Dear Brothers and Sisters,
I hope you holiday was full of love and gratitude.
This Sunday, November 29th is an auspicious day for those of us in the USA practicing in the Plum Village Tradition. It marks the beginning of the Winter Rains Retreat. It’s a time to come back to ourselves, to look deeply and strengthen our spiritual roots. It is the only retreat of the year that is primarily oriented for monastics and the residential community and those participating do not leave the grounds and often do not go online. As lay practitioners we have many responsibilities in the world but can take advantage of visiting Deer Park on days of mindfulness or staying for a week or weekend if able.
We can also make this a deeper practice period for ourselves and are also invited to come back to ourselves, to look deeply, and to strengthen our spiritual roots by setting an intention for the period. This might be to practice sitting meditation every day, even if only 10 minutes, visit the monastery, listen to Dharma talks each week, etc. Last year Phap Ho offered long time practitioners this schedule as a suggestion and many OI’s will be following it again this year. Do not feel obliged to take on more than is comfortable but please do be encouraged to look deeply and set a real intention. Embracing the path of healing and transformation in this way helps us all heal. By observing the retreat period we genuinely honor Thay, all of our spiritual and blood ancestors, elevate the Sangha and create conditions for peace and harmony in the world.
In the spirit of this I will offer a reading from Phap Hai’s new book “Nothing To It” this Sunday. It is based on a series of 10 talks he gave at a prior Winter Retreat and covers the heart of Buddha’s teachings with his usual insight, encouragement and inspiration. It's a wonderful book and if members of the Sangha are interested we can buy 10 or more copies at a 50% Sangha discount at Parallax Press.
In other news, we now have an Earth Holder Sangha web site and are encouraged to get involved with the People’s Climate Prayer “Contemplation and Action” November 29 – December 11, 2015. I hope the Sangha can join the Climate Marchg again this year and consider other ways to participate. The Earth Holder Sangha offers some good suggestions: http://www.earthholder.org/what-you-can-do
Wishing you well,
Pete
True Ocean of Joy
practicing mindfulness in the tradition of Thich Nhat Hanh.
Meeting in person: SUNDAYS 4-5:30 pm PST
Bard Hall at
First Unitarian Universalist Church (UU)4190 Front St, San Diego CA 92103
Parking is provided in the Ace lot with a church pass (available onsite)