Sunday January 3
Pete will facilitate
💗🙏
practicing mindfulness in the tradition of Thich Nhat Hanh
Tuesday December 29
Marge will facilitate
We will share some of Thay’s writings from the book Be Free Where You Are, taken from his day of mindfulness for inmates at a prison. We will contemplate the meaning of his teachings as we experience “lock-down” or sheltering in place during the COVID pandemic.
🙏💗
Sunday November 8
Dear Friends,
This Sunday we will do Q&A.
Bring the questions of your heart and we’ll do our best to explore them in light of the wisdom of our practice.
I’ll have my guitar handy and we can probably get in a song or two also.
I look forward to being with you,
Keith
This Sunday we will do Q&A.
Bring the questions of your heart and we’ll do our best to explore them in light of the wisdom of our practice.
I’ll have my guitar handy and we can probably get in a song or two also.
I look forward to being with you,
Keith
Keith Mesecher
True Enlightenment Garden
Sunday November 1
Anita will share
🙏💗
Tuesday November 3
The sangha will meet on Tuesday evening, even with the election taking place!
Marge will facilitate, and the group will contemplate being with whatever is. We won’t know the results of the election, but we will come back to our breath and explore these parts of our Mindfulness Trainings:
“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 will practice coming back to the present moment to be in touch with the refreshing, healing and nourishing elements in me and around me, not letting regrets and sorrow drag me back into the past nor letting anxieties, fear, or craving pull me out of the present moment.”
Throughout times of great challenge and suffering, Thay has taken refuge in walking meditation as spiritual medicine. During the Vietnamese-American War, he and his fellow practitioners practiced walking mindfulness to renew their energy and cultivate compassion as they worked for peace and rebuilt villages.
For Thay’s 94th continuation day, we invite you to carry on this legacy, taking the time to practice truly walking in freedom. We encourage you to recognize all the conditions of happiness that we have at our disposal, such as the seasons changing, the trees nourishing us, and the earth supporting our feet.
Thursday October 1, 4:30 - 5:45 pm
Please join us in a very special dialogue on October 1st between Plum Village Dharma teachers Kaira Jewel Lingo and Dr. Larry Ward on Larry's forthcoming book, America's Racial Karma. Larry and Kaira will invite us to explore how we can transform our suffering into the energy of love and healing.
When: Oct 1, 2020 4:30-5:45 PM PT | 7:30-8:45 PM ET
Where: Zoom
Sunday September 27
Marge will facilitate, and we will recite the 14 Mindfulness Trainings https://plumvillage.org/
We will pay particular attention to the 10th Mindfulness Training: Protecting and Nourishing the Sangha, as it relates to the section “we are determined not to use the Buddhist community for personal power or profit, or transform our community into a political instrument.”
It is key for the health of our sangha that we are welcoming to people of different political views and that we not expect people to have similar views.
🙏💗🙏💗🙏💗🙏💗🙏💗🙏💗🙏💗🙏💗
Tuesday September 29
Keith will facilitate
Saturday September 19th 7:30 pm
Brother Freedom will host another special gathering for OHS and friends. Tree commented, “Our time with Brother Freedom has been deeply nourishing as he shares his beautiful guided meditations with music, a Dharma talk and leads us in Dharma Sharing and a time to connect with each other”.
https://zoom.us/j/
Meeting ID: 962 6359 0681 Passcode: 948943
Tuesday, August 25
Getting Back to the Basics of Meditation
Marge will share about the basic practice of using the breath as a guide in sitting meditation to anchor us more fully in the present moment.
Marge will share about the basic practice of using the breath as a guide in sitting meditation to anchor us more fully in the present moment.
Sunday, August 23
Dear Friends,
Thay said, nothing causes more suffering than an untrained mind, and nothing creates more wellbeing and happiness than a well-trained mind. So, how do we train our mind? To train our mind we have to understand our mind. To understand is to love. To give our attention, our loving kindness to our own mind is a gentle encounter with reality. In this practice we get to know ourselves, love ourselves, and transform ourselves into yogis of the mind. This Sunday we’ll train ourselves in the fine art of mindful living. I very much look forward to being with you.
Smiling,
Keith
Universal Emptiness of the Heart
True Enlightenment Garden
Thay said, nothing causes more suffering than an untrained mind, and nothing creates more wellbeing and happiness than a well-trained mind. So, how do we train our mind? To train our mind we have to understand our mind. To understand is to love. To give our attention, our loving kindness to our own mind is a gentle encounter with reality. In this practice we get to know ourselves, love ourselves, and transform ourselves into yogis of the mind. This Sunday we’ll train ourselves in the fine art of mindful living. I very much look forward to being with you.
Smiling,
Keith
Universal Emptiness of the Heart
True Enlightenment Garden
Tuesday, August 11
What is Enlightenment?
Our practice aims at enlightenment, also known as awakening. What does it mean to be an enlightened being, or better yet, an enlightening being? Thay says, “there is no way to enlightenment, enlightenment is the way.” In that case, how do we practice enlightenment? What does enlightenment feel like? What does it feel like to be awake?
Join me and we’ll practice enlightening to find out for ourselves.
Smiling,
Keith
True Enlightenment Garden
Our practice aims at enlightenment, also known as awakening. What does it mean to be an enlightened being, or better yet, an enlightening being? Thay says, “there is no way to enlightenment, enlightenment is the way.” In that case, how do we practice enlightenment? What does enlightenment feel like? What does it feel like to be awake?
Join me and we’ll practice enlightening to find out for ourselves.
