LAS VEGAS LUVS MINDFULNSS

New Tuesday Night Sangha

2009-08-31T12:21:00.000-07:00

Please call 702-240-6275 or e-mail shantilin@cox.net and ask for Linda if you are interested in meeting for the Tuesday Night Mindfulness Group. We are still meeting from 7-9 p.m., but the style of our meetings has changed a bit.

Thank you for your thoughtfulness and for seeking more information about our meeting time, place and practices.

2009-06-03T11:32:00.001-07:00

Visit briankimmel.com for more information about our Tuesday Night Sangha and other events with Southern Nevada Community of Mindful Living.

We do meet every Tuesday from 7-9 p.m. for sitting, lying down, walking and deep listening meditation. Please call for location details and directions. We also hold regular days of mindfulness and host visiting monastic and lay teachers.

PATIENCE, KINDNESS, AND LOVE

2008-09-14T04:00:00.000-07:00

Join me and the Treasure Root Sangha (Community) at the Pink House this Tuesday, September 16, 2008 from 7-9 p.m. for sitting, walking and deep-listening meditation.

I have a special request this week: Leave your burdens at the door! Now is the time to renew our commitment on the path of love, harmony and liberation. This is a time we are expected to be ourselves, and to look into our heart to see what is there. We have this special time to cultivate, and to ingest the energy of the sangha body. The sangha body is like food, our togetherness in mindfulness is like a full-course meal, because it feeds us and nourishes us, and offers us the sustenance we need to survive this world--our pitfalls, our hardships and our challenges.

Next month I plan to give a talk on Love Consciousness, Friday, Oct 10 from 7-9 p.m. at the Pink House. I have nearly finished the second part to my book on Peaceful Recovery from Sexual Child Abuse. And the main practice is awareness and love. I plan to release the first draft of my story and the path to recovery at the end of November. In which I would like to hold a weekend Retreat. We are thinking of Thanksgiving Weekend, non-residential at the Pink House. If it works out, I look forward to seeing you there.

Treasure Root Sangha has seen many transfigurations over the past several years, many name changes, and many new people, and older supporting core members that have left. The sangha here in Las Vegas continues to grow; I am confident that if I may ever move-on from the Valley that the work of waking up will continue to flourish in the hearts of all the thousands of people practicing mindful awakening here. I look forward to embracing the path with kindness, patience and humility.

Much Gratitude and Love for you,
Brian

LOVE IS THE ULTIMATE

2008-08-21T08:23:00.000-07:00

fri., SEPTEMBER 5 / 7-9 p.m. - Taking Refuge in the Sangha of Your Heart -

“Remember who you are, remember where you come from. Every in-breath is a time for waking up. Every out-breath is a time for letting go. Don’t hold back, ‘cause this is it. Return your mind to your body, return your heart to love.” -Brian Kimmel
excerpt from “Return to Love” available at CDBaby.

DEAR FRIENDS,

The greatest threat to America, to humanity may have already been realized. This morning I awoke with an awareness of intense anger and fear. We have been at war, not for just seven or eight years, we have been at war for many millennia, and may be at war for many more millennia to come if we are not aware, awake and clear in our vision of reality…Throughout human history those who have been called to, have walked on the path of kindness, humility, Great Compassion, love, joy and equanimity—not as soldiers, but as peacemakers, as friends to life and all living beings. I encourage every one of you to dismantle the bombs that are in your heart, and that are detonated within your daily life and in your relationships.

Love is the Ultimate. Never let your heart, your body, your mind, your world be filled with anger, hatred, anxiety, or despair—you may already be consumed. You may already have the virus of society embedded in you: Over-consumption, greed, lust for things more than what you need, and a disregard to the lives—human and other—that have been neglected or destroyed in order to provide you your “needs.” We may not have thought for a moment that what we have consumed or are consuming may have injured us, or may have caused harm to us, as an individual, and as a collective society.

Everyday we consume the fear that is in our heart. We fear being separated from our loved ones, we fear war, we fear not being liked, not being loved, and being under-appreciated; we fear bankruptcy, we fear not having enough food to eat and not enough clean water to drink and bathe in, we fear our desires, we fear the planet heating up, and we fear our own destruction. Maybe we can let some of our fear drop away, and begin to let ourselves be consumed with the energy of love. But what does love feel like? What does love contain?

