orchard sangha newsletter - december 2011
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Orchard Sangha Newsletter - December 2011TRANSCRIPT
December 2011 Page 1
The Orchard SanghaThe Orchard SanghaThe Orchard SanghaThe Orchard Sangha
NewsletterNewsletterNewsletterNewsletter
From Sonia and Ad
“if one shows kindness with a clear mind – even once! – for living beings. By that one becomes
wholesome and brings forth abundant goodness”.
This year a wonderful group of students participated in the series of four retreats on the Four
Foundations of Mindfulness. It was a rewarding and inspiring experience of sharing this
fundamental teaching with so many of you. We are truly grateful for that.
The format of a series of 3-day retreats was so successful we decided for the coming year to
repeat it with four retreats on the Four Brahma Viharas – The Four Sublime Abidings – of
Loving Kindness, Compassion, Sympathetic Joy and Equanimity.
In the Buddhist understanding of Mindfulness, the Four Brahma Viharas are its natural
companions. We can therefore say that in each moment of Mindfulness, the Four Brahma
Viharas will be naturally present and when any of the Four Brahma Viharas is manifesting itself
in our relationship with either ourselves or another being, Mindfulness will necessarily be
present as well.
The Metta Sutta – the discourse on Loving Kindness - mirrors the 4th Noble Truth, i.e. the
Eightfold Noble Path, both being divided into three parts: one on the cultivation of sila or ethics,
one on the practice of meditation and the third one on the development of wisdom.
The cultivation of sila, ethics, is a prerequisite for the attainment of wisdom while sila is also
the natural expression of wisdom.
In his teachings the Buddha did put a lot of emphasis on the cultivation of sila in our thoughts,
speech, actions and livelihood. Rinpoche always returned to “if things are not working out well
for you, investigate the amount of your energy you actually devote to the development of
sila/ethics”.
Our practice of Mindfulness needs to go hand in hand with our practice of the Four Brahma
Viharas. At any one moment what is the driving force, the intention behind my thoughts, speech
and action? Is it desire, ill-will or Loving Kindness?
We are looking forward to sharing this investigation over the year with you. A year of practice
of the Four Brahma Viharas, it cannot be more joyful than that!
How Sonia’s condition will develop, we don’t know but as she told during the last retreat of this
year “if I did not practise Loving Kindness, I would not be able to be with you and sharing from
whatever physical state I am in”.
In both the Metta Sutta and the Four Foundations of Mindfulness one of the virtues to be
cultivated to enable one to reach a peaceful state of mind, is that of “being content with little”,
this means a radical act of acceptance of “what is”.
May the coming year for all beings be filled with Loving Kindness, peace and happiness.
Sonia and Ad
December 2011 Page 2
Contents Page
From Sonia and Ad 1
Mindfulness is easy ........ 2
From The Orchard 3
The Orchard Programme 2012 4
Poems from Loving Kindness Retreat 5
Resting in Mindfulness by Amarana 7
Cleaning Retreat by Marion 9
Remembering the first time by John 10
The Bookshelf / Contact details 11
The sutra on knowing the better way
to live alone.
Do not pursue the past
Do not lose yourself in the future
The past no longer is
The future has not yet come
Looking deeply at life as it is
Is the very here and now.
The practitioner dwells
in stability and freedom
We must be diligent today
To wait until tomorrow is too late
Death comes unexpectedly
How can we bargain with it?
The sage calls a person who knows how to
dwell in mindfulness night and day
“One who knows the better way to live alone.”
“Mindfulness is easy, I just keep forgetting”
These words were to echo in my mind throughout
my personal retreat in August. I was looking
forward to some sunshine and the opportunity to
practice again at the Orchard, as well as perhaps
meeting with others sharing the practice. In the
event, I was the only person taking a personal
retreat. Distant thoughts of leisurely chats over
lunch soon disappeared. As did my hopes for
sunshine as I watched the lightning flash vividly
over the Black Mountains.
I wanted to focus on the teachings of the first
three practice retreats on the Four Foundations of
Mindfulness, which I had been unable to attend.
