dear sangha, peace in oneself, peace in the worldlotusbudsangha.org/wordpress/newsletters/issue 046...
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Magazine of Mindful Living ~ Issue No 46, December 2012
Dear Sangha,As December comes upon us we aremoving towards Christmas, a timetraditionally associated with the idea ofpeace.
As Thich Nhat Hanh reminds us peacein the world is built upon peace withinoneself.
And peace in oneself is a matter ofmoment by moment attention, peace isevery step. We begin then with anaccount of walking for peace followedby a reminder to us all of walkingmeditation as a practice.
Walking meditation is a form of‘nowhere to go and nothing to do’ thatcan bring us to a calm and still place inour hearts.
Our final poem then explores the ideaof being still and peaceful in a busyworld.
On October 8th, 2005, the renownedBuddhist teacher, Thich Nhat Hanh,led over 3000 people in a silent,mindful Peacewalk around MacArthurPark, Los Angeles. It was a beautifuldemonstration of embodiedpeace. Thay, or "teacher", as hisstudents refer to him, called uponus to:
"walk in such a way that each step wemake becomes a realization of peace;each step becomes a prayer for peaceand harmony… walk together insilence with no banners and nopickets… not a petition addressed toanyone, nor a demonstration againstanyone… walk to unite our hearts, tonurture our togetherness and todissipate fear and separation… learntogether that wrong perceptions ofself and others are at the foundationof separation, fear, hate and violence,and that togetherness andcollaboration is possible.”
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Peace in oneself, peace in the world
Image by pixiduc
The Lotus Bud ~ Issue No 46, December 2012
teachings as a guiding means that help uslearn to look deeply and developunderstanding and compassion. They arenot doctrines to fight, kill, or die for. Weunderstand that fanaticism in its manyforms is the result is the result ofperceiving things in a dualistic ordiscriminative manner. We will trainourselves to look at everything withopenness and the insight of interbeing inorder to transform dogmatism and violencein ourselves and the world.
Once we become aware of suffering, we canthen be moved to compassion for ourselvesand others as we see that we are allmutually caught in the web of worldly pain.According to Thay, “We undertake tocultivate compassion and use it as a sourceof energy for the protection of life - toremove suffering and transform it.”
We may have a tendency to define ahimsaas simply a failure to kill or support killing,but the principle extends further, into ourqualities of mind and heart.
Thich Nhat Hanh says, “It is not just by notkilling with your body that youobserve ahimsa. If in your thinking youallow the killing to go on, you also breakthis precept. According to the Buddha, themind is the base of all actions. When youbelieve, for example, that yours is the onlyway for humankind and that everyone whofollows another way is your enemy, millionsof people could be killed because of thatidea. If we see deeply into the nature ofinterbeing, that all things "inter-are," wewill stop blaming, arguing, and killing, andwe will become friends with everyone.
That walk initiated Peace Is Every Step(PES). PES is a community of peace andmindfulness which has taken up thetask of sponsoring Peacewalks on aregular basis.
Reverence for life
The First Mindfulness Training is thepractice of ahimsa or reverence for lifeand is the foundational principle fornon-violent action in EngagedBuddhism. It reads:
Aware of the suffering created byfanaticism and intolerance, we aredetermined not to be idolatrous aboutor bound to any doctrine, theory, orideology, even Buddhist ones. We arecommitted to seeing the Buddhist
To practice nonviolence, we must first of alllearn ways to deal peacefully withourselves.”
Thich Nhat Hanh also points out that truepeace requires non-fear and courage: “Truepeace requires strength and practice,particularly in times of great difficulty. Tosome, peace and nonviolence aresynonymous with passivity and weakness.In truth, practicing peace and nonviolenceis far from passive. To practice peace is toactively cultivate understanding, love, andcompassion, even in the face ofmisperception and conflict. Practicingpeace, especially in times of war, requirescourage.”
Practice peace
The active, engaged practice of peaceinitiated by Thich Nhat Hanh in Vietnamhas been continued and propagated inmany forms. Thay’s teachings have inspireda Peacewalk of Israelis and Palestiniansfrom Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, passing byJewish and Arab towns and settlements, insilence and awareness, declaring acommitment to deep listening and non-violence.
Our practice is not to drive towards peacein the future; it is to be peace in thepresent moment. If we can, more and moreof us every day, be true manifestations ofpeace on a continuous, ongoing basisregardless of circumstances or conditions,then we create the solid foundation of truepeace in the world within our very heartsand minds.
Found at: http://www.yoga-losangeles.com/LA_Yoga_Peace_Article.html
Image by Fe 108Aums…
The Lotus Bud ~ Issue No 46, December 2012
Be still…Just for a moment.
Listen to the world around you. Feel yourbreath coming in and going out. Listen toyour thoughts. See the details of yoursurroundings.
Be at peace with being still.
In this modern world, activity andmovement are the default modes, if notwith our bodies then at least with ourminds, with our attention.