In love, there is no-fear, and non-discrimination. Fear has already been realized, but fear, revenge, nuclear bombs, even a trillion dollars is not the Ultimate—Love is the Ultimate! The next president may not be able to save you unless you can save yourself. We watch movies about heroes, and have memories of wars in which America and the Allies saved a lot of people; we may expect our savior to come again to spare us from the world of hells.

My family may not have made it without the Allies, whom saved my grandmother and her immediate family from starvation, after having been imprisoned, then abandoned by the Japanese Forces in Indonesia during WWII. It was not only the Allies that saved her and my family, it was her love, her compassion for the Japanese Soldiers, whom also had a family to feed and protect that ultimately lead her to safety. She had to look into her heart to forgive, and to release herself from the bombs of anger within her. Her anger was killing her, even several years after the war, she struggled to survive. She had to stop putting her anger on those who imprisoned her, and to release her anger to God.

Millions of lives were destroyed, and taken hostage by the Allies during WWII as well. The big bombs America dropped weren’t just detonated on Japanese soil, on “enemy” territory they were detonated in the hearts of Americans, and on America’s soil too. In our deserts—millions of living beings were instantly destroyed, plants and minerals, and people subject to the poisoning of radiation during the tests of nuclear weapons prior to and post the dropping of the bombs in Nagasaki and Hiroshima. And we are still being poisoned, not just by nuclear fallout of test explosions in our deserts, but by our thoughts, by the conviction that there is something that can be called an enemy, and the thought that we should not be friends with those who cause us harm. Even for some on the peace movement those who cause us harm may include our government. Everyone is worthy of our love and no one should be remiss of our compassion.

You may want to hurt the person who hurt you. You may want to destroy the person or thing you think is the cause of your sorrow, your pain, your anger, and your despair. But looking deeply, your sorrow, your pain, your anger, your despair may be the one causing more harm to you—not the other person or thing.

I asked this morning to be released—for the fear, despair, greed, hatred, jealousy, and the obsession with finding someone or something to blame to be removed from my heart. I asked, “May I continue, with all beings, wholeheartedly, on the path of kindness, humility, generosity, sharing, compassionate listening, and deep looking. May I and all beings never return to the world of darkness, the world of hells, of forgetfulness again; may I be a servant to love, a messenger of light and awareness, life, resilience, and beauty.”

A Buddha, a Bodhisattva isn’t just a ball of light in the sky or phenomena on a heavenly altar somewhere above us, way beyond our reach. A Buddha, a Bodhisattva can be you. You can live in awareness, too. You can live awake and clear. You can open your reality to love, beauty, and never return to the reality you otherwise have known. Your true home is already inside of you. Flip the switch, turn on the light, and the Buddha in your heart can be liberated, born in this dimension within your daily life, and everything you touch, see, feel, taste, hear—everything you come in contact with through your body and mind will be a Buddha-Field.

Today’s Practice: Offering Incense

I offer this incense to all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas throughout space and time; may it be fragrant as the earth herself, reflecting our careful efforts, our wholehearted awareness and the fruit of understanding slowly ripening. May we and all beings be companions of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas; may we awaken from forgetfulness and realize our true home

SPECIAL FRIDAY NIGHT EVENT:

2008-08-14T19:47:00.000-07:00

TAKING REFUGE IN THE

SANGHA OF YOUR HEART
First Friday in September

Dharma with Brian and the Treasure Root Sangha

At the Pink House
Fri., SEPTEMBER 5, 2008
7-9 p.m.

For those of you, who are searching for something to do on The First Friday Night of September, search no more! If you already have plans, but not till later in the evening come to the Pink House for an appetizing few hours of Dharmic Activity. The evening will certainly include silent sitting, walking meditation, maybe a Dharma Talk, and a circle for Deep Listening. Bring your open heart, and your open mind--if you need help opening your heart and mind come and the Sangha (community of practitioners) will support you.

