During the month of October, we are awakening and strengthening our practice of Right Speech. Below are two dharma readings and a chant to support this practice. You might like to read them everyday. I will be reading them in class throughout the month. What a blessing to support each other on the path of practice. The Fourth Mindfulness Training (from pg. 84, The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching: Transforming Suffering into Peace, Joy, and Liberation)
"Aware of the suffering caused by unmindful speech and the inability to listen to others, I am committed to cultivating loving speech and deep listening in order to bring joy and happiness to others and relieve others of their suffering. Knowing that words can create happiness or suffering, I am determined to speak truthfully, with words that inspire self-confidence, joy, and hope. I will not spread news that I do not know to be certain and will not criticize or condemn things of which I am not sure. I will refrain from uttering words that can cause division or discord, or that can cause the family or the community to break. I am determined to make all efforts to reconcile and resolve all conflicts, however small."
Invoking the Boddhisattva's Names (from pg. 17, Plum Village Chanting and Recitation Book)
"We invoke your name, Avalokiteshvara. We aspire to learn your way of listening in order to help relieve the suffering in the world. You know how to listen in order to understand. We invoke your name in order to practice listening with all our attention and open-heartedness. We will sit ad listen without any prejudice. We will sit and listen without judging or reacting. We will sit and listen in order to understand. We will sit and listen so attentively that we will be able to hear what the other person is saying and also what is being left unsaid. We know that just by listening deeply we already alleviate a great deal of pain and suffering in the other person."
To invoke this energy in ourselves and set our intention for loving speech and deep listening, we are chanting to honor the bodhisattva of compassion, Avalokiteshvara. Bodhisattva means awakened being. The monks and nuns of Plum Village are chanting here. It is lovely.
Our beautiful soundtrack for today's class was Jai Jagdeesh's CD: Of Heaven and Earth. When we absorb such beautiful vibrations and meaningful messages, we restore our freshness which allows us to be completely present, to tune into our inner wisdom, our truth. When we are grounded in mindfulness we are on the path to Right Speech.
Here is Jai Jagdeesh singing Hallelujah. This song is on her new CD.
In the month of September, we focused on Right Thinking in our practice. This is following our study of Right View in August. Thich Nhat Hanh (Thay) writes, "When Right View is solid in us, we have Right Thinking (samyak samkalpa). We need Right View at the foundation of our thinking. And if we train ourselves in Right Thinking, our Right View will improve. Thinking is the speech of our mind. Right Thinking makes our speech clear and beneficial. Because thinking often leads to action, Right Thinking is needed to take us down the path of Right Action." (pg. 59, The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching)
Often, we are not aware of our thinking. The mind just continues its storyline and this creates a great force in how we live our lives, the mood of the day or moment, and how we interact with others or regard ourselves. In our busy culture, we just keep going and the mind keeps churning. How often do we take an opportunity to stop and notice what is happening in our mind? Or, in our body? The more often we do this, the more we can take better care of ourselves and each other to be a better family member, co-worker, friend, and human being. Our conscious breath can give us the space to notice how we are feeling in body and mind, and what we are thinking. How often do we take a conscious breath? How about right now?
The practices of yoga and meditation give us the space to witness the body, mind, and breath. Once we realize we have a witness consciousness, the ability for meta-analysis (to think about our thinking, to observe the observer), we find we are greater than just our thoughts, our running commentary or habitual cassette tape playing in the mind. There is a space where our greater wisdom resides, the part that resonates with universal truth, divine light, the beauty and wonder of nature. From this place of peace, equanimity, resourcefulness, we can name our suffering, look deeply into it to find the root causes, realize there is an end to our suffering - well being exists in us, and keep coming back to the practices of the Noble Eightfold Path to restore our well being.
Thay outlines these four practices to help us with our Right Thinking: (pg. 60)
1) "Are you sure?" "Wrong perceptions cause incorrect thinking and unnecessary suffering." I was so happy to find this as a small framed calligraphy on retreat years ago. It was so liberating to me, I wanted to bring it home. Thay recommends writing, "Are you sure?" on a large piece of paper and hang it where you will see it often. The more we can release our wrong perceptions, the more liberated and happy we will feel.
