Sunday December 26

We will recite the 14 Mindfulness Trainings and perhaps sing a few Buddhaful carols, along with our usual meditation and Dharma sharing. Marge will facilitate.

💗🎋


  Tuesday December 28

Anita will facilitate

🎋💗   

  Sunday December 19

Dear friends,
On Sunday, I will offer a practice entitled “Touching the Earth to Mother Earth”, based on texts from Thay’s book Love Letters to the Earth (2013).  “Touching the Earth” is the name Thay has given to the practice of combining a contemplative text with a deep, mindful, full-body prostration on the ground. Touching the Earth is part of the daily mindfulness practice in Plum Village practice centers around the world, and is usually done after a session of sitting meditation.  The whole community touches the earth at the same time after having heard the text being read. We allow the words to fall gently like rain, and slowly penetrate our consciousness, where they can bring about insight, deep healing and transformation. The collective energy of concentration is very powerful and has the capacity to bring healing and transformation. The practice of Touching the Earth deepens over time. For anyone who is unable to do a full body prostration, an alternative version will be demonstrated. I look forward to sharing this beautiful practice with each of you.

Here is a beautiful quote from Thay:
"When we look into our own bodily formation, we see Mother Earth inside us, and so the whole universe is inside us, too. Once we have this insight of interbeing, it is possible to have real communication, real communion, with the Earth. This is the highest possible form of prayer.  To express our reverence for the Earth is not to deify her or believe she is any more sacred than ourselves. It is to love her, to take care of her and to take refuge in her. When we suffer, the Earth embraces us, accepts us, and restores our energy, making us strong and stable again. The relief that we seek is right under our feet and all around us. Much of our suffering can be healed if we realize this. If we understand our deep connection and relationship with the Earth, we will have enough love, strength, and awakening to look after ourselves and the Earth so that we both can thrive.” 

Flowers to all,
Donna

🙏💗 

 Tuesday December 21

Karen will lead us in the practice of Touching the Earth in honor of the Winter Solstice

💗🙏   

 Sunday December 12

Keith will facilitate

🙏💗 

 Tuesday December 14

Anita will facilitate

💗🙏  

 Sunday December 5

Loretta will lead on "Right View", from the Noble Eight Fold Path to well being

🙏💗   

 Tuesday December 7

Pete will facilitate

💗🙏  

 Sunday November 28

Tree will facilitate the Five Mindfulness Trainings


🙏💗  

  Tuesday November 30

Donna will facilitate

💗🙏  

  Sunday November 21


Loretta will lead on the topic "Generosity and Gratitude"

🙏💗  

  Tuesday November 23

Anita will lead

💗🙏 

 Sunday November 14

Dear Friends,

The last time I facilitated we explored the deep mystery of death and the teaching of no birth and no death. This time we will enter into another deep mystery.

 Perhaps the most profound of the teachings we have been offered by Thich Nhat Hanh (Thay) is the teaching that there is no separate self. It is one of the Three Dharma Seals, the requirements for any teaching to be considered a true Buddhist teaching: Impermanance; Non-self; and Nirvana. It is the same as Emptiness, which Thay tells us is emptiness of a separate self, which is one of the Three Doors of Liberation: Emptiness; Signlessness; and Aimlessness. This Sunday we will explore this deep teaching and how we can practice to fully break through to the insight it is pointing us to.

I look forward to being with you,

Keith

🙏💗  

 Tuesday November 16

Pete will facilitate

💗🙏 

Sunday October 31

Loretta will be facilitating the 14 Mindfulness Trainings, including the "Incense Offering" and chants that go along with the formal ceremony. Please have your own incense available, if you wish. 

🙏💗  

Tuesday November 2

Karen will facilitate

💗🙏 

Sunday October 24

Dear Sangha,

Recently Liz asked about how we reconcile our teaching of No Birth & No Death with the obvious reality of birth and death. This is a deep question, and we will explore it in our Sangha this Sunday. Liz gave me permission to mention her name.