Sonia and Ad drew up a programme and this
prepared me for the final retreat in October. To be
honest, I could have joined the final retreat
without having done the first three but, for me,
this way felt more complete.
Once my initial resistance passed – and I am now
quite used to watching my resistance rise and fall
- I felt myself move into a different space. Sonia
and Ad met with me regularly and their support
was incredibly important. I cannot say that there
were any sudden insights whilst on retreat.
However, as the days passed two realisations re-
surfaced. One was the importance, for me, of
support and the role of the sangha in providing
that support. No matter whether practice is done
alone or in a group, I strongly felt that each and
every one of us who share the practice is a thread
in the fabric that holds and sustains the others. It
was comforting to acknowledge that and I thank
all of you – your presence was tangible.
The other realisation was that I do not have to be
so hard on myself when I fall short of my own
expectations. In any given moment I am doing the
best I can with the tools available to me at that
moment. If I can remember to practice
mindfulness in that moment, just witness without
judgement arising, then situations can be
transformed and a completely different scenario
makes itself available. Unfortunately, and here’s
the catch, I don’t always remember the
mindfulness but as long as I keep returning to it,
then that is my practice.
Thank you Sonia and Ad for your patience and
understanding, and to Gill and Amarana for your
kindness and quiet support.
The retreat was truly a gift for me. Sandra
Wishing you all the compliments of the season and a peaceful and joyful 2012
December 2011 Page 3
Three new booklets on Sonia’s teachings
are available
MOTIVATION
Teachings by Sonia Moriceau
2004 – 2010
The content (15 pages) includes
contemplation on interbeing, circle of
support exercise, the four thoughts that turn
the mind towards the Dharma and the nine
contemplations on death.
Cost: £8 plus p&p
SUPPORTIVE CONDITIONS FOR PRACTICE
Teachings by Sonia Moriceau
2003 – 2011
The content (20 pages) includes bodywork,
the 4 postures, reviewing practice and
meeting obstacles, outer and inner support,
support from the dharma and the paramis.
Cost: £10 plus p&p
HEALING
The content (25 pages) includes: Healing,
cure & surrender; levels of illness, healing the
senses. The content is based on teachings as
given by Sonia on Holistic Clearing and
Insight Retreats and Medicine Buddha
Retreats.
Cost: £10 plus p&p
To order any of the booklets (postage is £1.50
within UK): contact The Orchard by e-mail ([email protected]) or phone (01873
860207).
The booklets are also available for
downloading from Sonia's website
(www.soniamoriceau.org)
From The Orchard
Update from the Orchard Finance Group
Update from the Orchard Sangha Finance
Group
December 2011
We mentioned in our May update that we were
hoping someone might appear to support Ad and
Amarana in attending Sonia: the good news is that
Jane Sethi returned refreshed from her
walkabout, and is undertaking that role until
Spring 2012.
Thanks to the overwhelming generosity of Sonia
and Ad’s students, we have enough money in the
Orchard Sangha account to pay for Jane’s
contribution, as well as for Amarana for the
coming year. There will also be enough money in
the fund to pay for care for the garden, and the
student bursary in 2012, although we may have to
reduce the latter two budgets.
While we understand that in these financially
difficult times many people will be stretched to
their limit, we do hope that as many of you as
possible will be able to continue with your
wonderful and much appreciated support, which
enables the Orchard to continue as a place of
refuge and inspiration for all of us.
We wish you a very happy and peaceful Solstice
and Christmas.
December 2011 Page 4
Calendar of Events at The Orchard – 2012
23rd – 26th Feb Metta, Loving Kindness, part of the 4 Brahma Viharas series with Sonia
and Ad
22nd-29th March Samatha and Vipassana, Calm Abiding and Insight retreat with Sonia
19th-22nd April Karuna, Compassion, part of the 4 Brahma Viharas series with Sonia and
Ad
10th-13th May Chenrezig Retreat with Ad
7th-12th June Transformation and Healing: how to apply the understanding of Anicca -
impermanence, Dukkha - unsatisfactoriness and Anatta – no-owner when
faced with challenges in one’s life. With Sonia.
