TRUE LOVE

Goddesses in the house this Tuesday. Six and one made seven, plus two newly groomed cats. Walking downstairs to meet the Tuesday-nighters I never know what to expect. The mystery is exciting! It keeps me on my toes. And that's the practice...that's life. How can we ever know what to expect? When is there ever a time of certainty? True power is living in the moment, staying present with what is available in the here and now. And this is also love. When we love someone or something we are willing to go all the way with them, we are willing to stay as they are fading, and meet them in their continuation. Love does not make a distinction between self and other. That is an important practice-to remove our notions of self and other. When we are able to touch our interconnectedness, our oneness with all life--that is true power. That is true love. That is truly living. We are never absent from life, and we have the motivation, the assurance in our practice, in our way of being, in our way of walking and surrendering to life. We had a few questions at the end. And a version of the "Lord's Prayer" sung by Sister Beverlee. So beautiful! So precious. Life is truly a miracle. Thank you all for making this journey a pleasure and a joy.

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PEACE MEDITATION

A jungle must never be tamed.
If we tame the jungle, we tame our heart.
If our heart is tame, we may never know the truth of who we are.

Four of us met for sitting and walking meditation. We sat informally and practiced walking through the kitchen. The miracle of each step unfolded a mystery. What is this journey of meditation? What 'r' you doing here? Why come to Tuesday Night at all?
It seems all of us want to have peace. We think that peace means fitting in. We think that peace means looking and acting in such a way that doesn't cause anyone to be mad at us, or upset, or causes us to loose control. But what control do we have?

Mind is utterly untamable. Society, government wants us to be tame. That is because the collective has an idea that freedom means controlled, that to be free, is to be manageable. So we live our lives trying to be free in this way, trying to look and act in a way so others can manage us, so that we can manage others.

We are seeking control, but our very core is uncontrolled. How can we control something that is more powerful than us, something that is beyond our perception? Freedom is accepting what is. We go to the mountain, we go to the forest, we go to the ocean to meet our peace. Because in these places, these great places, we are so small, we cannot help but to submit, to converge, to swim in that untamable-ness. Peace, freedom, meditation, zen is not what you think it is. Try again.

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SANGHA

Two things I keep in mind maintaining Tuesday Nights are My Teacher, Ven. Thich Nhat Hanh; and my aspiration to remove the barrier between self and other. What more can be said? When we come to sangha meetings we are ingesting that support, that love, that kindness, that commitment to learn and grow and foster understanding. Practicing alone we meet the sangha in us. No time can we say we are without sangha, if we truly understand what sangha is.

Lin and I spent a few days at the beach in Sothern California. I was tempted to not come home. I admit to getting angry. I admit to being sad, throwing a tantrum because we had to leave in order to get home in time for our Tuesday meeting. I felt a pull in my heart. I thought of my teacher, of the sixty years Thay has dedicated to building sangha, and of the commitment I've made as an ordained lay member of the Order of Interbeing Thay founded nearly four decades ago. What it means to take refuge in Buddha, in Dharma, in Sangha -- it means never to part from it. It means to come home to ourselves in it again and again, until the barrier, all barriers are removed.

I used to work so hard to practice thinking another round of retreats or sitting meditation would get me to enlightenment. Enlightenment is no destination at all. How can we attain that which is already our nature? Buddha, Dharma, Sangha and Self are one. I see no other looking back at me. I see no other showing me the way to be free. I sit because it is the expression of my sovereignty.

I was happy to be a part of our meeting this Tuesday for sitting and walking meditation. Seven of us met and recited the Five Mindfulness Trainings after chanting the Sutra Opening Verse and the Heart Sutra. We continued into introducing ourselves with one thing we were grateful for and singing as a group, "Happiness is Here and Now."

Looking forward to spending the month in Las Vegas, opening the door every Tuesday Night for Sangha. Plan to spend most of September and October touring around with Thay. Blessings Everyone!

OPENING THE HEART OF COMPASSION

Three of us participated in our wonderful sangha events this Tuesday. We sat and walked together in mindfulness, and were guided during the second half through the practice anapanasati, Full Awareness of Breathing. We continued into chanting Sutra Opening Verse, Heart Sutra, and took turns mindfully reading The Store of Precious Virtues Discourse: Practice of the Highest Understanding. We concluded with a talk on the sixteen exercises of Full Awareness of Breathing and Stillness Meditation.

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