Smiling,
Keith
True Enlightenment Garden
Sunday, August 9
Marge will be facilitating, and we will contemplate “Negotiating the COVID-19 Time – Endless Internet and Zoom Distractions or a Time with More Practice and Stillness.”
Tuesday, July 28
I’m going to share from “No mud, no lotus.” My topic will be “mindfulness as healing medicine and realizing our true aspiration.”
Questions to contemplate -
Can I realize my deepest aspiration if I pursue this path?
What is preventing me from taking the path I most deeply desire?
I look forward to our practice together.
A lotus for you,
Tree
Questions to contemplate -
Can I realize my deepest aspiration if I pursue this path?
What is preventing me from taking the path I most deeply desire?
I look forward to our practice together.
A lotus for you,
Tree
Tuesday, July 21
Anita will share from ARISE Sangha's Contemplations on the Five Mindfulness Trainings, A New Paradigm For Racial Justice and the Global Pandemic, and look deeply at The Third Mindfulness Training: Cherishment as True Love.
Tuesday, July 14
Pete will share about love and community building in the Sangha and as a path to social justice.
Sunday, July 12
We will enjoy a Mindful Breathing/Centering Meditation-"Now our minds are one."
Then I will share some Reflections what Buddhism teaches us about finding gratitude in grief, compassion in suffering and Inter-being.
Gatha for Healing Racial, Systemic, and Social Inequity
Aware of the suffering caused by racial, systemic, and social inequities, we commit ourselves, individually and as a community, to understanding the roots of these inequities, and to transforming this suffering into compassion, understanding, and love in action. As a global community of practitioners, we are aware of the disproportionate racial violence and oppression committed by institutions and by individuals, whether consciously or unconsciously, against African Americans, Indigenous peoples, and people of color across the United States and beyond. We know that by looking deeply as individuals and as a community, we can engage the collective wisdom and energy of the Sangha to be our foundation for Right Thought, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Mindfulness, and Right Insight. These are the practices leading to nondiscrimination, non-harming, and non-self, which heal ourselves and the world.
Question for Reflection “How are you healing?
We will sing this song which is also done by the PV Nuns, which is very sweet as well.
https://youtu.be/xKuOVtkf_PI Betsy Rose "Standing like a Tree"
Standing like a tree with my roots dug down
My branches wide and open,
Come down the rain Come down the sun
Come down the fruit to the heart that is open
to be
Standing like a tree
(Repeat 5 times)
With gratitude,
Tree
Then I will share some Reflections what Buddhism teaches us about finding gratitude in grief, compassion in suffering and Inter-being.
Gatha for Healing Racial, Systemic, and Social Inequity
Aware of the suffering caused by racial, systemic, and social inequities, we commit ourselves, individually and as a community, to understanding the roots of these inequities, and to transforming this suffering into compassion, understanding, and love in action. As a global community of practitioners, we are aware of the disproportionate racial violence and oppression committed by institutions and by individuals, whether consciously or unconsciously, against African Americans, Indigenous peoples, and people of color across the United States and beyond. We know that by looking deeply as individuals and as a community, we can engage the collective wisdom and energy of the Sangha to be our foundation for Right Thought, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Mindfulness, and Right Insight. These are the practices leading to nondiscrimination, non-harming, and non-self, which heal ourselves and the world.
Question for Reflection “How are you healing?
We will sing this song which is also done by the PV Nuns, which is very sweet as well.
https://youtu.be/xKuOVtkf_PI Betsy Rose "Standing like a Tree"
Standing like a tree with my roots dug down
My branches wide and open,
Come down the rain Come down the sun
Come down the fruit to the heart that is open
to be
Standing like a tree
(Repeat 5 times)
With gratitude,
Tree
Tuesday, June 30
Karen will share about the Second Mindfulness Training: Belonging and Connecting as True Happiness, of the Contemplations on the Five Mindfulness Trainings, A New Paradigm For Racial Justice and the Global Pandemic.
Sunday, June 28
Our dear friend, Stephanie Knox Steiner, (OI member, OHS facilitator before moving to Colorado, and Earth Holder CTC member) will facilitate the Recitation of the Fourteen Mindfulness Trainings.
Tuesday, June 23
Anita will explore and practice deeply with the First Mindfulness Training from ARISE Sangha Five Mindfulness Trainings New Paradigm For Racial Justice And The Global Pandemic: Acknowledging Beauty As Reverence For Life.
Sunday, June 21
Marge will share from A New Paradigm For Racial Justice and the Global Pandemic. This new set of Contemplations on the Five Mindfulness Trainings has been offered to the Plum Village communities by the ARISE Sangha (Awakening through Race, Intersectionality, and Social Equity). Sangha members are encouraged to read these five contemplations before Sunday’s gathering, and we will share how we may wish to integrate them into our practice.
Tuesday, June 16
Pete will share about protecting and transforming, Dharma tools for nourishing happiness, not burning out and engaging the mind of love in this turbulent time.
Tuesday, June 9
Dear Community,
Thay has taught us, to love is to understand. To understand ourselves is to love ourselves and to love and understand ourselves is to love and understand the world, for Thay has also taught us, the self is made entirely of non-self-elements. We are the world. If we turn our mindfulness and concentration upon ourselves, we realize immediately that our self is the world. We gain the great insight of Interbeing, with all beings and with the whole of being.
We come together to cultivate the mind of love, love of self, of each other, of all beings, of the whole of being. This is our practice and we are a community dedicated to realizing and sharing the fruit of this insight. I look forward to practicing with you.