12th-19th July Medicine Buddha retreat with Sonia
2nd-5th August Mudita, Sumpathetic Joy, part of the 4 Brahma Viharas series with Sonia
and Ad
23rd-28th August Summer retreat with Ad (content to be announced later in the year)
11th-14th October Upekkha, Equanimity, part of the 4 Brahma Viharas series with Sonia and
Ad
2nd-4th November T’ai-Ji with Ad
15th-22nd November Retreat with Sonia (content to be announced later in the year)
Events Elsewhere
With Sonia
30th April-6th May Taming the monkey mind, releasing grasping freeing mind.
At Felsentor, Switzerland.
21st-24th June Insight retreat and the 9 contemplations on death and impermanence.
At Pegasus, Germany.
With Ad
16th-17th June T’ai-Ji weekend in Glasgow. Info and bookings contact Annamarie on
7th-9th/11th September T’ai-Ji retreat on Holy Isle. Info and bookings, contact Ad.
Programme - 2012
December 2011 Page 5
The Precious Human Life and Loving Kindness Retreat
November / December 2011
The last workshop of this year was dedicated
to the Loving Kindness practice and was
taken as either a 7-day or 3-day retreat. 14
participants enjoyed the teachings of Sonia
and Ad for the first three days.
There was a warm and open atmosphere
from the very beginning of the workshop,
helped by the subtleness of the teaching and
input from previous workshops. The second
part of the retreat offered the space for us to
go deeper in our exploration. It also gave the
opportunity, from time to time, to create our
own individual schedules. So our hearts
steadily became warmer and warmer. At the end of the retreat we dressed in each
other’s clothes. It felt completely natural, fine and confident wearing a friend’s clothes.
Somehow it made them feel much closer and welcoming. We are as one – I am well and
happy and may you, too, be well and happy.
In the photo above you can see a happy and smiling Christina, Jane, Gill and Mary, all
wearing each other’s clothes and gathered around Sonia. As they smile into the camera I
am smiling too as I take the photo.
Thank you, Sonia and Ad for this year’s closing workshop and at the same time for the
invitation to the upcoming Loving kindness workshop next year.
Amarana
Song for Maitreya by Mary Heneghan
Loving kindness, it is so simple and so precious -
like the beauty of a rainbow in the sunshine and
the rain.
It’s all you need to help the world go round.
Gill
Maitreya! We come to meet you!
With arm-fulls of wind-fallen apples,
Bowls of many-layered porridge,
And barrow-loads of sweetly decaying
leaves. We come to meet you,
With the light of the changing season in
our eyes,
And the beings we grapple with in our
sinews.
Maitreya, we come to greet you.
Sifting your form from the breeze of teachers’
words,
Feeling your solidity in the heavy land.
Winds blowing and blowing your song,
Bells singing out the sound of space,
And a rainbow arching through the blue sky
To name ‘Maitreya!’ and melt again,
Back into everything that is.
December 2011 Page 6
The old woman and the young boy by Amarana
Just some days before the old woman was going to die - and she already knew that she
was going to die soon - she was sitting in the waiting room of her doctor. Her whole
expression was so fine, so translucent and so fragile. After a while, a mother with her
child entered the room. The almost two year old boy looked immediately towards the
old woman. With shy steps he crossed the room, stood in front of the old woman and
pointed his finger towards her hand. She looked at him with soft eyes, the boy looked at
her with smiling eyes and then touched her hand softly with his forefinger inviting to be
touched by the old woman. She put her hand carefully around his finger and at that
moment the whole life cycle of the woman was present. They both looked at each other
with eyes full of light. This moment touched my heart deeply and endless gratitude
started to arise.