2) "What am I doing?" Often throughout our day, we are so lost in our thoughts, we don't pay attention to what we are doing. Do you ever find yourself "waking up" from a mind hijack in the car and wondering where you were going or even missed a turn because of it? We end up going on automatic pilot so often in the car or while doing the dishes and even at work or with friends and family. I'm not saying it is easy to stay completely present in each moment with each task and each person. I will say it is a worthy practice to come back to as often as possible. Thay invites us to ask "What am I doing?" to help release our thinking about the past or the future and return to the present moment. Taking good care of the present moment, we transform the suffering of the past and are prepared for the future. The most important moment is this moment.
3) "Hello, habit energy." "We tend to stick to our habits, even the ones that cause us to suffer...Our way of acting depends on our way of thinking, and our way of thinking depends on our habit energies. When we recognize this, we only need to say, "Hello, habit energy," and make good friends with our habitual patterns of thinking and acting. When we can accept these ingrained thoughts and not feel guilty about them, they will lose much of their power over us. Right Thinking leads to Right Action."
When I was on retreat with Thay and the monastics years ago in Massachusetts, we were walking to the meditation hall early in the morning with the sunrise. Waking up early has never been one of my favorite things to do (even on retreat). So as we were walking and I was feeling grouchy, which I believe was partially from the early wake time as well as the space for suffering to arise and be held by the energy of the sangha, I saw a little note written beautifully and sitting up in the grass: "Hello, habit energy." Just like that (with a snap of the finger) the energy of irritation lifted in me. A smile was born on my lips. I had taken refuge in the sangha, in the present moment.
If we are lucky, we will find mindfulness bells like that sign in the grass in our lives throughout our days, not just on retreat but everywhere. For example, a red traffic light, the telephone ring, catching a glimpse of the beauty of the changing leaves in fall or breathing in the crisp air of autumn -- whatever catches our attention to stop and say: Are your sure?, What are you doing?, Hello, habit energy, or to take a conscious breath and just be in the moment is a mindfulness bell. Keep looking for those bells and keep putting them up around you and in your life.
4) "Bodhichitta. Our 'mind of love' is the deep wish to cutivate understanding in ourselves in order to bring hapiness to many beings. It is the motivating force for the practice of mindful living. With bodhichitta at the foundation of our thinking, everything we do or say will help others be liberated."
This is a good place to establish our thinking and from there grow our speech and actions, yes? How do we discover our Bodhichitta again and again? Breathing, asana (yoga postures), consuming wholesome food and images and sounds; taking refuge in our teachers, the teachings, and the community of practice (Buddha, Dharma, Sangha); and reciting the Love Meditation every day to practice loving kindness towards ourselves and all beings. (see below)
Thay also teaches us this practice for Right Thinking:
"...replace an unwholesome thought with a wholesome one by "changing the peg," just as a carpenter replaces a rotten peg by hammering in a new one."
So when we are caught in negative thinking or wrong perceptions, we can "change the peg." Recite the Love Meditation, take a deep breath, allow the healing elements of nature to penetrate you, remember we are more than our thoughts, more than our body, more than just this lifetime.
Here is one more "new peg," a gatha I heard while on retreat. It is a beautiful intention to carry and remember to bring us back into right thinking:
May we transcend the boundaries of a delusive self, Liberating from the Superiority Complex, the Inferiority Complex, and the Equality Complex.
I know this post is a lot to digest. I am sharing all of these practices as a summary of what we covered in September and hoping that at least one will resonate with you that you can carry with you to alleviate some suffering.
I close with the Love Meditation and our September chant: Asatoma Sat Gamaya (Lead me from untruth to truth, from darkness to light...)
May I be peaceful, happy, and light in body and spirit.
May I be safe and free from injury.
May I be free from anger, afflictions, fear, and anxiety.
May I learn to look at myself with the eyes of understanding and love.
May I be able to recognize and touch the seeds of joy and happiness in myself.
May I learn to identify and see the sources of anger, craving, and delusion in myself.
May I know how to nourish the seeds of joy in myself every day.
May I be able to live fresh, solid, and free.
May I be free from attachment and aversion, but not be indifferent.
"We begin practicing this love meditation focusing on ourselves. Until we are able to love and take care of ourselves, we cannot be of much help to others. Next, we can practice towards others (substituting he/she or they), first with someone we love, next with someone we like, then with someone neutral to us, and finally toward someone who has made us suffer."