"Everything we cherish and hold dear today, we will have to let go of and be separated from in the future...I urge you to practice being an island unto yourself...Practice taking refuge in the Dharma...Meditate on the body in the body, nourishing Right Understanding and mindfulness to master and transform your cravings and anxieties. Observe the elements outside the body in the elements outside the body...That is the way to take refuge in the island of self, to return to yourself in order to take refuge in the Dharma, and not to take refuge in any other island or thing."
-Shakyamuni Buddha
Samyukta Agama 639 Taisho Revised Tripitaka 99
excerpted from the Plum Village Chanting and Recitation Book pg 273 (Parallax 2000)

(702) 461-8422 / brian@briankimmel.com
www.voicefromthesource.com

DHARMA ON A SUN(NY)DAY

2008-07-31T13:24:00.000-07:00

Event: Caring for the Cosmos, Digging Up Your Weeds!
Sun., August 3 / 3:30 - 5:00 p.m.

Please join me this Sunday for sitting and walking meditation at the Pink House. The theme is "Caring for the Cosmos, Digging Up Your Weeds!" We have time for answers and questions about your practice. Beware: the answers might come from within. These meetings are free. There will be a box for dana (generosity) if you please.

COMMUNITY BUILDING, BODYWORK, MAITRI PRAYER

2008-07-28T08:42:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends, I encourage any of you, if you feel moved, to hold a regular meeting at your house, or to organize a practice group of your own at your church, temple, synagogue, reading hall, and or community center. I am happy to support you in any way I can.

Community building is a wonderful way to deepen your practice. The four years I spent in support of Tuesday Night Mindfulness Group were deeply transformative. There were times I just didn't think I could open the door, and every time, I was so amazed how rich the experience was. The deep listening practice opened new doors in my heart, and in my experience with the practice and with life. All of you were a part of this. To see comments of those who attended Tuesday Nights please see my web-site: www.voicefromthesource.com/tuesdaynights.html, more comments will be added soon.

I plan to facilitate meetings off and on around the Valley and beyond. It is my intention to start a full-service healing center with meditation, bodywork, music, peace dancing, dharma talks (by myself and guest teachers) and housing for dedicated spiritual practitioners. Where and when is in the making.

AUGUST MASSAGE SPECIAL
$55 for sangha members on all treatments. I am a nationally and Nevada State certified massage therapist. I have been in the healing arts for more than ten years, specializing in Thai Massage and Swedish-Deep Tissue. Regular body work is very important for maintaining optimal health and wellness especially for those on the path.

We often have the view in the west of going to the doctor, or seeking professional help only when we "need" it, or in times of emergency. By then, it's often too late; the injury and the illness have already taken shape, and the financial responsibility is far more costly. Regular bodywork can effectively prevent many illnesses, and keep your mind and body in shape for your practice on the path of liberation.

Optimal function of the systems of your body can greatly enhance your sense of well-being, improving mental concentration (your skill in meditation) and improving interpersonal relationships. For more information about massage and bodywork, and also, of starting a practice group of your own, please contact me via e-mail brian@briankimmel.com or give me a call at (702) 461-8422.

THIS WEEK'S MAITRI PRAYER
May all living beings, everywhere, approach their life and relationships with loving-kindness, openness and non-discrimination. May the heart of the cosmos open like a flower in your heart, blooming so that all may benefit from its fragrance and wonder. May all beings everywhere be healthy, safe, happy, peaceful and free.

TLC, Brian

TRAVELING DHARMA?

2008-07-13T03:40:00.000-07:00

THIS TUESDAY IS STAY-AT-HOME DHARMA.
No scheduled meeting at the Pink House. Practice when you can. If you need assistance give me a call or send an e-mail. brian@briankimmel.com / (702) 461-8422

Dear Friends,

The suggestion has been made of a traveling Dharma Meeting. There are those in all corners of Las Vegas who would like to receive these precious teachings. If you would like to host a Dharma meeting and teaching at your house during the week or weekend, please let me know.