Keith
Thay has taught us, to love is to understand. To understand ourselves is to love ourselves and to love and understand ourselves is to love and understand the world, for Thay has also taught us, the self is made entirely of non-self-elements. We are the world. If we turn our mindfulness and concentration upon ourselves, we realize immediately that our self is the world. We gain the great insight of Interbeing, with all beings and with the whole of being.
We come together to cultivate the mind of love, love of self, of each other, of all beings, of the whole of being. This is our practice and we are a community dedicated to realizing and sharing the fruit of this insight. I look forward to practicing with you.
Keith
Tuesday, May 26
Pete will share about the Seven Factors of Awakening
Brother Phap Luu offers a guided meditation on the Seven Factors of Awakening
Sunday, May 17
Dear Sangha,
My deepest desire is for enlightenment, for myself and for everyone. My experience is that my taste of enlightenment generates by best moments, characterized by joy, love, satisfaction and a strong sense of wellbeing. I know it’s not all sweetness and light. Part of my practice is encountering my suffering and thereby transforming my suffering into wellbeing. I think mindfulness is the practice of enlightenment, and I want to practice more, throughout my day, and to practice more skillfully. I also want to teach and lead others in this practice so that we may together grow spiritually, emotionally and in our thought and action, and together to more powerfully help to heal and transform our world. I want very much to transform our relationship to the earth and all the life and non-life that constitutes the whole earth community, so we generate a thriving earth community, and we and the other species of life thrive and fulfill our potential. I also want the oceans and the mountains and rivers and the sky to be healthy and beautiful as they are essential components of a healthy world and are valuable in their own right. I like to think of the whole cosmos, the earth and life as an evolutionary process and want to fulfill my role and for us to fulfill our role in the great journey of evolution. Each of us is a unique being, with a unique view of the world and unique qualities and aspirations. What is your deepest aspiration? What would bring you great joy to be manifesting in the world?
Please join us this Sunday and we’ll dive into the deep centers of our beings to discover and manifest our highest and best selves and find joy in the process.
Smiling,
Keith
My deepest desire is for enlightenment, for myself and for everyone. My experience is that my taste of enlightenment generates by best moments, characterized by joy, love, satisfaction and a strong sense of wellbeing. I know it’s not all sweetness and light. Part of my practice is encountering my suffering and thereby transforming my suffering into wellbeing. I think mindfulness is the practice of enlightenment, and I want to practice more, throughout my day, and to practice more skillfully. I also want to teach and lead others in this practice so that we may together grow spiritually, emotionally and in our thought and action, and together to more powerfully help to heal and transform our world. I want very much to transform our relationship to the earth and all the life and non-life that constitutes the whole earth community, so we generate a thriving earth community, and we and the other species of life thrive and fulfill our potential. I also want the oceans and the mountains and rivers and the sky to be healthy and beautiful as they are essential components of a healthy world and are valuable in their own right. I like to think of the whole cosmos, the earth and life as an evolutionary process and want to fulfill my role and for us to fulfill our role in the great journey of evolution. Each of us is a unique being, with a unique view of the world and unique qualities and aspirations. What is your deepest aspiration? What would bring you great joy to be manifesting in the world?
Please join us this Sunday and we’ll dive into the deep centers of our beings to discover and manifest our highest and best selves and find joy in the process.
Smiling,
Keith
Sunday, May 2
Marge will contemplate stopping, calming, resting, and healing during our time of sheltering in place.
Tuesday, April 21
Dear Sangha,
I hope you are safe and well in this strange time we are living through.
Letting go is a fundamental element of our practice. It is a key to peace, wellbeing and awakening. It is both explicit and implied in many of our meditations and teachings. Letting go of our views, of the tension in our bodies, of clinging to and aversion from anything, brings freedom from self-induced suffering and freedom to fully enjoy the gifts of our lives. We learn to be with what is, no longer caught and pulled out of the present moment by avoiding or running after something beyond what is. We become both solid and free. Thay said solidity and freedom are attributes of Nirvana. Please join me this Tuesday to explore and enjoy this liberating practice.
Keith
True Enlightenment Garden
I hope you are safe and well in this strange time we are living through.
Letting go is a fundamental element of our practice. It is a key to peace, wellbeing and awakening. It is both explicit and implied in many of our meditations and teachings. Letting go of our views, of the tension in our bodies, of clinging to and aversion from anything, brings freedom from self-induced suffering and freedom to fully enjoy the gifts of our lives. We learn to be with what is, no longer caught and pulled out of the present moment by avoiding or running after something beyond what is. We become both solid and free. Thay said solidity and freedom are attributes of Nirvana. Please join me this Tuesday to explore and enjoy this liberating practice.
Keith
True Enlightenment Garden
Sunday, April 12
Marge will share about using the practice to care for ourselves and for others during this time of the coronavirus. Continuing with reflecting on Thay’s teachings in The Art of Living, we will also contemplate a small part of Chapter 2, Signlessness, A Cloud Never Dies.
Sunday, April 5 online
Steve will share about the Second Mindfulness Training, True Happiness:
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.
Sunday, March 29 online
Loretta will facilitate the recitation of the Fourteen Mindfulness Trainings.
We will be offering online Sangha until conditions ripen for us to meet again in person.
Join Zoom Meeting online
Or dial in by phone: 669-900-6833 Meeting ID: 371 714 540
We will be offering online Sangha until conditions ripen for us to meet again in person.
