Fearlessness...GRRRRRR

Month of May brings snow to Tahoe and fierce resilience as bright Daffodils push up and out in spite of stormy elements. Tahoe spring seems the perfect metaphor given our theme of "fearlessness." What does it mean to be fearless when one is committed to practicing peace, compassion and understanding?

A mindfulness training comes to mind:

Aware that words can create happiness or suffering, we are committed to learning to speak truthfully, lovingly and constructively. We will use only words that inspire joy, confidence and hope as well as promote reconciliation and peace in ourselves and among other people. 

It goes on to say...

We will do our best to speak out about situations of injustice, even when doing so may make difficulties for us or threaten our safety. (9th Mindfulness Training (of the 14): Truthful and Loving Speech)

Fearlessness is required when engaging in Truthful and Loving speech--not to be carried away by another's words or actions but staying anchored to our commitment to practice peace and understanding. Yet, as we engage with our world, this training recognizes that situations of injustice will arise and we are obligated to do our best to speak out in a truthful and loving way.

Whom are examples of people modeling and living such fearlessness? Martin Luther King, Gandhi, Thich Nhat Hanh, Hafiz, Malala Yousafzai, Maya Angelou, we could go on. It's the fruits of such teachers that enable us to know with certainty that we too can be fierce in choosing freedom, love, peace, and understanding above all else. Doing so on a moment-by-moment basis becomes our fearless acts of resistance.

True fearlessness seems to require open-heartedness, not turning away or shielding ourselves but engaging fully, using North Stars we hold dear: kindness, compassion, freedom, peace....GRRRRRR, we're kittens, but we're also lions!

Four Questions...

I approach this day with an open heart.

Some mornings as eyes open to morning light, a sweet little invocation slips in. This particular morning, I shared the above snippet with a friend of mine, Hillary, who remarked that the words were "timely and timeless." Indeed, it seems that with rest and stillness, comes clarity that transcends time and space and befits situations we may find ourselves in.

Recently while care-giving and doing Metta for a beloved one, four questions came to mind:

1) What is your suffering?
2) What can I do to help?
3) What are your joys?
4) What can I do to lengthen them?

When our hearts stay open and we listen deeply, the answers to the above questions materialize. As life unfolds and we care for our beloveds, interact with our "not-so-beloveds," have fun and manage difficult situations, it's possible to look deeply and discover--What's your suffering and how can I help? What are your joys and how can I lengthen them? We can ask these four questions to ourselves as well, taking care of our pain and remembering to also water seeds of peace and joy as we move through this glorious life. In every moment of the day, we have opportunities to practice keeping our hearts open and free....

Emptiness Is Not Nothingness

Avalokita 

This week in community the topic of "emptiness" was explored with much sharing about the realization that when we hold onto a specific form, we suffer. Instances were mentioned regarding our felt sufferings when a loved one passes away. A dear one in attendance had experienced the loss of an immediate family member just a few days ago and related.

It's interesting that in Native American tradition, when a loved one dies, it's believed that we gain fuller access to their wisdom ~ for there is no longer a form keeping us separate. What a lovely idea to practice with.

Discourse on Absolute Truth comes to mind with the following directives:

When seeing, hearing, or sensing something and considering it as the only thing that can bring comfort...one is always inclined to get caught in it and rule out everything else as inferior.

Why is spiritual form less than physical form? Perhaps we fear the nothingness of ourselves or our beloved one, but is that ever possible? Or perhaps we've become attached to the idea of our loved one being a form we can see, hear, and experience physically. Zen enjoys immensely the questioning process for it promotes concentration and ultimately insight.

Come stretch, feel, pull, experience with LTMC, the great wonders that are outside our perceptions of solid space and time this week. It's our commitment to practice with emptiness as a space full of possibilities. We are interwoven, connected beyond the boundaries of a separate self, free of identity or form. Is your head spinning yet? We'll see you next week :)

MP3 of Avalokita Heart Sutra
Sutra lyrics

Sowing Seeds (And Digging Up Roots)

I just returned from a Deer Park retreat in Escondido, CA, a mindfulness practice center in the tradition of Plum Village/Thich Nhat Hanh. The retreat theme was, "Turning Outward with Inward Stability," with the encouragement to increase our engagement with our world. Mindfulness practice is twofold:

1) taking care of suffering 
2) cultivating happiness and freedom

Another way to look at this might be to know the mud, but to also know the lotuses. How do we cultivate delight everyday? How do we encourage the lotus to grow and push up through the muck? 