We have over 100 people on our e-mail list, and have received up to 20 people at a time. Many of our constituents have moved on from the Valley, but are still on the list. Some of us are visitors from other states. And some of us have not been able to attend Tuesdays due to scheduling conflicts. This may be an opportunity you've been waiting for. Not only will hosting a Dharma event at your house help you, by making it easy and affordable for you to attend (no gas is required to stay at home) but you will be making a direct impact on another's life by making the practice accessible to them, in their neighborhood, or on a day that fits better with their schedule.

I'm happy to transcend Tuesday Nights! Every day is a day of mindfulness. Make mindfulness a part of your daily life.

PRACTICE OF THE WEEK:

This week we will focus on the impermanence of all dharmas. A dharma is anything of form, anything that has the potential of being viewed as a self, a separate self. Everything that has come to be out of conditions. This e-mail would not be possible without Bill Gates, the founder of Google, and even Thomas Edison. Their discoveries, as well as themselves, are products of conditions.

If you can, bring to mind an object. Any object. If you look deeply into the form of that object, you see that it is composed of many things. It is composed of minerals, the sunlight, the air. You see that it is subject to decay, it will one day disintegrate, compost. That is impermanence.

This is a practice from the anapanasati sutra (Sutra On the Full Awareness of Breathing), "Breathing in, I observe the impermanent nature of all dharmas. Breathing out, I observe the impermanent nature of all dharmas."

For a detailed description of anapanasati see Thay's (Thich Nhat Hanh) book, "Breathe! You are alive." I have also written a commentary on the exercises of the Sutra that I hope to publish online soon. For questions, please feel free to call or e-mail.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK:

"Overpopulation is not population density (amount of people per landmass), but rather the number of people in an area relative to its resources and the capacity of the environment to sustain human activities...Just as much as the population size, we need to consider the resources consumed by each person, and the damage done by technologies used to supply them." -James Hopkins http://www.cosmosmith.com/human_population_crisis.htm

YOUR MAITRI PRAYER:

May you be healthy, safe, happy, peaceful and free. May you see the conditions currently manifest in your life with clarity, mindfulness and vision. May you transcend hatred, division and aggression, cool your anger, and bring about a wholesome quality of mind and beingness. May you fully transcend the endless cycle of birth and death, and help those on the path be fully liberated also. May all beings everywhereinherit the merits of this practice. May all beings everywhere be healthy, safe, happy, peaceful and free.

--Brian Kimmel(702) 461-8422www.voicefromthesource.com

WE INTER-ARE

2008-06-27T21:50:00.000-07:00

Breathing in, I observe the disappearance of desire.
Breathing out, I observe the disappearance of desire.

Everything comes and goes. And yet, there is no coming, no going. We live both in the phenomenal and the absolute. That which never dies is present in the wave, and in the ocean. The ocean is part of the wave. The wave is not separate from the ocean.

When we get caught in the forms of things, we are identified by the phenomenal world. When we get caught in the ocean, we are identified by the absolute, and cannot see the magnificence of all creation. We have to stop our thinking in terms of pairs of opposities, in terms of higher or lower, leftists and rightists, beggars and elitists. The old adage says, "To each his own."

And the Buddha is known to have said, "Be a light unto yourself." We can only see with our own eyes, hear with our own ears, taste with our own tongue...Our experience of life is completely unique. There is a quality of sharing in the way we experience life, however. At the same time we know that not everyone thinks the same way we do (no one really does), so in our relating we have to consider another's point of view in order to get along, in order to live peacefully with that person.

If we are caught in our identity of self, of phenomena, we will not see the beauty of our interconnectedness. If we are caught in our identity as the cosmos, as the absolute, we then will not develop our basic understanding of how to relate to the whole. Our experience needs to be our own in order for it to be real, for us to have the depth and clarity, and wisdom to love.

When we get in touch with our impermanence, the way things won't ever stay the same, can't ever stay the same, we get in touch with our true nature. If we know that what we have been basing our life upon will not last, we open our heart to something greater than what we can ever be alone. Even though we can't ever be ourselves alone.

One poem I've liked from Thay inspired by Thay's teacher, and from the Diamond Sutra:

Defiled or Immaculate, increasing or decreasing, these concepts exist only in our minds. The reality of interbeing is unsurpassed.

I have recited this verse quite often while sitting on the toilet. It has also been useful in other times of meditation as well. There is something so great and powerful in the understanding that comes through meditation, or looking deeply into oneself.

