Hi everyone

The group discussion followed a shared reading of the 14 Mindfulness trainings. The overall experience was one of openess and that these Trainings were more supportive than prohibitive.

There will not be a meeting on Sunday 14th Feb as the Pebbles Sangha in Brighton are holding a Day of Mindfulness, 10 - 4.30 at Patcham Community Centre. This really is a wonderful opportunity to support your practice and take some time out to take care of yourself.  If anyone would like to come for the day please let me know, or visit their website www.pebblessangha.com

Breathing in I smile, Breathing Out I release………Smile / Release

Hi everyone

The Dharma training retreat on Concentration last weekend was a wonderful experience of learning and sharing. The next retreat on Wisdom is in April in the New Barn cottage in Devon. There is also the National retreat with Thich Nhat Hanh in Nottingham this summer. Please let me know if you need more details or check the events diary on the COI website, www.interbeing.org.uk.

A Lotus to You

John

As Collyers is closed due to the conditions we will not be meeting this Sunday 10th Jan. There is no meeting on the 17th due to a retreat so the next Sangha gathering will be the 24th.

Breathing in I see the True nature of snow
Breathing out I smile to the snow

I am away on these dates so there will not be a group then.

To simply stay with your experience of life, to own it, take reponsability, means we need to stop and be here, now.                                                                       I find this practice unbearable and flit away from my life often, several times a day. I dispair and find reasons not to Practice. Each time I meet this place I fail in my courage to be fully alive, because I am still controlled by unseen fears from my past and future. What can I do? Smile, breathe and return to Mindfulness when I can. And when I do return, I realise my practice had never stopped, I was never lost. Thoughts and reflections most welcome. With metta. John.

Zazen is a challenging practice. Sometimes we can feel lost, unsure of why we are sitting here, yet again? Another thought, another breath, staying with your life just as it is.  The following poem by Rumi can help when your pracice falters, on day one, or one thousand and one……..

Come, come whoever you are, 

Even if you are a wanderer, worshipper, lover of leaving, 

Ours is not a caravan of despair. 

Come, even if you have broken your vows a thousand times

 Come, come, come yet again

This is because we are meeting Saturday 21st for the day of meditation.

A couple of future Sundays the group are not meeting are Sunday 19th April and Sunday 3rd May 2009.

Following the reading from Pema Chodron ‘When things fall Apart’ and the group discussion I have spent much of this week watching my little dramas unfold when I have been nailed by life!  To simply stay with the body experience of anger or frustration rather than act out is suprisingly difficult. Not only that, but how much my life is spent in these ’soap operas’, dragging my disatisfaction with life around with me, grumbling that the universe is not bending to my will. Sense of Humour definitley needed to work with this practice.

With a deep bow

John

This practice is important both as a place to share without the need to explain and to notice how we are affected by others. To be heard and accepted is a a rare and valuable experience.  This part of our evening is the culmination of our work together as a group and the level of trust and openess shown was wonderful.

Taking refuge is a fundamental teaching in Buddhism, I really feel we can all take refuge in the Horsham Sangha for support in our lives and practice. Thankyou.

There was some discussion on Sunday about how our relationship to pain or discomfort can be part of Practice. To be able to stay with the present moment, particularly in times of difficulty or challenge, offers the opportunity to deepen our experience of life; To see more clearly.

Mindfulness in our everyday life can help to stay ‘experiencing’, to be how we are, rather than ‘having the experience’ and being seperated from our life. To do this, notice what dramas are created in your mind when you are challenged by life this week, and practice returning to the bare experience of each moment. It can help to label your thoughts and use your breath to anchor you in your body.  With a deep bow, John.