We are always on, always connected,always thinking, always talking. There isno time for stillness - and sitting in frontof a frenetic computer all day, and then infront of the hyperactive television, doesn’tcount as stillness.
This comes at a cost: we lose that time forcontemplation, for observing andlistening. We lose peace.
And worse yet: all the rushing around isoften counterproductive. I know, in oursociety action is all-important - inaction isseen as lazy and passive andunproductive. However, sometimes toomuch action is worse than no action at all.You can run around crazily, all sound andfury, but get nothing done. Or you can geta lot done - but nothing important. Oryou can hurt things with your actions,make things worse than if you’d stayedstill.
And when we are forced to be still -because we’re in line for something, orwaiting at a doctor’s appointment, or on abus or train - we often get antsy, and
need to find something to do. Some ofus will have our mobile devices, otherswill have a notebook or folder withthings to do or read, others will fidget.
Being still isn’t something we’re usedto.Take a moment to think about howyou spend your days - at work, afterwork, getting ready for work, eveningsand weekends. Are you constantlyrushing around? Are you constantlyreading and answering messages,checking on the news and the lateststream of information? Are you alwaystrying to Get Lots of Things Done, tickingoff tasks from your list like a machine,rushing through your schedule?
Is this how you want to spend your life?
If so, peace be with you. If not, take amoment to be still. Don’t think aboutwhat you have to do, or what you’vedone already. Just be in themoment.Then after a minute or two ofdoing that, contemplate your life, andhow you’d like it to be. See your life withless movement, less doing, less rushing.See it with more stillness, morecontemplation, more peace.Then be thatvision.
It’s pretty simple, actually: all you haveto do is sit still for a little bit each day.Once you’ve gotten used to that,try doing less each day.Breathe when youfeel yourself moving too fast. Slow down.Be present. Find happiness now, in thismoment, instead of waiting for it.Savorthe stillness. It’s a treasure, and it’savailable to us, always.
By Leo Babauta - http://zenhabits.net/be-still/
Walking meditation
Wherever we walk, we can practicemeditation. This means that we know thatwe are walking. We walk just for walking.We walk with freedom and solidity, nolonger in a hurry. We are present witheach step. And when we wish to talk westop our movement and give our fullattention to the other person, to ourwords and to listening. Walking in thisway should not be a privilege. We shouldbe able to do it in every moment. Lookaround and see how vast life is, the trees,the white clouds, the limitless sky. Listento the birds. Feel the fresh breeze. Life isall around and we are alive and healthyand capable of walking in peace.
Let us walk as a free person and feel oursteps get lighter. Let us enjoy every stepwe make. Each step is nourishing andhealing. As we walk, imprint our gratitudeand our love on the earth. We may like touse a gatha as we walk. Taking two orthree steps for each in-breath and eachout-breath, Breathing in "I have arrived";Breathing out "I am home" Breathing in "Inthe here"; Breathing out "In thenow" Breathing in "I am solid"; Breathingout "I am free" Breathing in "In theultimate"; Breathing out "I dwell”.
Found at: http://www.plumvillage.org/mindfulness-practice.html
Image by Nightngle
The Lotus Bud ~ Issue No 46, December 2012
Our mainactivitiesWednesdayMindfulness Meditationat Camperdown
We welcome all to come join usfor meditation practice - Wemeet at 7:30 pm eachWednesday at the BuddhistLibrary, Church St,Camperdown, Sydney.
Mindfulness Days -monthlyOnce a month we offer a day ofmindful practice andcontemplation. The daynormally consists of chantingsitting meditation, outdoorwalking meditation (If weatherpermits), a dharma talk andlunch.
Mindfulness Days at Nhap Luu(Entering the Stream)Meditation Centre221 Maria's LaneBeaufort VIC [email protected] www.plumvillageasia.org
Notices…Wednesday night Lotus Bud Sangha atthe Buddhist library in Camperdown.
All welcome.
How to contributeEmail to: [email protected]
Post to: Chris Barker, Faculty ofArts, Uni of Wollongong, 2500
WHO WE AREThe Communities ofMindful Living areinspired by theBuddhist teachingsof Zen MasterThich Nhat Hanh(pictured).
We aspire to live fully in each moment for the peaceand happiness of ourselves and all beings. We meetregularly to observe the art of mindful living and tofoster a supportive community of practitioners.
Contacts
Sydney, Inner West - John [email protected]
Lismore Area - Tony Mills and Jenny [email protected]
Sylvania - Coral [email protected]
Blue Mountains – David Moore andAnn Le 4782 [email protected]
Northern Beaches - Dharma Boat Sanghawww.dharmaboat.org
Melbourne - Ian Roberts0419 581 784
www.lotusbudsangha.orgAll images used with permission from www.flickr.com creativecommons unless otherwise stated.
Reading bellAs you read this magazine you have anopportunity to go back to the presentmoment.
You will notice a bell:throughout the magazine.
When you come to each bell, you maylike to stop reading, clear your mindand return to your breath beforecontinuing.
Image by jdurney