I look forward to being with you,

Keith

🙏💗  

 Tuesday October 26

Marge will be facilitating, and we will be reading the Discourse on Happiness, have a guided meditation on happiness, and enjoy sharing our practice with Dharma sharing.

💗🙏

Sunday October 10

Marge will facilitate on Sunday. Our teacher’s 95th birthday/continuation day is on Monday, Oct. 11, and we will spend time on Sunday honoring him, his life, and his teachings. The Thich Nhat Hanh Foundation recently sent out Thay’s call for practitioners to practice deep listening to help heal ourselves, our communities, and our planet. We will contemplate his encouragement to listen to the earth, listen to ourselves, and listen to a loved one

🙏💗 

Tuesday October 12

Anita will facilitate

💗🙏 

Sunday October 3

Loretta will lead

🙏💗

Tuesday October 5

Pete will lead

💗🙏

 Dear Open Heart Sangha friends,

The Open Heart Sangha is offering an in-person, outdoor Sangha practice gathering once a month, on second Sunday of each month, 4-5:30 pm. Please read carefully the logistics below. We will continue offering two Zoom meetings a week at our usual times on Sunday and Tuesday, for those who are not able or willing to join us in person.   

What: Sangha practice get-together. Sitting meditation, walking meditation with others in nature, movement and live singing practices (no muting required!😉). Dharma Sharing in a circle.  

When: the second Sunday of the month, 4-5:30 pm.

Where: we will meet at the Mission Hills park called Pioneer Park. This is a quiet, shady park with a restroom, easy street parking and a bus stop not far away. The address is  1521 Washington Pl, San Diego, CA 92103 . We will meet next to the playground at 3:55 and then find a place to sit together. Google link is below.

Safety: 1. WE ASK ANYONE EXPERIENCING COLD- or FLU-like SYMPTOMS TO STAY HOME. 2. We ask everyone to keep a safe distance from others and be responsive to others' distancing requests. Thank you for your understanding. Masks will be optional. We will keep following the developments and adjust as needed. 

Other logistics: we should be able to find a shady spot to sit on grass or ground. Please bring a comfortable chair or cushion with ground cover, and anything else you need to be comfortable outdoors. We may have several extra chairs available. 
 
If you have any questions, please e-mail Dmitry.

We hope to practice together in person soon!
🙏
Dmitry, on behalf of the organizing team. 
    

Sunday September 19

Keith will lead

💗🙏

 Tuesday September 21

Karen will lead

🙏💗

 Sunday September 12

Marge will be facilitating.
We will consider the topic Present Moment, Wonderful Moment at sangha this Sunday. We will acknowledge the pain or suffering in the world and contemplate how we can still enjoy being in the present moment. 

🙏💗

 September 14 

Donna will facilitate

💗🙏

Tuesday September 7

Pete will facilitate

💗🙏 

 Sunday September 5

Loretta will facilitate with Back to the Basics:
The Four Noble Truths, including a short video of our teacher.

🙏💗

 Sunday August 29

We will be reciting the Five Mindfulness Trainings, and Marge will facilitate. If you have received the Five Mindfulness Training transmission and would like to share your experience with putting one of the 5 into practice, please contact Marge at Margewur@gmail.com by Saturday and she will plan to have you participate in Sunday’s recitation.

💗🙏 

 Tuesday August 31

Anita will lead

🙏💗

 Sunday August 15

Loretta will facilitate

💗🙏

 Tuesday August 17

Karen will facilitate Deep Relaxation practice

🙏💗

  Tuesday August 3

Donna will facilitate

💗🙏

Sunday August 8

Tree will facilitate

💗🙏

 Sunday August 1

Dave will facilitate

💗🙏

 Tuesday August 3

Tree will facilitate

💗🙏

Sunday July 11

Sunday we will be trying out a variety of movements in the context of meditation. We will practice some standing meditation, walking meditation, and a variety of other mindful movements that can be a part of sitting or standing meditation. If someone has mobility challenges, the practices may be modified to meet their physical needs. All are welcome! Marge will facilitate.