* Adapted from the Visuddhi Magga. For other practices to nourish love, see Thich Nhat Hanh, Teachings on Love (Berkeley: Parallax Press, 1997).
Asatoma Sat Gamaya
Lead me from untruth to truth
Tamasoma Jyotir Gamaya
Lead me from darkness to the light
Mrityorma Amritam Gamaya
Lead me from the fear of death to the wisdom of immortality,
from attachment to what is temporary to the wisdom of what is eternal.
Lokah Samastha Sukhino Bhavantu
Blessings of Peace, Love, and Ease of Living to you and your beloveds and to all beings!
"Our happiness and the happiness of those around us depend on our degree Right View. Touching reality deeply -- knowing what is going on inside and outside of ourselves -- is the way to liberate ourselves from the suffering that is caused by wrong perceptions. Right View is not an ideology, a system, or even a path. It is the insight we have into the reality of life, a living insight that fills us with understanding, peace, and love."
--Thich Nhat Hanh, pg. 54, The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching, Transforming Suffering into Peace, Joy, and Liberation
"Peace isn't an experience free of rough and smooth; it's an experience that's expansive enough to include all that arises without feeling threatened."
-- Pema Chodron
"Know that whatever task you do is God's task. He is giving you the interest, the capacity, and the knowledge to do it. If you think of yourself as an instrument in the hands of God, you will always succeed in whatever you do."
-- Swami Satchidananda
During the month of August, we have contemplated Right View during our yoga classes and in our lives. Thich Nhat Hanh teaches part of practicing Right View is recognizing whether we are watering wholesome or unwholesome seeds in our consciousness with our thoughts, words, actions, and livelihood. We try to recognize that we have both a store consciousness and mind consciousness. We all have the same seeds in our store consciousness (love, compassion, joy, mindfulness, anger, irritation, jealousy, hatred, etc). Our ancestral lineage, life circumstances, and habits determine which seeds when watered sprout more readily into our mind consciousness. If we use the four noble truths to recognize our suffering and the root causes of our suffering, we may be more likely to selectively water our wholesome seeds. With the support of the energy of the sangha and the teachings of the dharma, we notice our habit energies that keep us stuck in our suffering and work to change our habits to more quickly and easily restore well being and peace.
Interbeing is another foundational teaching in Buddhism and is at the heart of Right View to help us work with our Right Thinking and Right Mindfulness. I was delighted to hear this beautiful example stated by Lorian and Sebastian in the Childrens' Program at the Day of Mindfulness this weekend at Blue Cliff Monastery. The children were having their snack and when the sister asked the children what they tasted as they ate their apple, Lorian said a cloud and Sebastian said dirt. Do you know why? Because without the cloud, there would be no rain. Without the rain the apple tree would not grow and without the apple tree, there would be no apple. (We could have also noticed that the apple tastes like rain and sky.) And, the seed needs the dirt along with the rain to grow into the tree. This is the practice of interbeing. The apple is made up of non-apple elements. It is empty of a separate self. It inter-exists with everything...the farmer who tends and harvests the apple, the mother and father who conceived the child who grew to be the farmer. Do you see? We can make the same connection between you and me, between all beings. It is a deep and wonderful teaching. Don't worry if it is just beginning to root in you. It continues to grow with selective watering : )
In Saturday's class we discussed more about the historical and ultimate dimensions. I shared a reading from Thich Nhat Hanh's book about The Two Truths, relative and absolute truth, which to me, in a sense, parallel the concepts of the historical and ultimate dimension. Again, this is a deep teaching, so I'll try to describe briefly. Just know that this is the beginning of watering the manifestation of understanding of it. We have our whole lives to let it sink in and root to grow. That's why we have each other in the sangha and our dharma teachers to keep discussing it and applying it in our lives.