Metta by Christina
an open space
with a breeze of rose scent all
over
a smile
with a taste of lavender honey
an open heart
warm, soft and vibrant
in an ocean of stillness
radiating an endless sound of
love into space.
it happens
everywhere
in each being.
may all beings be happy in
themselves
for the joy, ease and peace
of all.
paix
Breathing with my Dad by Jane
I realize that this restlessness is from my Dad
when I was a child I would lie awake at night
and I could hear him thinking in the other room
it seemed so loud to me
I wonder why I cannot feel the breathing
I sit again and again and I feel nothing
only the restlessness of my mind
so I ask my Dad to sit down at the table
with me
to watch and feel the breath together
and because he loves me he does
but he is very naughty my Dad
he keeps getting up
and going over to the breath,
trying to look in and work it out
he wants to understand
but he does sit down again
and we sit and watch and feel the breath
together
for a moment
we share an intimate moment
together
me and my Dad
A host of colours in
the Orchard garden
Plums from
Maitreya
House
December 2011 Page 7
Resting in Mindfulness and the teacher-student relationship
by Amarana
Notes from workshops
The golden autumn light wakes up pictures, memories and insights which have touched me
deeply during my practice at the Orchard over the last two years.
In January 2011, I put a note in my diary from the book “Living the Mindful Life” by Charles Tart:
“The good news is that because our deeper nature is really wonderful, there is hope! We can
become less crazy. We can have more vividness and realness in our lives and can get in better
and better contact with our own deeper nature. Part of the good news is that there are a lot of
techniques for doing that, although they often require social support. They are hard to do solely
on our own.
The bad news comes in two major formats. One is that we have been programmed and
conditioned to have a miserable view of ourselves and life, a programming that gets us into
trouble all the time. The second part of the bad news is that not only were we programmed once
but the program has become automatic, runs all the time, and is constantly reinforced by the
mindlessness of our society. We do not need the slightest bit of mindfulness to get through
everyday life; we can run totally on automatic.”
This entry in my diary was good preparation for the forthcoming four practice retreats on the
Four Foundations of Mindfulness, held by Ad and Sonia here at the Orchard in 2011.
These four weekends have given me a wonderful and new opportunity to look closer and deeper
into the meaning of the Four Foundations of Mindfulness and have opened up a new bridge in
how to apply them in my everyday life.
To be taught by Sonia and Ad together was uplifting, and, because some of the participants
attended all four weekends, it started to feel like a small Dharma family.
I found Ad’s theoretical teaching during the four weekends about “Sati” and the “Satipatthana
Sutra” heart warming, mind opening and confidence building. It was really a gift, and a gift I can
practice in everyday life. His teachings were for me an all-embracing gesture of Sonia’s teachings.
They always stirred in me the following image: Ad is leading and explaining the score of a
musical composition (a composition of the Dharma) and Sonia lets us, through her meditation
practice, love and practical advice, feel the deep beauty of Buddha Sakyamuni’s composition on
mindfulness.
After the fourth and final weekend in October I could only say “Yes, this is what needs to be
trained, to be understood, and to be practised first. Yes.” And in doing so, we have to be honest;
otherwise, we will miss the point - to be here, in the moment, without fabrication. Being honest is
the door that opens the way into our hearts.
Colours blind the eyes.
Sounds deafen the ear.
Flavours numb the taste.
Thoughts weaken the mind.
Desires wither the heart.
The master observes the world
But trusts his inner vision.
He allows things to come and go.
His heart is open as the sky. (Tao Te Ching Lao Tzu)
December 2011 Page 8
Notes on daily life
Most of you know I have been here since January 2010 as Sonia’s attendant. This means that,
during the day, I am mostly in my teacher’s private space. And this is an extremely fragile space,
almost for me the same experience as being in the Zendo during a workshop, during a talk with
the teacher or during formal practice. And the same question when I enter the Zendo arises as
when I enter the teacher’s private space. “What is my intention?” I can find no difference
between the teacher’s private space and the Zendo space, and often I have wished that this
certain quality of deep respect and open mind and heart I experience here so naturally could
happen to me in other spaces too. And now I can say that after these two years, changes in other
spaces happen more and more too.
It was not always very easy to accept the inner answer about my intention when entering the
teacher’s space as an attendant. I could hear stories about I and ME and MY in the inner
conversation. It was not always for the benefit of all beings like it is written in the books or
taught in the teachings. However, to notice that, just to notice that and to be honest with that
and to see the teacher smile was supportive enough or more than enough to come back to a
wholesome way of being. What is important is to be honest and this in itself benefits all beings
because it is from the heart. And to experience that unwholesome patterns can change into a
wholesome natural movement towards everybody. This lets me feel hope and joy.