💗🙏 

Tuesday July 13

Dear Sangha,

I found this interview  The Divided Brain: A Dialogue with Dr. Iain McGilchrist fascinating and Dr. Iain McGilchrist’s main thesis very helpful in being effictive in our practice. The link also led me to a more extended version of the interview. I’ll present his main thesis and how we can use it to deepen and enrich our meditation practice. I hope to see you next Tuesday, the 13th of July.

Breathe well,

Keith 

 From the Raft, June 3, 2021

Science & Dharma

The Divided Brain:
A Dialogue with Dr. Iain McGilchrist

"Attention is nothing more nor less than the disposition of your consciousness towards the world. You can dispose it one way, to get things, to grab them, very narrowly, or in another receptive, open, uncommitted way, to connect." - Dr. Iain McGilchrist


During the 2020 online retreat Understanding the Mind, Brother Phap Linh of Plum Village Monastery and Dr. Liam Kavanagh hosted a dialogue with Dr. Iain McGilchrist, psychiatrist and author of The Master and His Emissary. Dr. Iain McGilchrist studies the divide between the left and right hemispheres of the brain. Below are some excerpts from their conversation (14 mins).



 Tuesday July 4

Donna will lead

🙏💗

 Tuesday July 6

Pete will lead

💗🙏

 Sunday June 27

Loretta will facilitate the Fourteen Mindfulness Trainings

🙏💗

 Tuesday June 29

Karen will facilitate

The theme is deep relaxation

💗🙏

 Sunday June 20

Keith will lead

🙏💗

 Tuesday June 22

Tree will lead

💗🙏

Sunday June 13

We will be contemplating our appointment with life through the Sutra on Knowing the Better Way to Live Alone. This sutra is the earliest teaching of the Buddha on living fully in the present moment. Marge will facilitate

🙏💗 


Tuesday June 15

Anita will facilitate

💗🙏

 Sunday June 6

Loretta will facilitate "Covid-19 Etiquette meets Buddhist Ethics"

🙏💗

 Tuesday June 8

Pete will facilitate

💗🙏

 Sunday May 30


Dave will lead us in the 5 Mindfulness Trainings

🙏💗

 Tuesday June 1

Donna will lead

💗🙏

Tuesday May 26

Anita will lead

💗🙏


 


dmitrypek@gmail.com
May 18, 2021, 10:47 PM 
to Open Unsubscribe

Dear Open Heart Sangha friends,

This is a happy moment, and I have great news to share!

As you know, our beautiful city and state are generally moving on an encouraging path of reduced Covid case numbers. The time has come to consider how and when we will wind down self-isolation due to the pandemic.  Some of us have more strict safety criteria than others. However, increasing numbers of Sangha members are ready to expand their lifestyle to include small outdoor gatherings.  According to city, state and national guidelines, such gatherings are considered quite safe, and even more so for those who have been vaccinated against Covid. 

We hear quite a bit in Dharma sharing about missing in-person Sangha connections. Now the conditions are such that we can gradually restart meeting in person (for those who want to).  

Our Sangha's Care Taking Council met last weekend to consider ways of reopening. The Council has reached consensus on the following.  

From now on the Open Heart Sangha will start offering an in-person, outdoor Sangha practice gathering  twice a month, on Sundays 4-5:30 pm, starting this Sunday May 23. Please read carefully the logistics below. Meanwhile, we will continue offering two Zoom meetings a week at our usual times on Sunday and Tuesday, for the time being, for those who are not able or willing to join us in person.   

What: Sangha practice get-together. Sitting meditation, walking meditation with others in nature, movement and live singing practices (no muting required!😉). Dharma Sharing in a circle.  

When: every second and fourth Sunday of the month, beginning May 23, 4-5:30 pm.