We live in the historical dimension. Our speech, actions, livelihood, and diligence are examples of how we exist here and now. When we get stuck in our suffering, we may tell ourselves stories about life and the others in our life and even ourselves. We narrow our view and perception because we are stuck in attachment or aversion. We think we know what is true. But what we are caught in is relative truth. Sometimes we may find ourselves stuck in suffering and all of a sudden a bell of mindfulness may open our eyes to nature or to another perspective. That bell can be setting foot outdoors, seeing the eyes of your child or beloved in a new way, catching a glimpse of the mountains or sky while driving as if for the first time, etc. We wake up and see that there is more to life than our limiting thoughts and views. There is a grander bigger existence. We see the solidity of the tree and know that solidity is in us. We see the freshness of a flower and know that freshness is in us. We see the expansiveness of the sky and we know that expansiveness is in us. We taste it when we sit still and breathe or stand in nature and take a deep breath, when we really absorb the joy of a child, the beauty of a sunset, when we do our yoga practice with pranayama (breathing practices) or asana (postures) that balance us, restore us, open us up to these absolute truths -- interbeing. We find that we can touch the ultimate dimension even though we are walking in the historical dimension. We don't need to go anywhere, just arrive fully in the present moment. Thich Nhat Hanh says the Kingdom of God can be found in the present moment.
We look deeply into our suffering in the historical dimension to notice the patterns (habit energies) that exist within us and recognize this as our relative truth. In naming our suffering and working to identify the root causes of our suffering insight can arise to help transform the suffering. Perhaps with insight we touch the absolute truth of interbeing which fortifies and eases the way back to well being, the cessation of that moment of suffering. So we don't belittle or dismiss the historical dimension or relative truth. We live in them and we need to look deeply into them to touch the ultimate dimension, the absolute truths, here and now -- in this lifetime, in this body -- that we might exist more often or navigate our lives more often from these more expansive places and more fully enjoy this historical dimension.
I will close with the lyrics to this Plum Village practice song. You may have heard me sing it in class.
I have arrived, I am home, in the here and in the now. I have arrived, I am home, in the here and in the now. I am solid, I am free. I am solid, I am free. In the ultimate I dwell. In the ultimate I dwell.
This is the title of my favorite chapter in Thich Nhat Hanh's book, The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching: Transforming Suffering into Peace, Joy, and Liberation, (pages 24-27). I have heard it read so many times at Sangha (mediation group) both in PA and NJ. And, I remember feeling so relieved when I heard Thay (dear teacher - Thich Nhat Hanh) give a dharma talk referencing the following concept from the chapter:
"Calming allows us to rest, and resting is a precondition for healing. When animals in the forest get wounded, they find a place to lie down, and they rest completely for many days. They don't think about anything else. They just rest, and they get the healing they need."
"Our body and mind have the capacity to heal themselves if we allow them to rest."
I was on retreat during a very busy and ambitious time with my work as a high school math teacher and going to graduate school for my Master's degree in counseling. I had always struggled with low energy and added more suffering to that by beating myself up about it. In other words, feeling guilty when I needed to rest or when I did in fact take the time to rest. But, who can argue with nature? We're animals too, right? However, I have to confess this is still a challenge for me. Now with a young child and a marriage and work that I am growing, it is still difficult to give myself permission to rest or to get the opportunity to rest.
Our culture is so ambitious and fast paced. It takes a lot of support and validation to give ourselves permission to stop and rest so that we can heal whether it is a physical ailment or emotional or mental strain. Being on retreat with Thay and hearing the dharma has always been a profound practice in taking refuge in the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha. Do you know how that feels when you really feel held by someone or something and you can just let go and trust and that whoever you are, however you are is ok?
Part of that sense of surrender and softening comes when listening to Sister Chan Khong sing to us during Total Relaxation. While I was driving to class today, a song she often sings came into my mind and I found myself singing it out loud: Please Call Me By My True Names which is a song based on the famous poem written by Thich Nhat Hanh with the same title. During the dharma talk for class today, I was inspired to sing it as our discussion developed into talking about how when dealing with challenges, we can try to see the blessing in them and recognize the impermanence of all circumstances so that we can deal with our suffering and fully experience moments of joy since life is made up of both conditions.
My benign example of a blessing in the midst of suffering was being stressed about arriving to the airport for a recent trip with just enough time to board the plane given a last minute stop my husband needed to make before we got there. While it was stressful for me, it turned out to be a blessing that we didn't have to sit on the plane as long as we would have otherwise since the air conditioning was under repair in 104 degree weather on the ground. The plane was delayed over an hour as well but thankfully I had my Peppermint oil to help keep me cool.
