Happy New Year 2016

Hello Beautifuls, on this bright snow-covered Tahoe New Year's Eve day! I woke with one of my favorite gathas (practice poems) from Thich Nhat Hanh sounding like a bell of mindfulness (pic on the left).

It seems a most appropriate aspiration for new year 2016 and the January Inner Constellation theme of diligence. In this high-paced age, it takes tremendous fortitude to find time in the day for stillness and live connected to peace, understanding and love. In the last 24 hours I could have been pulled away by the plethora of phone calls, emails, personal computer crashing (!), warnings of terrorist strikes, drama of an intense family session...or, use each and every experience as an opportunity to practice what matters most--my North Stars. It takes diligence to stay oriented and not be carried away by ever-changing circumstances. It also takes diligence to stay grounded in the present moment and not let the past or future pull us away. Thich Nhat Hanh points out (and I'm paraphrasing) that the past has informed this very moment in time and this present moment creates the future. It's possible to heal the past by choosing love, understanding and peace today, right this very minute. In so doing, we transform beautifully into the future. Ahhh, I'm looking forward to practicing diligence with you guys in the coming month of January.* 

I have found the single most successful tool for keeping me on track is community. Please consider diving even deeper by joining Lake Tahoe Mindfulness Community upstairs in the Lotus Room every Wednesday morning from 7:30a-8:30a (we meet diligently:). It's a blessing to have a group of people devoted to living beautifully. Love you each to the moon and back and wishing you and your loved ones a blessed 2016!

*If you would like to receive the Mon-Fri Inner Constellation email blip as my gift to you, please contact me. It's short, sweet and sure to inspire!

Winter Mindfulness Retreat--December 5, 2015

LTMC is looking most forward to hosting the Half-day Winter Retreat coming up in a few weeks. Please invite your friends and family to join you for a day of restoration as we prepare for the holiday season. Bring a cup, spoon and napkin to enjoy a warming agent as we take our practice to Paradise Park for walking meditation and enjoy the sanctuary upstairs in The Studio. It promises to be a special day of relaxation, concentration, insight and sweet community. I can think of no better way to introduce our Winter Retreat theme of "Stillness," than with a poem:

Stillness of the Dawn
©Karla Johnston 2010

As I slumber,
perfect peace covers the land.
Bird spreads its wings in flight,
soaring entirely of its own volition.
Tree synchronizes a slow, bending dance
to extend a providential resting place.

Might I,
upon waking-up to stillness,
embrace such intimate rapport?

 LTMC looks forward to seeing everyone on December 5 and wishes everyone a treasured Thanksgiving. 

Solidarité

I've spent the last few days mindfully attending to the sadness that I felt watching the attacks in Paris over the weekend. I was reminded of Thich Nhat Hanh's insight that understanding is necessary in the midst of violence. How can we understand such acts?

I posted to my larger OI community, who support me in my mentoring process for lay ordination (in Thich Nhat Hanh's Plum Village tradition). I received much calm and steady support, and these resources are shared on the Lake Tahoe Mindfulness Community Facebook page. Then, as is my deepest practice, I began to write--my way of gaining understanding. This blog article and this week's Inner Constellation Blessings* are the start. Before I began my writing practice, I consulted Hafiz (remember my love affair with this poet began a few weeks ago). Here's what he had to say about the events in Paris:

I Have Learned So Much

I
Have
Learned
So much from God
That I can no longer
Call
Myself

A Christian, a Hindu, a Muslim,
A Buddhist, a Jew.

The Truth has shared so much of Itself
With me

That I can no longer call myself
A man, a woman, an angel,
Or even pure
Soul.

Love has
Befriended Hafiz so completely
It has turned to ash
And freed
Me

Of every concept and image
My mind has ever known.


Beautiful Hafiz, you are nectar to my sadness, and it transforms as all things do. Now it's time for skillful action. I look forward to continuing the discussion in Lake Tahoe Mindfulness Community, a group that meets weekly, dedicated to practicing understanding and love within ourselves and with our loved ones. The writings will continue...for now, today's Inner Constellation Blessing:


11/16 Inner Constellation Blessing: Solidarité
©2015 Karla Johnston, InnerConstellation.com
Fixed views have the potential for much violence and intolerance. True peace and understanding is born when we relinquish our claims to the truth and listen deeply to the suffering and joy of others. Daily, constantly--let go and listen. 