Understanding really isn't reached through thought, through grasping. Understanding comes through letting go. Understanding is the opening of the heart, the blooming of the lotus, the revealing of the Buddha Field within you. When that opening occurs, there is no more anger, no more sadness, no more regret. There is pure love, pure awakening, pure insight into the heart of reality. This understanding is unvanquishable.

Practicing meditation is simple, and needs to be simple. Sometimes we can get caught up in all the fancy words, the fancy techniques, in all the humdrum of the Dharma-World. Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim, Jewish, Christian, doesn't make much difference. Everybody has their own method, and needs to find the way all on their own. Essentially, the moment of birth and death is upon you. Your actions, your thoughts, your emotions resonate with each other. What you will, is yours. But it won't be manifest by force.

Meditation is letting go of what it is that you desire, and making space within yourself, unvailing the space within yourself. We think there is something we can add to our lives by way of demanding change. Change happens, it is our basic nature. Much more than change is our fundamental Truth, our beingness, our wholeness, our oneness. There is nothing really separate from what we are. We inter-are. All life is a part of the cosmos. The cosmos is a part of all life.

HOW TO LIGHTEN UP!

2008-06-06T20:36:00.000-07:00

Thay has offered a most wonderful training to help us with the conflicts we face in ourselves and in the world. It is a simple practice that has been handed down from the Buddha. It is the practice of mindful breathing. Whenever you are tired, you are sad from things you hear on the news or read in the paper, whenever you feel stressed in relationships, you feel angry and irritable, you are invited to return to your breathing. The simple practice is:

Breathing in, I know I am breathing in.
Breathing out, I know I am breathing out.

Breathing in, I feel calm.
Breathing out, I feel at ease.

Breathing in, I smile.
Breathing out, I release all worries, tension and anxiety.

I have underestimated the power of this simple practice. You know those times when someone says something or does something and you just want them to shut up, and you feel guilty and ashamed for thinking such things? Or those times when you hear really terrible news, and your energy suddenly drops, you feel depressed and you don't know what to do? These are the times to put into practice this short meditation.

No matter where you are, what you are doing, this will help you return. We don't need another depressed person, another anxious, worried face. We need compassion. Compassion is the courage to be ourselves in any situation, and to meet ourselves, even through trials, with the conviction that love and peace and centeredness is the most important thing. If we lose our peace, our love, our calm, we lose touch with the ultimate and the impermanence of things. And the hells in which we are working to save people from will become our reality. Then we are hungry ghosts in need of recovery, in need of helping arms to rescue us from suffering. All of us can practice this peace, this love. We don't need to suffer to help relieve the suffering in others. Our own freedom from suffering is the best gift we can offer those who are in need. Practice peace, love and equanimity.

WHAT CAN WAIT?

2008-06-03T17:21:00.000-07:00

Making an effort to stay sane this summer in Las Vegas? With the heat and the craziness out there it may be no surprise when practitioners from all over the valley, and visitors from afar flock to Tuesday Nights for a bit of peace and relaxation. It may be surprising to you when you come to Tuesday Nights that the facilitator may point you to yourself. That self that is supposedly empty of self. What makes mindfulness meditation feel so good? What makes the joy of returning to the island within so remarkable? What the busyness, the stress, the ambitions of the world cannot show you is that life needs no important things to happen in order to manifest. Life needs a few simple things: The care of the body, the care of the mind and it will continue. Everything else is to occupy, is to fill up the space. With mindfulness meditation space is peace. Space is freedom. Space is the relaxation you were looking for. So come, enjoy. Step out of the rat race. Feel like a human being again, and much, much more.

TRUE TEACHING, TRUE TEACHER

2007-10-29T12:55:00.000-07:00

Speaking of "I's" and "We's" we don't often realize how much the practice means to us. Sometimes we come to Tuesday Night or other events, and during meditation or the Dharma Lecture we fall asleep, or nod off lazily into a dream-state. Those are the most crucial moments, the places that the teaching is really sinking in, where it really becomes a teaching. There really isn't anything we can share about Dharma. Dharma is what comes out of your own understanding, your own insight, your own awakening. So when you drift off during the talk, it means it's penetrating, it's absorbing directly into the subconscious, into store-conscious, where ego mind will not have the chance to put a label on it, to put another appearance on it, and what has been said is a clear transmission, one mind to another mind, all minds one.