Join Zoom Meeting online
Or dial in by phone: 669-900-6833 Meeting ID: 371 714 540
Sunday, March 22 online
Join Zoom Meeting: https://us04web.zoom.us/j/371714540 Meeting ID: 371 714 540
Phone dial in: +1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose) Meeting ID: 371 714 540
Find your local number: https://us04web.zoom.us/u/fvR9rYap9
Dear Friends,
This Sunday I will be facilitating our now on-line Sangha. We are offering a Chapter of Thich Nhat Hanh (Thay)’s book, The Art of Living, as a theme for each of the next 7 months. The first three chapters are named after the Three Doors of Liberation: Emptiness, Signlessness and Aimlessness. The last 4 chapters are the last 4 of the 16 Breathing Practices taken from Thay’s book, Breathe, You Are Alive: The Sutra on the Full Awareness of Breathing. March’s theme is Emptiness. Facilitators are free to use the theme or not, so it doesn’t impose a restriction on anyone, but offers ideas and structure to those who enjoy using it.
Thay said that if you understand one teaching deeply you understand all the teachings. Each point in the direction of deep “looking,” and to the awakening that comes from looking deeply. The teachings are in words, but the insight is a transformation of our whole being, our whole way of experiencing reality, including ourselves. Chapter 1 is titled, EMPTINESS, THE WONDER OF INTERBEING. Emptiness is shorthand for empty of a separate self, and to “grok” this fully is to experience the deep meaning of Thay’s teaching’s “the self is made entirely of non-self elements,” and “we are empty of a separate self, but we are filled with the entire cosmos.” The great benefit of this teaching is the liberation from the suffering we create for ourselves and others when we have the delusion that we are a separate self and that other beings in the world are separate selves, and the great liberation to be free and open to the flowing nature of all realities. With the insight Interbeing we dwell in the Ultimate, and we know it.
When we transcend our illusion of separateness, we are free to dwell as the whole cosmos and to enjoy the spontaneous energies happening in us and around us in our very beautiful world. We’ll explore and practice with this enlightening mode of being.
I look forward to being with you.
Smiling,
Keith
Universal Emptiness of the Heart
True Enlightenment Garden
Phone dial in: +1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose) Meeting ID: 371 714 540
Find your local number: https://us04web.zoom.us/u/fvR9rYap9
Dear Friends,
This Sunday I will be facilitating our now on-line Sangha. We are offering a Chapter of Thich Nhat Hanh (Thay)’s book, The Art of Living, as a theme for each of the next 7 months. The first three chapters are named after the Three Doors of Liberation: Emptiness, Signlessness and Aimlessness. The last 4 chapters are the last 4 of the 16 Breathing Practices taken from Thay’s book, Breathe, You Are Alive: The Sutra on the Full Awareness of Breathing. March’s theme is Emptiness. Facilitators are free to use the theme or not, so it doesn’t impose a restriction on anyone, but offers ideas and structure to those who enjoy using it.
Thay said that if you understand one teaching deeply you understand all the teachings. Each point in the direction of deep “looking,” and to the awakening that comes from looking deeply. The teachings are in words, but the insight is a transformation of our whole being, our whole way of experiencing reality, including ourselves. Chapter 1 is titled, EMPTINESS, THE WONDER OF INTERBEING. Emptiness is shorthand for empty of a separate self, and to “grok” this fully is to experience the deep meaning of Thay’s teaching’s “the self is made entirely of non-self elements,” and “we are empty of a separate self, but we are filled with the entire cosmos.” The great benefit of this teaching is the liberation from the suffering we create for ourselves and others when we have the delusion that we are a separate self and that other beings in the world are separate selves, and the great liberation to be free and open to the flowing nature of all realities. With the insight Interbeing we dwell in the Ultimate, and we know it.
When we transcend our illusion of separateness, we are free to dwell as the whole cosmos and to enjoy the spontaneous energies happening in us and around us in our very beautiful world. We’ll explore and practice with this enlightening mode of being.
I look forward to being with you.
Smiling,
Keith
Universal Emptiness of the Heart
True Enlightenment Garden
Tuesday, March 17 online
Anita will facilitate
We will be offering online Sangha until conditions ripen for us to meet again in person.
Join Zoom Meeting https://zoom.us/j/977541976
We will be offering online Sangha until conditions ripen for us to meet again in person.
Join Zoom Meeting https://zoom.us/j/977541976
Or dial in by phone: +1 669 900 6833 US +1 253 215 8782 US +1 301 715 8592 US Meeting ID: 977 541 976
Find your local number: https://zoom.us/u/abG98Bb7m7
The technology is easy to use but here are a few instructions if you are unfamiliar with it:
- Download the Zoom app on whatever device you plan to use. Zoom is functional on phone, iPad, laptop or computer. https://zoom.us/download
- For those who are tech challenged Keith is willing to offer assistance as needed.
- Please log in early, especially if this is new for you. The online meeting room for our Sangha will be available 30 minutes before normal start time. When you click the link you will be guided through a brief setup process to allow access to your microphone and camera.
- If you are unable to log in via the Zoom app using the link or have difficulty with the setup process, you have the option to call Keith for support or log in by phone. You won't be able to see us and we can't see you, but we will know you are there. To do that, use the dial-in info listed.
- We suggest you find a quiet location to log in to help our collective energy of mindfulness and encourage your focused attention.
- Upon entering the Zoom sangha, your microphone will be muted. Please do not unmute yourself, until invited to do so during dharma sharing. This will help to avoid any background noises, etc. from interfering with sitting meditation, etc. During dharma sharing, please be mindful to mute yourself once you are done sharing.