Where: we will meet at the Mission Hills park called Pioneers Park. This is a quiet, shady park with a restroom, easy street parking and a bus stop not far away. The address is  1521 Washington Pl, San Diego, CA 92103 . We will meet next to the playground at 3:55 and then find a place to sit together. Google link is below:

https://www.google.com/maps/place/32%C2%B044'58.1%22N+117%C2%B010'37.6%22W/@32.7494681,-117.1776595,266m/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1!4m13!1m6!3m5!1s0x80deab27d388b37b:0xa3f3246112f33d38!2sPioneer+Park!8m2!3d32.749058!4d-117.1775418!3m5!1s0x0:0x0!7e2!8m2!3d32.7494674!4d-117.1771113

Safety: 1. WE ASK ANYONE EXPERIENCING COLD- or FLU-like SYMPTOMS TO STAY HOME. 2. We ask everyone to keep a safe distance from others and be responsive to others' distancing requests. Thank you for your understanding. Masks will be optional. We will keep following the developments and adjust as needed. 

Other logistics: we should be able to find a shady spot to sit on grass or ground. Please bring a comfortable chair or cushion with ground cover, and anything else you need to be comfortable outdoors. We may have several extra chairs available. 

If you have any questions, please e-mail Dmitry.

We hope to practice together in person soon!

🙏

Dmitry, on behalf of the organizing team. 

Sunday May 16

Tree will lead

💗🙏

Tuesday May 18 

The theme for next week will be Every Day is Earth Day
Karen will lead

🙏💗




 Tuesday May 11 

Pete will facilitate


🙏💗


Sunday May 9

On this Mother’s Day we will contemplate the practice of Loving Kindness and will consider how we receive love and how we treat others with loving kindness. Marge will facilitate.

💗🙏


 Sunday April 25

Donna will lead us in The Five Mindfulness Trainings

💗🙏

 Tuesday April 27


Tree will lead

🙏💗

 Sunday April 18

Pete will facilitate

💗🙏

 Tuesday April 20


Anita will facilitate

🙏💗

 OHS 10th Anniversary Poem by Monica Elrod

Open Heart Sangha 

The sangha cradles me gently like a newborn babe

Easing suffering, quenching my hunger for spiritual food

Filling my heart with comfort and deep healing

 

Dharma rain falls upon me

Mixing with my tears

Of joy, grief, and love

I  learn to deeply experience

The present moment

 

Songs make me smile,

I feel like a six year old child

Singing quietly, haltingly

Not knowing all the words or gestures

 

Others may be shy too

I wait for them

During dharma sharing

Hoping for the tiny flower buds to unfurl

And luscious blossoms to spill from open hearts and lips

 

We zoom together, and inter are

Our energies join in cyberspace,

Ebbing, swirling and flowing

Like waves surging into shore, and out to sea again

 

I feel your pain

I feel your sorrow

I feel your compassion,

I feel your loving kindness

We are the continuation

 

Dear Thay

Although I have not met you

I know you (and you know me!)

From your writings

Your dharma talks

Through your precious nuns and monks

And cherished sangha bodies

You have polished the three jewels

So they sparkle with color, brilliance, and energy

 

Today we celebrate

10 years

Of heart opening and deep listening

Breathing in, we transform our suffering

Breathing out, we transform the world's suffering    

The bell rings, echoing waves of sound

Bringing us back to the present moment, wonderful moment

                                

                                                                                    -Monica Elrod

 



 OHS 10th Anniversary Poem by Dianne Pietila


Goodness gracious sakes alive.
The “buzz” around the sangha hive
Is that a Be-in is happening at Open Heart
And all Thay’s friends will joyfully take part.

It’s tea with Thay -- Just you and I
And we will also honor with glee
All others with whom we inter-be.

It’s a day when we can celebrate
Our sweet, wise leader and soulmate.
Whom we honor for his steadfastedness
And seeming foreverlastedness.

I’m grateful, too, for our facilitators.
Such loving, innovative inspirators.
You are so devoted and professional --
Maybe more than some of our Washington congressional.

Open Heart is a place where we can be free,
To not think or worry but just simply be.

In our dharma talk we know we can say
Whatever we’re feeling on a particular day.
We can cry, laugh and give voice
To all we fear, hope or rejoice.

Even dark secrets we’ve thought we must keep.
We can share in the light and bring out of the deep.
Without judgment, we feel safe to unbury
Those dread thoughts we’ve long had to carry.