The practice can save your life. Those times we disregard what has been said, or we make light of it by telling jokes, making judgements, or saying, "I've heard that already!" Perhaps this misunderstanding comes from ignorance, of not having a direct experience with the power of mindfulness, concentration and insight. When applied, these teachings, these true teachings will empower you, without even thinking, without even trying. You'll hear my voice, or Thay's voice speaking through you, "Listen, listen. I have arrived. I am home. In the here. In the now. I am solid. I am free. The world is your meditation hall. Your life is the practice."

The cells of your body will chant the Heart Sutra. Sitting by the side of someone you love whom is dying or is sick you feel the solidity of the sangha, and it makes itself available. The sangha body in you will support you, will walk when you cannot walk, will sit when you cannot sit, will smile when you cannot smile, and will tenderly embrace you when you are crying or need of comfort.

We don't know the power of sangha. We don't know the power of the True Teaching. It cannot be taught. It cannot be grasped. It is beyond what we can administer through the senses. And it is alive. It is vital. It is clear, penetrating every cell of our body, enfused in our heart and our consciousness.

It is amazing how many times we struggle to embrace the sangha within us. We don't want to see the support we have in our lives. We want to continue on this path of anger, revenge, resentment, even hatered, jeolousy and fear. We proclaim through our actions, "Waking up is not for me! I'd rather be sleep-walking, sleep-talking, sleep-making love." And we look in despair at our lives, "What is going on? Why can't I be happy? Where has my energy gone?" We don't look at our lives and wonder, "Maybe I'm responsible for my own suffering. Maybe I've contributed a great deal to the suffering on this planet. Maybe there is something I can do better?"

Guilt and shame is a product of delusive-self. It points us to the other, as if the other isn't a part of us. It points to the other as if they can take full responsibility for who we are, what we have said, what we have done. If you have guilt and shame, it is a wonderful teaching. If you want change in your world...change! Be that which you desire, and what you desire will manifest in you.

EMPTINESS IS EVERYTHING

2007-10-08T13:28:00.000-07:00

Six last week we talked about the fourth mindfulness training: Loving Speech and Deep Listening. Haven't taken the chance to post the talks...last Tuesdays nor the talk on Saturday. Perhaps we can practice Deep Listening this week...looking forward to meeting with you all. No meeting next Tuesday...four of us will be in New York with Thay for "Sitting Under the Autumn Breeze Retreat." Thanks for the memories!

TODAY'S GARBAGE, TOMORROW'S FOOD

2007-09-05T01:44:00.000-07:00

Six this week, sat and walked two sessions facing the wall. Read the Third Mindfulness Training, and talked about sex and sexuality. Tough topic! Most just skim over it, and get into all kinds of troubles because they don't know how to handle it, with kindness, with respect, with reverence. We sorted through and addressed some heavy issues. I attempted to tell the story of where I am with the Third Training. Difficult things to say, to put into words. We talked about the three vital energies and how each apply to well being: Breath Energy, Sexual Energy and Spiritual Energy. We also talked about sexual abuse, and what it means to prevent children and others from being sexually abused. What is sexual abuse? What are we really a victim of?

Breathing in, aware of my in-breath
Breathing out, calm mind and body

Meditation isn't a practice at all. It is doing without purpose. Doing without self. Doing without doing. If there is nothing to do, then what can be done? And who shall do it? Practice means tomorrow. Meditation is today. This moment is "arising only." Don't be fooled by the myriad of colors projecting. BE THERE, AND ONLY THERE!

MINDFUL ANECDOTE

2007-09-01T19:51:00.000-07:00

One day at the monastery I was asked to sing a song in front of the Sangha of about two-hundred retreatants. I had never sung in front of the Sangha before. Thay Phap Hai (Who I would ask to be my mentor several months later) called me up in front to sing in the microphone. I whispered to him, "Can you sound the bell so I can calm down?" He looked at me and grinned, "Sorry."