Sunday, March 15 - online
Dear Friends,
We will be offering online Sangha until conditions ripen for us to meet again in person. Online gatherings will be a bit shorter from 4:00-5:30PM since we will not be practicing walking meditation together.
The online meeting room will be available at 3:30. **If this is your first time using the Zoom platform, please log in 10-15 minutes early to get set up on your computer or phone.**
The Zoom platform we will use for our virtual sangha is an easy platform that lets us connect and see one another via the camera on our computer, phone or other device. To access the Zoom session, you will need to complete a brief set-up process if this is your first time using the platform. Please allow a few extra minutes for this if you are a new Zoom user. When you click on the link below you should be guided through the process on your desktop or laptop computer. There is also a Zoom app available for phones/tablets if you prefer.
Upon entering the Zoom sangha, your microphone will be muted. Please do not unmute yourself, until invited to do so during dharma sharing. This will help to avoid any background noises, etc. from interfering with sitting meditation, etc. During dharma sharing, please be mindful to mute yourself once you are done sharing.
If anyone cannot access the session via the link below or has difficulty with the setup process, you have the option to call in by phone (you won't be able to see us and we can't see you, but we will know you are there :)) - to do that, use the dial-in number and passcode also listed below.
We will likely be using the same log in information for the Sunday Sangha in the coming weeks, unless I need to make a change in the way the meetings are set up, so please keep this handy.
Join Zoom Meeting: https://us04web.zoom.us/j/371714540 Meeting ID: 371 714 540
Dial in: +1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose) Meeting ID: 371 714 540
We will be offering online Sangha until conditions ripen for us to meet again in person. Online gatherings will be a bit shorter from 4:00-5:30PM since we will not be practicing walking meditation together.
The online meeting room will be available at 3:30. **If this is your first time using the Zoom platform, please log in 10-15 minutes early to get set up on your computer or phone.**
The Zoom platform we will use for our virtual sangha is an easy platform that lets us connect and see one another via the camera on our computer, phone or other device. To access the Zoom session, you will need to complete a brief set-up process if this is your first time using the platform. Please allow a few extra minutes for this if you are a new Zoom user. When you click on the link below you should be guided through the process on your desktop or laptop computer. There is also a Zoom app available for phones/tablets if you prefer.
Upon entering the Zoom sangha, your microphone will be muted. Please do not unmute yourself, until invited to do so during dharma sharing. This will help to avoid any background noises, etc. from interfering with sitting meditation, etc. During dharma sharing, please be mindful to mute yourself once you are done sharing.
If anyone cannot access the session via the link below or has difficulty with the setup process, you have the option to call in by phone (you won't be able to see us and we can't see you, but we will know you are there :)) - to do that, use the dial-in number and passcode also listed below.
We will likely be using the same log in information for the Sunday Sangha in the coming weeks, unless I need to make a change in the way the meetings are set up, so please keep this handy.
Join Zoom Meeting: https://us04web.zoom.us/j/371714540 Meeting ID: 371 714 540
Dial in: +1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose) Meeting ID: 371 714 540
Find your local number: https://us04web.zoom.us/u/fvR9rYap9
This is a terrific practice opportunity for us. There is no better time than now to practice mindfulness of body. Be with your breath and practice mindfulness of touch, aware of how often you may want to touch your face, what surfaces you make contact with in the world, and where your body is. We do not stay home because we are afraid of getting the virus. We practice this as an act of loving service and compassion to reduce the number of vectors to transmit the virus, to help protect those who may be most vulnerable.
Washing your hands can be a brilliant mindfulness experience. Here is a gatha you may want to practice with as you turn on the water:
Water flows from high in the mountains.
Water runs deep in the Earth
Miraculously, water comes to us,
and sustains all life.
Enjoy each line with either an in-breath or out-breath. The miracle of running water, self care, safety and compassion for others are all available in that moment.
Pete
This is a terrific practice opportunity for us. There is no better time than now to practice mindfulness of body. Be with your breath and practice mindfulness of touch, aware of how often you may want to touch your face, what surfaces you make contact with in the world, and where your body is. We do not stay home because we are afraid of getting the virus. We practice this as an act of loving service and compassion to reduce the number of vectors to transmit the virus, to help protect those who may be most vulnerable.
Washing your hands can be a brilliant mindfulness experience. Here is a gatha you may want to practice with as you turn on the water:
Water flows from high in the mountains.
Water runs deep in the Earth
Miraculously, water comes to us,
and sustains all life.
Enjoy each line with either an in-breath or out-breath. The miracle of running water, self care, safety and compassion for others are all available in that moment.
- We will also be setting up online meetings for the Tuesday Sangha as well. Stay tuned
Pete
OHS InterBeing and Social Distancing
Dear Friends,
Looking deeply the OHS Care Taking Council has decided to suspend our regular Tuesday and Sunday gatherings through the end of the month. We are hoping to set up virtual meetings and will let you know as those plans manifest. We believe this is Right Action and ask for your compassion in doing so.
Deer Park Monastery decided to close through the end of April. Please read their beautiful love letter announcing this and why.
Dharma Bum Temple has also decided to close their doors through the end of the month.