But today is a day to laugh, smile & giggle,
Let’s sing, let’s dance, and maybe even wiggle.
Let’s raise our teacups and toast our presenters --
With special kudos to our forever mentor.

And following the lead of our dear, wise Thay
Let’s all breathe deeply and release with a sigh.
Of course remembering all the while
The Thai trademark: that sweet half-smile.


- Dianne Pietila


 Sunday April 11

Loretta will be facilitating the OHS 10th Anniversary celebration! 

💗🙏

Tuesday April 13

We will consider the 1st Establishment of Mindfulness, Mindfulness of the Body

Marge will facilitate

🙏💗

 Sunday April 4

Donna will lead

💗🙏

 Tuesday April 6


Karen will lead us in the practice of the 5 Earth Touchings next Tuesday

🙏💗

 Sunday March 28

We will recite the 14 Mindfulness Trainings, as we do on the last Sunday of each quarter. Marge and Rick will be facilitating. Please join us!

💗🙏

 Tuesday March 30


Keith will lead

🙏💗

Sunday March 21

Tree will facilitate

💗🙏

 Tuesday March 23


Pete will facilitate

🙏💗

 Sunday March 14

As San Diego comes to more life with spring on the way , we will listen to a delightful talk by Brother Phap Dung (the previous abbot of Deer Park Monastery) on caring for ourselves as a way of caring for Mother Earth. Marge will facilitate.

💗🙏

 Tuesday March 16


Anita will facilitate

🙏💗

Sunday February 28

Donna will facilitate the 5 Mindfulness Trainings

💗🙏

 Tuesday March 2

Tree will facilitate

🙏💗

Sunday February 21

Dave will lead

💗🙏

 Tuesday February 23

Anita will lead
🙏💗

 Sunday February 14

Dear Friends,

 Emptiness has come up more than once as a troubling concept in our Buddhist practice. It has unpleasant, negative connotations in our normal way to thinking and speaking about it. But in Buddhism it is one of the greatest treasures, one of the Three Doors of Liberation. Can we unite these two ways of experiencing emptiness? What if we dive right into our sense of emptiness, unafraid of the pain of loneliness we think we may encounter? Perhaps we can realize that by embracing our emptiness we are opening ourselves to a much larger identity, to the universe, and even the source of the universe, as our real self. That would make the journey worthwhile. Perhaps we can realize Thay’s insight, “We are empty of a separate self, and filled with the entire universe.” We’ll explore this territory when we gather together.

I look forward to being with you, 

Keith

Universal Emptiness of the Heart.

💗🙏

 

Tuesday February 16

Pete will facilitate

🙏💗

 Sunday February 7

Marge will use teachings on love from Thich Nhat Hanh’s book How to Love, and the group will do the Love Meditation (Metta Meditation) from that book. Dharma sharing may be done in break out rooms, and people will be invited to share on Thay’s question “How do we help our hearts to grow?”, as well as any other aspects of our practice.

💗🙏

 

Tuesday February 9

Karen will lead us in the Fifth Mindfulness Training


🙏💗

 Sunday January 31

Tree will lead us in the Five Mindfulness Trainings

💗🙏

 Tuesday February 2

Keith will lead

🙏💗

 

Sunday January 17


Tree will lead

💗🙏

 

Tuesday January 19


Pete will lead

🙏💗

 

Sunday January 10

Keith will lead the study and practice of Thay’s teachings on training our minds.

Thay has said, we who practice in his tradition are yogis of the mind. We are training our minds. He has said that nothing in this world causes more suffering than an untrained mind and nothing in this world creates more wellbeing and happiness than a well-trained mind. What are we training our mind to do? How do we train our mind? What are the guidelines we have for this, the teachings, and what are the practices we can use to accomplish this? And what are the benefits? The benefits include the fruits of concentration, liberation, freedom from fear, peace, happiness, maintaining our energy and clarity, not having our vitality sapped by distractedness and a jumpy mind. 

💗🙏

Tuesday January 12

Karen will lead us in dwelling happily in the present moment. 

🙏💗