April 2021 Little Bell E-Newsletter
Submitted by Dharmacharya Bill Woodall
I recently came across this small piece of writing in my computer. It’s been a gift to be able to gather online, but it made me smile to think that we might get to meet in person again before too long.
Anyone who’s been involved with a community for more than a few years has asked themselves this question: Why am I still doing this? Usually it comes when we are tired, or there’s been conflict in the community, or maybe we had a long day at work and simply don’t have the energy to set up the hall and take it down one more time. This feeling passes, of course, for most of us. We keep on working in the large and small ways we can to nurture and support the community that tries to live in harmony and awareness.
If we remain involved it’s because the Three Jewels have struck a chord within us, and we need that music to continue sounding. But there are reasons outside of us as well, reasons that relate to other people, reasons that remind us that we are practicing for others and not just for ourselves. Recently I’ve had two strong reminders that fall into this category.
Several times a year a familiar face will come in the door, but I won’t be able to come up with a name. They usually say something that runs along these lines:
“Hi Bill. I’m so glad the Sangha is still here. I used to sit with you 10 years ago, and I drifted away. But I really need to sit with the community tonight.”
The second reminder came at the end of our fall retreat last year. We were given a small grant by the Thich Nhat Hanh foundation, and part of our terms for fulfilling the grant was to send examples of “transformational stories.” Several people shared their experiences, and they were different somehow from the usual evaluations. One man wrote about the busyness and stress associated with work, marriage, and a large family. He closed by saying that being at the retreat was “like a breath of air to a drowning man.”
I’ll try to remember people like this the next time I don’t “feel” like building Sangha. Our practice and our community truly are gifts, for them and for me. The small efforts required of me to support the community are magnified many times. I can do it.
Offering for The Little Bell - April 2021
Submitted By Dharmacharya Michele Tae, Chan Linh Anh (True Spiritual Peace)
“The future is being made by the present, so the best way to take care of the future is to take care of the present moment.” — Thich Nhat Hanh
Outside my window birdsong can be heard, sharp and quick: “tweet, tweet, ta ta, tweet, tweet, ta ta, tweet.” It is early Spring and the tiny leaves on the Weeping Green Japanese Maple are gently unfolding into the afternoon sunshine. The Song Sparrows and the Green House Finches are singing as they begin collecting materials to build their nests, where soon baby birds will join the chorus. The blue sky frames the gently rolling hills that are so familiar to those of us who live in Peace Valley (also known as Barber Valley). The hills that lie to the North of the Valley can be seen through the tree branches, and white and grey clouds drift gently in the brilliant blue sky. This present moment is truly a beautiful moment.
The waking up of Spring is also marked by the emergence of friends and family who have been distant from each other for close to a year due to the Covid-19 epidemic. While many of us have come to weekly Sangha, seen each other, heard each other speak: we have not felt the intimacy of being together in person. A kind of warmth can be felt from seeing someone’s image on a screen. Yet, when that person is standing in front of you, there is a transmission of sorts, and we may feel their vitality and aliveness in a tender way, especially since it has likely been so long since we were last together in person. Now is a time of joy and celebration. Yet, this is not a time of forgetting!
We may ask ourselves: what have I learned about myself and my mindfulness practice over these past many months? What have I learned from wearing a mask, from the silence - from the solitude? It may be too soon to ask these questions! It may be best to go slow because there is much that we do not yet know. I am also aware that Mother Earth is dancing her own dance. The Corona Virus and Climate Change are not separate, just as we are not separate from each other or Mother Earth!
Thay tells us, “We can only take care of our future by taking care of the present moment, because the future is made of only one substance: the present. Only if you are anchored in the present, can you prepare well for the future.” Thay also tells us,”We are here to awaken from our illusion of separateness.” As a Sangha, we can meet this challenge together.