Do we any of us know all our feelings when we meet the teacher for a private talk? But the talk is
over after some minutes. Practising in the teacher’s space is not over so quickly. It goes on for
hours. What a wonderful gift and opportunity, and challenge, to realise there is no longer any
possibility to run away. Just to meet myself, just meet the in breath, just meet the out breath, just
meet the feelings, just meet the space and the thought in the mind, just see the teacher, just feel
the teacher, just meet the teacher, just experience now you can practise, now you are just in the
practice and now the practice, the teacher and you are becoming one, the whole is one and is the
realisation of the Dharma, sometimes, if only for a fraction of a moment, it is the moment, it is
now. The teacher’s presence is like thousands of mirrors around us, and they all let me see
where I am coming from, what is going on just now, and where we are going.
One day Sonia and Ad were away and I was on my own in their house. I thought “I can go a little
bit less mindfully today so there will be a little bit more time in the evening for doing my own
practice”. And it worked very well for a while. It was quite joyful also and I was very, very fast.
Then, suddenly, whilst emptying the rubbish, a fine, sad voice started to move around my heart,
and I could feel my breath around the heart. The voice started to grow and asked “Why are you
turning away from me?” and just at that moment, the Dharma’s preciousness established itself
again in me and a glimpse of understanding of the truth. There is no way to run away from the
wholesome mindful practice which can only make us happy. And this is finally nothing to do
with being fast or slow, it has to do with always opening to the Dharma, which gets strengthened
in the teacher’s presence and which gets stronger and stronger too in environments away from
the teacher’s presence.
My teachings are easy to understand
And easy to put into practice.
Yet your intellect will never grasp them,
And if you try to practise them, you’ll fail.
My teachings are older than the world.
How can you grasp their meaning?
If you want to know me,
Look inside your heart. (Tao Te Ching Lao Tzu)
December 2011 Page 9
Cleaning at the Orchard - Highly recommended!
After having started the year with 3 days of spring cleaning at the
Orchard, I have now had the opportunity to end the year with yet
another cleaning retreat. It was wonderful and I can highly
recommend it to anybody! Whilst I started out with the intention
to help and support the people and the place I love, I found myself
being the receiver of so many gifts: community, love and
friendship, time to find calm and peace... just to name a few. Thank
you very much to Sonia and Ad for creating this wonderful place
and Sangha. Thank you to the Sangha for all the great support
everybody is giving to make this place such a wonderful refuge. Marion
Notes about teacher-student relationship
My understandings during the last years of being in my teacher’s space have come not from
who the teacher is but from how she is doing what she is doing. The teacher is not offering
me her personality but is the teacher in how she acts. They offer me the teachings through
how they act with me in everyday life. And through this, a dependent relationship cannot
grow. On the contrary, they are offering me endless possibilities to practise and, as such, they
let themselves practise too. This leads to liberation and an independent way of growing. And
this becomes an aspiration for me that, in my intimate friendships, I can learn to cultivate this
way of being together because I can see that, through this kind of meeting, grows respect and
loving kindness.
“The Master has no mind of her own.
She works with the mind of the people.
She is good to people who are good.
She is good to people who aren’t good.
This is true goodness.
She trusts people who are trustworthy.
She also trusts people who aren’t trustworthy.
This is true trust.
The Master’s mind is like space.
People don’t understand her.
They look to her and wait.
She treats them like her own children.” (Tao Te Ching Lao Tzu)
Thank you Sonia and Ad for your open space in which we can move as your own children.
For all of the friends who have made this opportunity possible through their generous
support, creating a place for attending our teachers, a big bow and gratitude. And so let us
flow all together, near or far, with awareness of the preciousness of each of us.
And thank you to Jane for helping me express my thoughts in written English.
Amarana
December 2011 Page 10
At the end of Ad’s summer retreat on Loving
Kindness this August the group was sitting in
Maitreya house eating lunch and a couple of
people reminisced about what had brought them
to the practice at the Orchard. Later on I
reflected back to my own first visit to the Orchard
in the summer of 2004.