*If you would like to receive the IC blessing gift, a short blip of inspiration sent to your inbox M-F, please contact me. 

"Letting Go"

Yesterday Tahoe received the first snow fall of the season. As I watched the autumn leaves release from the branches, the November IC theme emerged--"Letting Go." I'm inspired to practice holding onto nothing, being as the leaves and letting go of the past beautifully.

I had an opportunity to look deeply at this theme yesterday, as my work took me into a situation with an enormous amount of suffering. Today, I sit in front of my crackling fireplace in comfortable layers, having just finished a bowl of warm oatmeal. I sip my cinnamon tea and contemplate the happiness in my heart, even though the conditions of yesterday transpired. What is this ability to be present with suffering and yet still find the qualities of peace, compassion and joy? I believe "letting go" may be one ingredient and the understanding that my love is greater than my suffering.

I've come to a monumental conclusion of late in my daily practice--suffering seems a result of holding on; the more I can let go, the more my suffering ceases. When I let go, my peace, compassion and care can grow and interestingly, my capacity to be with suffering increases.

Sitting in front of the fire, writing this article, I am warm, comfortable, empty, and in this state, it's much easier to be filled. I look forward to practicing "letting go," with you all in the month of November. May your day be filled with sweet practice opportunities.

It's Turned Into a Love Affair!

Hafiz

©2015 Karla Johnston, InnerConstellation.com

What to do with this man who moves me to tears? 

No longer a man, in truth,

or perhaps he never was—

for now, I call him

“Breath of God.”

Entering my center and stoking a fire

too often grown cold 

by my own negligence.

How do I keep this fanning Breath of God?

I know the answer:

Bow deep, 

Be still…

hold the flaming torch

and pass Eternal Light to others. 

Poet, Hafiz, alive 700 years ago has penetrated me. If you're a soul who needs nourishment in a busy world, please spend time in his verse (The Gift). I promise, the watering will be deep. Here's a taste of one of my favorites: short, sweet, true: 

The Sun Never Says  ~Hafiz

Even

After

All this time

The sun never says to the earth,

"You owe

Me."

Look 

What happens

With a love like that,

It lights the 

Whole 

Sky.

I swoon! Sweet blessings this weekend, Dear Friends.  

Hafiz, Beloved Friend

A few weeks ago, I discovered the Persian poet, Hafiz, who lived during the 1300's, about 100 years after Rumi. A collection of poems, "The Gift," sat on my shelf close to a year until I finally cracked it open, shortly after the Fall Mindfulness Retreat. As I read, I smile, remembering our retreat theme of "befriend" and how this new companion, Hafiz, has made his way to me. The above poem seems to sum up the Inner Constellation ideal and the practice of mindful living:

I am
A hole in a flute
That the Christ's breath moves through--

I am an animation of the divine: a living, breathing, pulsing life force.

...Listen to this 
Music.

Listening to how life becomes alive in us is the practice of mindful living--attending, paying attention--When I interact with my world, is my breath tight, restricted, even or flowing? Do I have resistance to what presents or am I free? Is holy breath animating me or have I plugged up the flute holes?

I appreciate the metaphor of "A hole in a flute," implying more than one hole and more than one flute. It describes perfectly the interbeing nature of us, our connection to others and the fact that I am one expression of many. My experience of "God" will differ from another's experience of "God"--many flutes, many flute holes, animating us.

Listen to this music...honor ourselves, honor one another, pay attention, listen deeply and appreciate the beautiful expressions we encounter. Today, Hafiz's remembrance will serve as my mantra, a sweet gatha to guide my practice and interactions with others. I am, you are, Holy beings; Listen, listen, to the music.

Fall Mindfulness Retreat 2015: Befriend

Join us for a morning of mindfulness which will include walking meditation at Paradise Park or another lookout point option. Bundle up, bring your layers and a cup and spoon to enjoy warm victuals to support our practice. September 26 promises to be a day of beauty in our Tahoe community. Please join our FB event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/1647122015546252/

Leaves change,
a gentle wind blows
and with you, my friend,
we breathe in, we breathe out....