get your breakfast. You reach on over to get a little coffee, and that’s poured in your cup by a South American. Or maybe you decide that you want a little tea this morning, only to discover that that’s poured in your cup by a Chinese. Or maybe you want a little cocoa, that’s poured in your cup by a West African. Then you want a little bread and you reach over to get it, and that’s given to you by the hands of an English-speaking farmer, not to mention the baker.
Before you get through eating breakfast in the morning, you’re dependent on more than half the world. That’s the way God structured it; that’s the way God structured this world. So let us be concerned about others because we are dependent on others.
When we really know that our wellbeing and our entire lives depend on the wellbeing and lives of others, compassion arises and we are motivated to do whatever we can to help. In the Bible, there is a story of a “Good Samaritan”, and in the same speech, Dr. King reflects on this story. In the story, the Samaritan recognizes the full humanity of the person who needs help and understands that he is beholden to him, unlike other passers-by who are concerned only for their own safety.
I have found that when I know that I Inter-am with every other person, I want to help whenever and wherever I can, and my helping is motivated by love and care for each part of the whole. And, like the Good Samaritan, not out of guilt, shame, or fear for myself.
Dr. King says it this way:
The first question that the Levite asked was, ‘’If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?” But the good Samaritan came by and he reversed the question. Not “What will happen to me if I stop to help this man?” but “What will happen to this man if I do not stop to help him?” This was why that man was good and great. He was great because he was willing to take a risk for humanity; he was willing to ask, “What will happen to this man?” not “What will happen to me?”
This is what God needs today: Men and women who will ask, “What will happen to humanity if I don’t help? What will happen to the civil rights movement if I don’t participate? What will happen to my city if I don’t vote? What will happen to the sick if I don’t visit them?”
When we get together on Monday, we can reflect together on these two men and their deep spiritual and practical wisdom, as well as how we ourselves want to participate in our shared future. Some questions to consider might be:
What are the gifts I can offer the world right now that might support greater love, healing, and wellbeing for all?
What prevents me from seeing the truth of Interbeing? How might I move toward greater understanding and compassion?
What action have I been putting off — forgiving someone, taking a clear stand against injustice, reaching out to someone going through a hard time, etc. — that I might now be motivated to complete?
What might happen to the world if I don’t offer to share my time, energy and material resources?
I look forward to seeing you online on Monday.
with love,
Annie.
Quote from Sister Chan Khong:
"Together on the path of love, we can try to make a small difference in someone's life. What else is there to do?
Sometimes I feel overwhelmed. But I try to work one day at a time. If we just worry about the big picture, we are powerless. So my secret is to start right away doing whatever little work I can do. I try to give joy to one person in the morning, and remove the suffering of one person in the afternoon. That's enough. When you see you can do that, you continue, and you give two little joys, and you remove two little sufferings, then three, and then four. If you and your friends do not despise the small work, a million people will remove a lot of suffering. That is the secret. Start right now."