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.

Listen to "TRUE LOVE"

ENVIRONMNETS FOR PEACE

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.