While we usually think of Sangha as a way to grow community and the mind of love, the practice of “non meeting” can do the same. We are not feeding fear - we are growing our collective energy of love and compassion by doing what we can to flatten the curve of disease transmission and protect those who may be vulnerable. Let us continue to practice connecting from the heart. In the words of Rabbi Yosef Kanefsky:
“Every hand that we don’t shake must become a phone call that we place. Every embrace that we avoid must become a verbal expression of warmth and concern. Every inch and every foot that we physically place between ourselves and another, must become a thought as to how we might be of help to that other, should the need arise.”
May we continue to practice beautifully together,
Your Care Taking Council
Looking deeply the OHS Care Taking Council has decided to suspend our regular Tuesday and Sunday gatherings through the end of the month. We are hoping to set up virtual meetings and will let you know as those plans manifest. We believe this is Right Action and ask for your compassion in doing so.
Deer Park Monastery decided to close through the end of April. Please read their beautiful love letter announcing this and why.
Dharma Bum Temple has also decided to close their doors through the end of the month.
While we usually think of Sangha as a way to grow community and the mind of love, the practice of “non meeting” can do the same. We are not feeding fear - we are growing our collective energy of love and compassion by doing what we can to flatten the curve of disease transmission and protect those who may be vulnerable. Let us continue to practice connecting from the heart. In the words of Rabbi Yosef Kanefsky:
“Every hand that we don’t shake must become a phone call that we place. Every embrace that we avoid must become a verbal expression of warmth and concern. Every inch and every foot that we physically place between ourselves and another, must become a thought as to how we might be of help to that other, should the need arise.”
May we continue to practice beautifully together,
Your Care Taking Council
Sunday, March 8 at UU
Dear Friends,
This month we are working with the theme from the first chapter of Thich Nhat Hanh (Thay)’s wonderful book, The Art of Living, emptiness. Emptiness goes with Interbeing and no separate self and with Thay’s quote, “We are empty of a separate self, and filled with the entire cosmos.” It brings us to that great koan, "Show me your original face, before your grandparents were born." To know we are empty of a separate self is to be free of tension and fear and to effortlessly inter-be with all that is. We will practice together to realize this wonderful state of mind.
I look forward to being with you,
Keith
Universal Emptiness of the Heart
This month we are working with the theme from the first chapter of Thich Nhat Hanh (Thay)’s wonderful book, The Art of Living, emptiness. Emptiness goes with Interbeing and no separate self and with Thay’s quote, “We are empty of a separate self, and filled with the entire cosmos.” It brings us to that great koan, "Show me your original face, before your grandparents were born." To know we are empty of a separate self is to be free of tension and fear and to effortlessly inter-be with all that is. We will practice together to realize this wonderful state of mind.
I look forward to being with you,
Keith
Universal Emptiness of the Heart
Sunday, March 1 at UU
The sangha’s Care Taking Council decided to start highlighting teachings from Thay’s book, The Art of Living, over the next couple of months. Marge will begin on the first chapter, Emptiness: The Wonder of Interbeing. Sangha members are invited to read the book, but it isn’t necessary to participate in sangha.
Tuesday, February 25 at DBT
Dear Friends,
I’ve always loved Thay’s book title, Cultivating the Mind of Love, and found endless inspiration from it. Let’s explore together the practices and insights that we can use to manifest the heart/mind of love.
I look forward to being with you,
Keith
I’ve always loved Thay’s book title, Cultivating the Mind of Love, and found endless inspiration from it. Let’s explore together the practices and insights that we can use to manifest the heart/mind of love.
I look forward to being with you,
Keith
Tuesday, February 18 at DBT
Pete will share about the Three Jewels.
Refuge Prayer by Thich Nhat Hanh
At the foot of the Bodhi tree, beautifully seated, peaceful and smiling,
the living source of understanding and compassion, to the Buddha I go for refuge.
The path of mindful living, leading to healing, joy, and enlightenment,
the way of peace, to the Dhamma I go for refuge.
The loving and supportive community of practice,
realizing harmony, awareness, and liberation,
to the Sangha I go for refuge.
I am aware that the Three Gems are within my heart, I vow to realize them.
I vow to practice mindful breathing and smiling, looking deeply into things.
I vow to understand living beings and their suffering, to cultivate compassion and loving kindness,
and to practice joy and equanimity.
I vow to offer joy to one person in the morning and to help relieve the grief of one person in the afternoon.
I vow to live simply and sanely, content with just a few possessions, and to keep my body healthy.
I vow to let go of all worry and anxiety in order to be light and free.
I am aware that I owe so much to my parents, teachers, friends and all beings.
I vow to be worthy of their trust, to practice wholeheartedly,
so that understanding and compassion will flower,
and I can help living beings be free from their suffering.
May the Buddha, the Dhamma, and the Sangha support my efforts
Refuge Prayer by Thich Nhat Hanh
At the foot of the Bodhi tree, beautifully seated, peaceful and smiling,
the living source of understanding and compassion, to the Buddha I go for refuge.
The path of mindful living, leading to healing, joy, and enlightenment,
the way of peace, to the Dhamma I go for refuge.
The loving and supportive community of practice,
realizing harmony, awareness, and liberation,
to the Sangha I go for refuge.
I am aware that the Three Gems are within my heart, I vow to realize them.
I vow to practice mindful breathing and smiling, looking deeply into things.
I vow to understand living beings and their suffering, to cultivate compassion and loving kindness,
and to practice joy and equanimity.
I vow to offer joy to one person in the morning and to help relieve the grief of one person in the afternoon.
I vow to live simply and sanely, content with just a few possessions, and to keep my body healthy.
I vow to let go of all worry and anxiety in order to be light and free.
I am aware that I owe so much to my parents, teachers, friends and all beings.