I had to resort to myself. My breathing. My practice. So I stood there patiently. Breathing in a calming breath, and releasing the fire back to its source on the out breath. And I waited for the song to sing itself.

This is the practice. We want always to be the doers. And when we are asked to do something, we don’t feel we have the calm, or the lucidity to perform. So we procrastinate. We deviate from the path thinking that the path is somewhere else, other than within our own means.

Mindfulness is the path. Is the awakening itself. Seek it within you. Seek it outside of you. Seek it, and it will be there. It is always there. Where it comes from? I don’t know. Just use it. Learn with it. Grow with it. Use it to transform your suffering, your anger, your anxiety, your worries, your pain.

How to use it...come to Tuesday Nights!

Lin and I sat for two periods of sitting and walking meditation, then watched a DVD about Thay’s trip to Vietnam called ‘Every Step Is a Prayer’.

TRUE LOVE

2007-08-22T02:58:00.000-07:00

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.

Listen to "TRUE LOVE"

PEACE MEDITATION

2007-08-15T02:56:00.000-07:00

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.

Listen PEACE MEDITATION

SANGHA

2007-08-08T01:41:00.000-07:00

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

2007-08-01T00:46:00.000-07:00

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.

Listen to Opening the Heart of Compassion

ENVIRONMNETS FOR PEACE

2007-07-28T15:41:00.000-07:00

This week seven people attended, some regulars, two new people and one not so regular anymore. We did our two sessions of sitting and walking followed by a sutra service including the recitation of the Discourse on the Lotus of the Wonderful Dharma: Universal Door Chapter. We each took turns reading four or five paragraphs it was sweet and wonderful. I lead a guided meditation on aspirations and gave a short talk in which I did not record on aspirations. About practicing from the heart, allowing the energy of the mind to drain like butter down your arms. To soften the mind, soften the body, soften the aspiration in the heart. An aspiration is like a key that opens the door of our consciousness, and with assurance, with obstacles removed we walk inside. How wonderful to have a sangha to practice with, to encourage this practice. Mindfulness is a searchlight that illumines the dark places in us, and in our lives, so that we can see more clearly, to unearth the root causes of our fear, anxiety, worry and strife. Practice from the heart.

FAITH AND LOVE

2007-07-19T02:14:00.000-07:00

Most of us can't afford the expense of enlightenment. We hold dear to us the very thing that prevents us from seeing the truth: Our Views. Yes, we all have strong views about things and won't often budge. Enlightenment isn't just a tool that gets us through the day, or that will deliver us into a state of feeling alright with life and the things that go on it! We have reason to be angry. We have reason to be sad. Our range of human emotion is an expression of what we desire.

This week three of us met for Tuesday Night Group, we sat spread out in the Buddha Hall, two rows, two cushions each row, two filled, and one sitting on the couch. After sitting and walking we recited the Opening Chant and the Heart Sutra and read the "Flower Garland Discourse: The Ten Great Aspirations of Samantabhadra Bodhisattva."

There was nervousness in me, is this new setup working? Who cares? I do. I want this experience to work, for me as the facilitator, for our members, for our tradition, and for our spiritual ambition. What brings you to meditation? That is an important question, but it may not have an answer. It may just be a driving force that brings you to where you need to go. If it is not working, then why go? There will be another place to sit. There will be another place to walk.

Here I am writing very early in the morning. I took a nap for a half-hour or so around 8:30 p.m., went up to bed soon thereafter, but couldn't get to sleep. I've had a lot of energy in the evenings, particularly now that we are in the hottest months. I tried to sit, but couldn't work it out.

Our daily life can work for enlightenment, only if it works. If it doesn't work for you, then you need to do the practice. You need to do the practice anyway! When I say practice, I mean deep looking. I mean settling down, slowing down, stopping enough so you can hear what is going on inside of you. This is not easy. I don't know anyone in Las Vegas, or anywhere else in the country who has accomplished this. Maybe for an instant we feel calm, collected, refreshed, and then BAM it hits us! The same ole sarcasm, criticism, judgement of ourselves and others, stress, hurrying, gotta do something quick or else...or else what? Might we die? Might we see ourselves? Might someone see us?