The inspiration for the dharma talk which grew beyond this example from my life that came up in casual conversation about my trip was expanded by an introductory conversation I had prior to class with a student (like many others) who was telling me about a pain in her body and was wondering what yoga poses she could do to help. I saw and heard her suffering from the pain in her body as well as the mental and emotional suffering it was causing her. I know it is not always easy to hear but I try to remind myself and others as skillfully as I can that physical pain or any life difficulty can be seen as a teacher, maybe even a blessing - a chance to slow down and take care of ourselves - to rest and heal more than just our bodies. Body is just one layer of the five koshas, just one of the seven chakras. We are more than just our body. But sometimes it seems like we need a wake up call from our bodies to stop and recognize that we need to heal and transform more than just our bodies. We don't always listen when the mind or emotions are the siren. But the body can be a loud enough siren to get our attention.
"We have to learn the art of stopping -- stopping our thinking, our habit energies, our forgetfulness, the strong emotions that rule us. When an emotion rushes through us like a storm, we have no peace. We turn on the tv and then we turn it off. We pick up a book and then we put it down. How can we stop this state of agitation? How can we stop our fear, despair, anger, and craving? We can stop by practicing mindful breathing, mindful walking, mindful smiling, and deep looking in order to understand. When we are mindful, touching deeply the present moment, the fruits are always understanding, acceptance, love, and the desire to relieve suffering and bring joy." (pg. 24-25)
We can use the four noble truths to recognize that suffering is a part of life. To believe that we shouldn't have to deal with suffering only causes us to suffer more. Then we can see that there are root causes to our suffering and "call them by their true names." This can often lead to insight into the suffering which can shine a light towards the path that can transform our suffering. The third noble truth says there is an end to suffering (in other words, there is well being!). And the fourth noble truth is the way to that well being: the noble eightfold path - which includes Right View, Right Thinking, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Diligence, Right Mindfulness and Right Concentration.
Thay gives a summary of the Buddha's teaching techniques for calming body and mind on page 26:
(1) Recognition - If we are angry, we say " I know anger is in me. "
(2) Acceptance - When we are angry, we do not deny it. We accept what is present.
(3) Embracing - We hold our anger in our two arms like a mother holding her crying baby. our mindfulness embraces our emotion, and this alone can calm our anger and ourselves.
(4) Looking deeply - When we are calm enough, we can look deeply to understand what has brought this anger to be, what is causing our baby's discomfort.
(5) Insight - The fruit of looking deeply is understanding the many causes and conditions, primary and secondary that have brought about our anger, that are causing our baby to cry. ... With insight we know what to do and what not to do to change the situation.
I remember being on that retreat while I was also still dealing with grief over the loss of my mother and grandmother, struggling with my feelings about being single, and working on finding a sense of belonging in other places and relationships. It was these feelings of suffering that allowed me to go deep into the practice and thus feeling held by the sangha in their mindful presence, the singing of the monastics and Sister Chan Khong, and just watching Thich Nhat Hanh walk and drink a cup of tea as well as soak up his gentle and clear presentation of the dharma.
I listened to my first dharma talk by Thay on a cassette tape given to me by a peer in my graduate program shortly after my mom died. A few months later, a colleague at the high school where I taught invited me to my first Thich Nhat Hanh based sangha, and I knew I had come home. "No mud, No lotus." I don't know where I would be now in navigating my life, the challenges and the joys, had I not discovered the path of practice. I am so thankful to Dave and Val for putting the teachings in front of me.
So here is Sister singing the chorus to this beautiful song, Please Call Me By My True Names:
(She is singing at the beginning of the video then it transitions into something else. You can stop at 52 seconds.)
Please call me by my true names
Please call me by my true names
So I can wake up, wake up
So the door of my heart could be left open
The door of compassion
The door of compassion
My joy is like spring so warm
It makes flowers bloom all over the earth
My pain is like a river of tears
So vast it fills the four oceans
And just for good measure, here is another link with her facilitation of deep relaxation. Perhaps you'd like to comfortably lie down and soak up her love and compassion, receive the warm embrace. And, even if you can't, just listen...