I vow to be worthy of their trust, to practice wholeheartedly,
so that understanding and compassion will flower,
and I can help living beings be free from their suffering.
May the Buddha, the Dhamma, and the Sangha support my efforts
Sunday, February 16 at UU
Dijana will share from Thay’s writings on non-fear in The Heart of the Buddha’s Teaching:
“…paramita means 'crossing over to the other shore,' which is the shore of peace, non-fear, and liberation”
“Once the wave realizes that she is water, all her fear vanishes. Once we touch the ground of our being, once we touch God or nirvana, we also receive the gift of non-fear. Non-fear is the basis of true happiness. The greatest gift we can offer others is our non-fear. “
“…paramita means 'crossing over to the other shore,' which is the shore of peace, non-fear, and liberation”
“Once the wave realizes that she is water, all her fear vanishes. Once we touch the ground of our being, once we touch God or nirvana, we also receive the gift of non-fear. Non-fear is the basis of true happiness. The greatest gift we can offer others is our non-fear. “
Sunday, February 9 at UU
Tree will share about how the Buddha refereed to letting go as “releasing our cows,” what is essential for our happiness, how we can look deeply to see what we need to let go of in our life. Sometimes our cow is a belief that we need something to be happy which causes us to suffer. We practice to restore our freedom and create space around us, so we can let go of what is holding us back and causing us to suffer.
Tuesday, February 28 at DBT
Marge will share Thay’s teachings about “releasing our cows.” He says that freedom is the base of our happiness, and we have to let go of what ideas we have that hold us back from being free and happy. We will explore releasing our “cows” to restore our freedom.
Sunday, January 19 at UU
Dear Friends,
Our practice is about transformation, training our minds, about learning to be fully here, here and now, about smiling, relaxing into the depths of ourselves, about softening and coming alive. About relaxing our awareness so that we can awaken to the whole and allow the particulars of our experience to manifest in the great context of wholeness. I want to soften my mind and relax the tension in my body so that I have clarity and peace and can enjoy being the whole of myself, knowing that my real self is the whole cosmos and knowing thereby in my bones and in my whole body and mind that there truly is nowhere to go and nothing to do. I’m already here and the world is happening and I, as part of the world, as the world, am happening. How do we transform double grasping, grasping after a separate self and a world or separate selves? How do we allow ourselves to be the whole of ourselves in the present moment, as the presence of the world, as reality self-aware and unfolding? Larry Ward suggested a better question than who am I is what am I? What am I? What does it mean to be human? What is the human potential and what is my potential? I want to relax, rest in the fulness and the wholeness of the present moment. I want to go beyond fear and to rest in the depths and beauty of the great whole of existence. How do we transform ourselves into beings who are awake to the whole and the individual realities which constitute the whole? How do I know the ultimate dimension and the historical dimension? How do I transform my mind so that I know the meaning of Interbeing, my interbeing with all other individual beings and with the whole of being? Let’s ask ourselves and practice with these questions.
Keith
Universal Emptiness of the Heart
True Enlightenment Garden
Our practice is about transformation, training our minds, about learning to be fully here, here and now, about smiling, relaxing into the depths of ourselves, about softening and coming alive. About relaxing our awareness so that we can awaken to the whole and allow the particulars of our experience to manifest in the great context of wholeness. I want to soften my mind and relax the tension in my body so that I have clarity and peace and can enjoy being the whole of myself, knowing that my real self is the whole cosmos and knowing thereby in my bones and in my whole body and mind that there truly is nowhere to go and nothing to do. I’m already here and the world is happening and I, as part of the world, as the world, am happening. How do we transform double grasping, grasping after a separate self and a world or separate selves? How do we allow ourselves to be the whole of ourselves in the present moment, as the presence of the world, as reality self-aware and unfolding? Larry Ward suggested a better question than who am I is what am I? What am I? What does it mean to be human? What is the human potential and what is my potential? I want to relax, rest in the fulness and the wholeness of the present moment. I want to go beyond fear and to rest in the depths and beauty of the great whole of existence. How do we transform ourselves into beings who are awake to the whole and the individual realities which constitute the whole? How do I know the ultimate dimension and the historical dimension? How do I transform my mind so that I know the meaning of Interbeing, my interbeing with all other individual beings and with the whole of being? Let’s ask ourselves and practice with these questions.
Keith
Universal Emptiness of the Heart
True Enlightenment Garden
Tuesday, January 14 at DBT
Pete will share on "beginning anew year” and the Beginning Anew Ceremony.
Beginning Anew by Thich Nhat Hanh,
from Chanting from the Heart: Buddhist Ceremonies and Daily Practice
With great respect, we turn towards the conqueror of afflictions,
offering heartfelt words of repentance.
We have lived in forgetfulness for a long time.
As we have not had the opportunity to encounter the Dharma,
our habit energies have led us into suffering.
We have made many mistakes out of unskillfulness.
We have been blinded by our wrong perceptions
for a very long time.
Our heart’s garden is sown with attachment, hatred, and pride.
In us are seeds of killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, and lies.
Our everyday deeds and words do damage.
All these wrong actions are obstacles to our peace and joy.
Let us begin anew.
[Bell]
We see that we have been thoughtless,
straying from the path of mindfulness.
We have stored up afflictions and ignorance,
which have brought about so much aversion and sorrow.
There are times we have been weary of life
because we are so full of anxiety.
Because we do not understand others,
we are angry and resentful.
First we try to reason with each other, then we blame.
Every day the suffering increases, making the rift greater.