A friend of mine had been to one of Sonia’s
shiatsu weekends in Nottingham and the
experiences she described intrigued me. I
decided to sign up for a 5 day shiatsu Master
class at the Orchard soon after graduating from
my shiatsu course. At that time I knew very little
about Sonia’s teachings or the Orchard.
As the day of the workshop approached I felt
myself becoming increasingly nervous. On the
drive down from Derbyshire to the Orchard my
nervousness was becoming very uncomfortable. I
found myself lost on the Herefordshire country
lanes for about an hour. I think part of me was
looking for an excuse to just turn around and go
home.
Then by chance I found the Orchard. Ad was in
the garden and welcomed me with a smile. Sonia
was outside greeting people and introduced
herself and showed me to my room. My
nervousness was now reaching breaking point
and I found myself regressing back to behaviours
of a three year old child. Sonia walked me down
the path to Maitreya house and up the stairs to
the single room. She then told me she would
have to go and I stood alone in the room
engulfed by fear wondering what I had let myself
in for. I went down for supper accompanied by a
deep sense of apprehension and dread feeling
way out of my depth.
Walking into the first session in the Zendo I found
myself one of two men in a group of around
twenty people. After Sonia demonstrated the
various exercises and we practiced them I
experienced feelings of being clumsy, scruffy, too
big and awkward and just too male. As the
workshop progressed I found myself taking great
refuge in the sitting practice a space in which we
didn’t need to express ourselves or do anything
‘Just Sitting’.
Remembering the First Time
I slowly started to let people in and made some
nice connections. I also continued to feel very
self conscious and still felt very awkward
around some of the group. I began to find
myself mentally making excuses not to attend
the sessions ‘I have had enough input’, ‘I am
too inexperienced’. ‘Surely it would be better
for the group if I took time out’. Eventually I
plucked up the courage to talk to Sonia once I
had what I thought was an air tight excuse.
I stood in front of Sonia outside the Zendo and
started to tell her why I thought I should miss
the next session. Then to my own astonishment
I started to talk myself back into the session and
before I knew it I was back in the Zendo sitting
on my cushion. After the session I reflected
back on this surprising turn of events. All
through my childhood and adolescence I had
stubbornly held on to my point of view and
right to exclude myself despite the
compassionate attempts of others to involve
me. Yet here Sonia didn’t even speak one word
and my air tight excuse and fear dissolved, held
by the energy of Loving Kindness I rejoined the
group. It was a humbling lesson that there are
far greater forces than my own stubbornness.
Later on in the workshop I did miss a session
this time for more wholesome reasons with
Sonia’s support. At the end of the course I left
the Orchard with the feeling that something
deep and stuck was beginning to shift and
change.
John
December 2011 Page 11
The Bookshelf
Although not a dharma book I would like to mention an all-time favourite short
story – The Man Who Planted Trees, by Jean Giono.
Set in south-east France this allegorical tale tells the story of shepherd, Elzéard
Bouffier who lives alone and quietly begins to re-forest the land and hills around
him. Over 40 years he transforms a desolate, war-torn landscape and in so doing
transforms the people who live there. Written in the 1950’s, before concerns for
the environment became front page news, this lovely gentle book was ahead of
its time. Beautifully illustrated with woodcuts.
A very heart-warming and life-affirming story.
A Touch of Humour
If a man speaks in the forest, and there isn’t a woman to hear him, is he still wrong?
Wherever you go, there you are. Your luggage is another story.
Be here now. Be someplace else later. Is that so complicated?
To find your true nature, look within.
Deep inside you are ten thousand flowers.
Each flower blossoms ten thousand times.
Each blossom has ten thousand petals.
You might want to see a specialist.
And finally:
Q: How much "ego" do you need?
A: Just enough so that you don't step in front of a bus.
Shunryu Suzuki
� Contact Details E-� Offers of assistance - Gill - [email protected] or on 01981 241315 Healing Requests to Blue Healer Minds - Sarah on [email protected] Bursary Fund - Gini at [email protected] Finance - Jo on [email protected] or on 01432 890312 Newsletter - Sandra - for comments and contributions – at [email protected] or on 013873 70787 Orchard Sangha Website – www.orchardsangha.com