I hold my face in my two hands
My hands hollow to catch what might fall from within me
Deeper than crying, I am not crying
I hold my face in my two hands
To keep my loneliness warm
To cradle my anger
Shelter the flames from the windstorm that rages
Two hands preventing my soul from flying in anger
The below chant is a beautiful teaching about the three jewels and how we can take refuge in them. If you were in class this past Saturday, you heard me chant it.
We will all have an opportunity to take refuge in the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha in Pine Bush, NY or NYC at the end of the summer. See links below the chant and details about the retreat, day of mindfulness, public talk, and calligraphy art display coming soon.
I take refuge in the Buddha, the one who shows me the way in this life. I take refuge in the Dharma, the way of understanding and of love. I take refuge in the Sangha, the community that lives in harmony and awareness. [BELL]
Dwelling in the refuge of Buddha, I clearly see the path of light and beauty in the world. Dwelling in the refuge of Dharma, I learn to open many doors on the path of transformation. Dwelling in the refuge of Sangha, shining light that supports me, keeping my practice free of obstruction. [BELL] Taking refuge in the Buddha in myself, I aspire to help all people recognize their own awakened nature, realizing the Mind of Love. Taking refuge in the Dharma in myself, I aspire to help all people fully master the ways of practice and walk together on the path of liberation. Taking refuge in the Sangha in myself, I aspire to help all people build Fourfold Communities, to embrace all beings and support their transformation. [BELL, BELL]
Thich Nhat Hanh's schedule for his Summer Tour through North America: http://www.plumvillage.org/events/view/55/4.html
This includes a link with more specifics for his public talk in NYC.
Specifics about the Day of Mindfulness in Pine Bush, NY:
September 1 | Day of Mindfulness
A Day of Mindfulness, led by Thich Nhat Hanh, will take place at the Blue Cliff Monastery in Pine Bush, New York. The day will begin at 9:30 with dharma talk, followed by walking meditation, eating meditation and an afternoon activity. As this is a Fundraising Day of Mindfulness, there is a suggested minimum donation for the day of $35 for adults and $25 for students and seniors.
Overnight accommodations for the Day of Mindfulness will not be available at the monastery. If you are traveling some distance to join us for this day, you may wish to contact any of the following hotels, located 15-30 minutes from the monastery:
As with all our events, we encourage participants to share rides wherever possible in order to reduce the environmental aspect of traveling. Please use the commenting system below to make connections with other participants to offer rides and insights on reducing the impact.
(Perhaps if folks from Highland Yoga want to go, a car pool can be set up to depart from the studio. Same for Ananta Yoga. Perhaps setting up a car pool from a mutually agreed upon location. It is fun to share the ride and talk in anticipation of the day and enjoy each other's company as well as integrate the experience together during the ride home.)
For our next series of dharma talks in class, we have been contemplating the teachings of the Buddha. We have begun by studying and applying the teachings of the Three Jewels and the Four Noble Truths.
We have been reading from Thich Nhat Hanh's books: The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching: Transforming Suffering into Peace, Joy, and Liberation and Peace is Every Step
The Three Jewels:
Buddha (teacher)
Dharma (teachings, path of practice)
Sangha (community of support)
The Four Noble Truths:
We will experience suffering in this life.
There are root causes to our suffering.
It is possible to end our suffering.
There is a way to end our suffering: The Noble Eightfold Path.
Frank Boccio, in his book Mindfulness Yoga, draws a parallel of The Four Noble Truths to the Ayurvedic approach to wellness: (1) diagnosis, (2) etiology, (3) prognosis, and (4) prescription. This may help us to remember them if this way of thinking or terminology comes more naturally.
The Noble Eightfold Path:
Right View
Right Thinking
Right Speech
Right Action
Right Livelihood
Right Diligence
Right Mindfulness
Right Concentration
We have been singing a mindfulness song in the Plum Village tradition:
Breathing In, Breathing Out
Breathing In, Breathing Out
I am blooming as a flower
I am fresh as the dew
I am solid as a mountain
I am firm as the earth
I am free
Breathing In, Breathing Out
Breathing In, Breathing Out
I am water reflecting
What is real, What is true
And I feel there is space
Deep inside of me
I am free, I am free, I am free
More commentary to follow on these teachings. This is the basic outline of our current curriculum.