There are days when we are unwilling to speak to each other,
unwilling to look each other in the face.
And we create internal formations, which last for a long time.
Now we turn to the Three Jewels.
Sincerely recognizing our errors, we bow our heads.
[Bell]
We know so well that in our consciousness
are buried all the wholesome seeds —
seeds of love and understanding and seeds of peace and joy.
But because we do not know how to water them
the wholesome seeds do not sprout fresh and green.
We continue to allow sorrow to overwhelm us
until there is no light in our lives.
When we chase after a distant happiness,
life becomes but a shadow of the reality.
Our mind is occupied by the past,
or worrying about this or that in the future.
We cannot let go of our anger,
and we consider of no value the precious gifts of life
which are already in our hands,
thereby trampling on real happiness.
As month follows month, we are sunk in sorrow.
So now in the precious presence of the Buddha,
fragrant with sandalwood incense,
we recognize our errors and begin anew.
[Bell]
With all our heart we go for refuge,
turning to the Buddhas in the Ten Directions
and all the Bodhisattvas, noble disciples, and self
achieved Buddhas.
Very sincerely we recognize our errors
and the mistakes of our wrong judgments.
Please bring the balm of clear water
to pour on the roots of our afflictions.
Please bring the raft of the true teachings
to carry us over the ocean of sorrows.
We vow to live an awakened life,
to practice smiling and conscious breathing,
and to study the teachings, authentically transmitted.
Diligently, we shall live in mindfulness.
[Bell]
We come back to live in the wonderful present,
to plant our heart’s garden with good seeds,
and to make strong foundations of understanding and love.
We vow to train ourselves in mindfulness and concentration,
practicing to look and understand deeply
to be able to see the nature of all that is,
and so to be free of the bonds of birth and death.
We learn to speak lovingly, to be affectionate,
to care for others whether it is early morn or late afternoon,
to bring the roots of joy to many places,
helping people to abandon sorrow,
to respond with deep gratitude
to the kindness of parents, teachers, and friends.
With deep faith we light up the incense of our heart.
We ask the Lord of Compassion to be our protector
on the wonderful path of practice.
We vow to practice diligently,
cultivating the fruits of this path.
[Bell, Bell, Bell]
Beginning Anew by Thich Nhat Hanh,
from Chanting from the Heart: Buddhist Ceremonies and Daily Practice
With great respect, we turn towards the conqueror of afflictions,
offering heartfelt words of repentance.
We have lived in forgetfulness for a long time.
As we have not had the opportunity to encounter the Dharma,
our habit energies have led us into suffering.
We have made many mistakes out of unskillfulness.
We have been blinded by our wrong perceptions
for a very long time.
Our heart’s garden is sown with attachment, hatred, and pride.
In us are seeds of killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, and lies.
Our everyday deeds and words do damage.
All these wrong actions are obstacles to our peace and joy.
Let us begin anew.
[Bell]
We see that we have been thoughtless,
straying from the path of mindfulness.
We have stored up afflictions and ignorance,
which have brought about so much aversion and sorrow.
There are times we have been weary of life
because we are so full of anxiety.
Because we do not understand others,
we are angry and resentful.
First we try to reason with each other, then we blame.
Every day the suffering increases, making the rift greater.
There are days when we are unwilling to speak to each other,
unwilling to look each other in the face.
And we create internal formations, which last for a long time.
Now we turn to the Three Jewels.
Sincerely recognizing our errors, we bow our heads.
[Bell]
We know so well that in our consciousness
are buried all the wholesome seeds —
seeds of love and understanding and seeds of peace and joy.
But because we do not know how to water them
the wholesome seeds do not sprout fresh and green.
We continue to allow sorrow to overwhelm us
until there is no light in our lives.
When we chase after a distant happiness,
life becomes but a shadow of the reality.
Our mind is occupied by the past,
or worrying about this or that in the future.
We cannot let go of our anger,
and we consider of no value the precious gifts of life
which are already in our hands,
thereby trampling on real happiness.
As month follows month, we are sunk in sorrow.
So now in the precious presence of the Buddha,
fragrant with sandalwood incense,
we recognize our errors and begin anew.
[Bell]
With all our heart we go for refuge,
turning to the Buddhas in the Ten Directions
and all the Bodhisattvas, noble disciples, and self
achieved Buddhas.
Very sincerely we recognize our errors
and the mistakes of our wrong judgments.
Please bring the balm of clear water
to pour on the roots of our afflictions.
Please bring the raft of the true teachings
to carry us over the ocean of sorrows.
We vow to live an awakened life,
to practice smiling and conscious breathing,
and to study the teachings, authentically transmitted.
Diligently, we shall live in mindfulness.
[Bell]
We come back to live in the wonderful present,
to plant our heart’s garden with good seeds,
and to make strong foundations of understanding and love.
We vow to train ourselves in mindfulness and concentration,
practicing to look and understand deeply
to be able to see the nature of all that is,
and so to be free of the bonds of birth and death.
We learn to speak lovingly, to be affectionate,
to care for others whether it is early morn or late afternoon,
to bring the roots of joy to many places,
helping people to abandon sorrow,
to respond with deep gratitude
to the kindness of parents, teachers, and friends.
With deep faith we light up the incense of our heart.
We ask the Lord of Compassion to be our protector
on the wonderful path of practice.
We vow to practice diligently,
cultivating the fruits of this path.
[Bell, Bell, Bell]
Sunday, January 12 at UU
Marge will share about starting the new year with a fresh commitment to mindfulness practice.
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