It might be important to look at this. What brings us back to the cushion? When everything else has been explored, our padded seat, wherever it might be, waits for us patiently as if it weren't ever in a hurry to feel our cheeks again. It knows one day we'll be back...we can't resist!

CALMING THE WAR INSIDE

2007-07-11T23:10:00.000-07:00

Have you noticed your in-breath and out-breath today? Tuesday goers met this Tuesday for two rounds of sitting and walking meditation. We recited the Heart Sutra and read the Sutra on the Eight Realizations of the Great Beings. Four of us attended: Bev, Lin, Tom and Me, and Mar joined us for the last half. I gave a Dharma Talk about "Zen and the Sacred Fire." My commitment is to allow at least two hours of contemplative practice a day. The value of spiritual practice, and of developing the spiritual life is becoming more and more apparent. The military is now recruiting at our local theaters...I don't want to be the next soldier to die in Iraq, or anywhere in the world, but I already am.

Most of us are inflicted with the wounds of this war, and all wars, but do not know it. It is not only costing the lives of living beings on the battlefield in the Middle East, but also the battlefield in our body and mind. I see war all over the place, the movies we watch, the T.V. programs, billboards, relationships, magazines, books...the energy we have spent on war is great, far surpassing the budget of the U.S. Defense Department, it is wearing down our spirit. If you are caught in anxiety, in fear, in worries, in anger, in jealousy, in despair, take a look, you may have the mark of war in you. I would like to be of the first generation of my family to not be threatened with having to fight a war outside. That possibility is waning everyday the war in Iraq and elsewhere progresses. I've just begun to touch the war inside. For so long I have been avoiding it. And how it has controlled me, made me victim to it, has trampled my peace, my love, my happiness.

Make little distinction between the war outside and the war inside, both mirror each other, both feed each other. Peace is available, but to have peace, we cannot close our eyes to the countless victims of this war. Inside and Outside do not make a difference. Fight the war inside. Cultivate Love, Happiness, Deep Looking. Look until you cry. Look until you face the demons inside eye to eye. Look until you see that you are not alone in this work of love, and that just one time of looking, can save the lives of countless beings. Pray for peace by living peace, by becoming the message and the messenger.

If you would like to join me in the commitment to practice, we can do this through our blog or through making more times to practice together and support each other as a sangha. Feel free to e-mail times you will be able to commit to practice peace. This is time for you. You clear off your schedule to meditate and pray. Your prayer may be a prayer of action as long as it brings you joy, and as long as it cultivates love. I recommend at least an hour of meditation and prayer everyday. It is not unusual to not fit spiritual practice into your daily life. It is true that our life can be our practice. But the pressures of our world seem overwhelming. And we need a time to listen to ourselves. The noises are great in our head. It is the voice of the heart we often neglect, and that is not the voice we hear usually at our neighborhood shopping center, or in our place of employment. This is a dedication to listen.

E-mail me with a time you can set aside everyday, it can vary from day to day as long as you have made yourself wholeheartedly available. Then start practicing. Don't wait for a gathering, the sangha is in you, and you can receive our support whenever you need it. I will keep a log and check-in personally with you as much as I can. Feel free to post a comment about your practice on this blog as well. All you have to do is press the little comment link below the posting. It will take you to a page that gives you an option 'Post a Comment'.

Here's the link to the talk I gave...I hope it works!
http://www.briankimmel.com/audio/-HOUSE_OF_LOVE-2.m3u

ENCOURAGING LOVE

2007-07-03T21:19:00.000-07:00

This week we sat in formal Zen style, facing the wall in two neat rows, three seats to each row. Two of those seats were filled: Me and Tom. Together we practiced two sessions of sitting and walking meditation, then read a Sutra on the Three Dharm Seals. Wonderful! I wore my grey robe (Ahn Trang) the first time I have worn it since coming home from Vietnam. I look forward to meeting everyone, new friends and old, to join us at our new July time 6:30 - 8 :30 p.m. The weather is pretty hot, I know, and the weather people say to stay inside and off the roads, but if you can make it we'd love to have you with us. Let's toghether support a collective awakening in this heated-up world!