These questions corresponds nicely with the April mindfulness theme of sowing seeds. How do we plant seeds of peace, love and understanding in our daily lives? When we engage someone with our smile, hold the door open for an elder, shovel snow for our neighbor (spring in Tahoe:), we sow seeds that can't help but grow beautiful flowers. These simple acts could be called right conditions. Using our spring gardens as metaphors--with fertile ground, sunlight and rain, the cherry tree blooms effortlessly. Consciously cultivating the right conditions in ourselves and in our loved ones is our mindfulness practice. When we do so, suffering is lessened right away.    

I feel a poem coming on...."In the garden of a clear mind, a flower blooms..."

Spring Mindfulness Retreat: April 30, 2017

Come soak up a day of sitting and walking meditation in community to celebrate spring as it comes to the mountains of Tahoe! We will practice with the theme of "Sowing Seeds," during a day interspersed with song and practice poetry. Yummy, light fare will be provided to warm our bellies as we take our practice outside. Please bring a mug for soup and tea as well as a spoon and napkin to support our eating meditation. Feel free to bring a light vegan dish to share, or if you're not of the nature to cook, there will be plenty of opportunities to serve in other ways to ensure that everyone has a comfortable and enjoyable day.

Jesus In A Flower Pot

 

Happy Spring, everyone! Although Tahoe is still locked in snow tunnels--the Robins have arrived, chipmunks are out of hibernation and the doves are cooing! Below is a Spring Tribute, please enjoy and may it benefit your practice of looking deeply....

Jesus In A Flower Pot

©2017 Karla Johnston, InnerConstellation.com

Jogging alongside Tahoe snow banks 7 feet high, 

baking in March sunshine,
I run on black warmed asphalt.

Spring run-off gurgles through gutters like a river
as Gore-Tex runners
skim through the wet,
splashing snow-melt
in sprays of liquid light.

Neighbor's house is passed for the hundredth time,
but in this moment, snow has melted and crumbled away,
exposing a beraggled flower pot--
a tiny plastic Jesus stands askew among the carnage of winter,
water jug tipped,
cradling a loaf of bread—
compassion's cup extended.

Feet stop running,
hands come together in one full breath…
bow
and receive
spring's blessing.

How Does One Experience Nirvana?

LTMC, dang, you guys, we're going deep! This week we just began our new book, "No Death, No Fear" which led to the discussion of Nirvana. One definition of Nirvana is the extinction of all notions, all ideas. We tried wrapping our heads around that possibility and how exactly to succeed in extinguishing our notions. An example of a tangerine was presented and how by pure experience we taste the yummy fruit yet are not shaken when the tangerine is no longer a yummy fruit but rather fuel digesting in our stomach! Can we have similar appreciation for beautiful moments, painful moments, knowing that the only truth is impermanence and the fact that form will undoubtedly change. How can we let go of our notions and experience Nirvana? Unanimously, we decided--it's a practice! Our community discussion settled and a little ditty was born. Please enjoy and may it benefit your practice....

How Does One Experience Nirvana?
©Karla Johnston, InnerConstellation.com

“Nirvana is the extinction of all notions…all ideas.”
~The Heart of the Buddha’s Teachings, Thich Nhat Hanh

Woke at 4:00am wide awake…
checked on sweet P, elderly cancer cat,
who sat, head up,
as she pushed affectionately into hands reaching
through moonlight for tangible reassurance.
Buried my nose behind her ear,
filled up with warm, sleepy scent—ambrosia.

Back to bed,
followed my breath,
noticed the catch between inhalation and exhalation.

At 7:00am, woke to administer medication, food preparation
and identified the clouds brewing—restlessness.
Nephews court date is tomorrow morning,
the separation of our 2,000 miles deepened the heart-chasm….

Burst of energy had me answering emails, cleaning kitchen
before I finally pulled myself from the whirlwind I had become,
sat by Sweet P and opened my journal,
“I’ve got to write this out,” I convinced myself.
First sentence, “I’m a busy bee, unable to get to the cushion...”

I pause, smile and realize—writing it out isn’t what it used to be.
A landmark sentence hits the page, “I just need to sit.”
Close journal, shut eyes, follow breathing:
body,
feelings,
mind,
objects of mind.
In doing so, calm arises,
concentration,
happiness, even joy
as perspective naturally widens.

Space. Stillness. Insight—
writing it out, talking it out, fuels the telling of a story:
Sweet P is not only cancer.
She is 2# of deceptive tough fluff found by the roadside,
rolling-on-head-in-sunshine honey girl.
Nephew is bright eyed, ripping off baby clothes to run wild through the petting zoo,
squealer-of-delight.
We are so much more than narrative,
a running commentary!

When a story is no longer told,
the characters break free.
In one breath of awareness,
all suffering ceases.
I suddenly remember our Eternity.