December 2019: Making the Invisible Visible

Making the Invisible Visible

"Practicing mindful awareness of these aspects of our conditioning and habits of the mind helps us to know what we are up against within ourselves as we seek to make change in the world.The capacity to recognize and accept where we are and to investigate what must be changed to minimize the harm that our own views and blindspots cause others is essential to the work of racial justice. And the capacity to do all of this with as little attachment and identification to the outcome is essential to true liberation."

Rhonda Magee

https://tricycle.org/magazine/race-meditation/

A Force More Powerful is a documentary series on one of the 20th century’s most important and least-known stories: how nonviolent power overcame oppression and authoritarian rule. It includes six cases of movements, and each case is approximately 30 minutes long. 

Watch for free:

A Force More Powerful

Extinction Rebellion

Extinction Rebellion

On Sunday, October 20th, we heard a presentation on Extinction Rebellion. Buddhists, including some from the Plum Village tradition, David Loy, and Thanissara, are involved in this group. Here is some information:

Extinction Rebellion US Demands and Principles

Extinction Rebellion - Ithaca Information Sign Up Form

Ecodharma - David Loy

Thanissara

Climate Strike Action - Friday September 20th

A group of us intend to attend the the Climate Strike on Friday, https://www.facebook.com/events/515764929211654/.

We are following a prompt by the Earth Holder Sangha in the Plum Village tradition, to practice deep listening at the strike, sitting with a sign stating "Concerned about Mother Earth? Fellow citizen willing to listen.”

If you intend to join us in this practice, please read and watch the links below, which teaches about the transformative power of deep listening and some of the practices necessary to get into the deep listening practice.

We also ask that everyone commits to doing a sitting practice prior to attending the event, so that we can be in a better place to listen.

We will be meeting and doing a walking meditation around the commons prior to our deep listening practice.

If you intend to attend with us, please send a DM to Anise at le.bananier@gmail.com so she can communicate further logistics.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyUxYflkhzo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pojo9rR0h7E
https://www.mindful.org/deep-listening/

June 2019 Active Hope: THREE STORIES OF OUR TIME

JUNE 2019 MEETING: THREE STORIES OF OUR TIME

An excerpt from Active Hope by Joanna Macy and Chris Johnstone

In any great adventure, there are always obstacles in the way. The first hurdle is just to be aware that we, as a civilization and as a species, are facing a crisis point. When we look at mainstream society, and the priorities expressed or goals pursued it is hard to see much evidence of this awareness. In the first chapter we try to make sense of the huge gap between the scale of the emergency and the size of the response by describing how our perceptions are shaped by the story we identify with. We describe three stories, or versions of reality, each acting as a lens through which we see and understand what's going on.

In the first of these, Business as Usual, the defining assumption is that there is little need to change the way we live. Economic growth is regarded as essential for prosperity, and the central plot is about getting ahead. The second story, the Great Unraveling, draws attention to the disasters that Business as Usual is taking us toward, as well as those it has already brought about. It is an account, backed by evidence, of the collapse of ecological and social systems, the disturbance of climate, the depletion of resources, and the mass extinction of species.

The third story is held and embodied by those who know the first story is leading us to catastrophe and who refuse to let the second story have the last word. Involving the emergence of new and creative human responses, it is about the epochal transition from an industrial society committed to economic growth to a life-sustaining society committed to the healing and recovery of our world. We call this story the Great Turning. The central plot is finding and offering our gift of Active Hope.

There is no point in arguing about which of these stories is "right." All three are happening . The question is: which one do we want to put our energy behind? The first chapter is about looking at where we are and choosing the story we want our lives to express. The rest of the book focuses on how we strengthen our capacity to contribute to the Great Turning in the best way we can.

May Meeting: When We Look Deeply

When We Look Deeply: May's Meeting Topic

“Of course, it is very difficult to forgive the person who harms us. Our first response is anger and a desire for revenge. We suffer. If, however, we are able to look deeply in light of interdependent co-arising, we may be able to see that if we had grown up, been educated, or experienced life the way that that criminal had, we would not be very different from him. When we understand this, we may even begin to feel protective toward him instead of angry or vengeful.

In the Buddhist tradition there are many stories, called Jatakas, of the previous lives of the Buddha. As a bodhisattva, he practiced inclusiveness and forbearance. There are stories of him smiling while his body is being sawed into pieces.As a young boy I read the Jatakas and I could not understand how a human being could be that patient and forgiving. I was too young to understand that the Buddha was able to practice that way because he had the eyes of understanding and could see the causes and conditions that had led to the cruelty and inhumanity of the person who was harming him. "The ability to see" is the raw material in a bodhisattva that leads to great compassion. Someone who has not looked deeply and has not yet tasted great compassion cannot understand the inclusiveness of a bodhisattva. But when, having looked deeply, we get even a small taste of compassion, we are able to understand and love those who are cruel and irresponsible. We are able to understand the smile of the bodhisattva.”

We read some excerpts, including this one, from an article by Thich Nhat Hanh, When We Look Deeply, from the Summer 2019 Issue of Buddhadharma. From the book: Understanding Our Mind: Fifty Verses on Buddhist Psychology (Parallax Press)

This was followed by a guided meditation from Joanna Macy's website: Gaia Meditation.

April's meeting topic - 

Some excerpts from Oren Jay Sofer's book Say What You Mean - a mindful approach to nonviolent communication. https://more.orenjaysofer.com/book/

"WHAT WE SAY matters. We've each felt the power that words have to heal, soothe, or uplift us. Even one caring remark can make the difference between giving up and finding the strength to face life's challenges.

We each also know something of the great harm that can be inflicted through speech. Sharp words laced with anger or cruelty can break a relationship and burn for years. Language can be used to manipulate and coerce on a mass scale, to fuel fear, war, and oppression, and to advance
political agendas of genocide or terror. Few things so powerful are also so commonplace."

Here is a link to an article which is also an excerpt from the book:

https://tricycle.org/magazine/mindful-communication-practice/

March Meeting Topic:
When Zenju Earthlyn Manuel was assigned to clean the Zen temple, she felt generations of oppression rise in her. Conversing with her ancestors about what this work really meant helped her see how it could be healing.

https://www.lionsroar.com/sweeping-my-heart/

Know Your Enemy

Know Your Enemy: February 17th Meeting Topic

"Eventually you will even be able to see the beauty in your enemy, and you will feel free of inner anxiety about them. Then, whenever you happen to meet that person, you will notice that they seem less troublesome to you. And your new attitude toward your former enemy will affect them, too, and they will be less antagonistic toward you, though they may not consciously know why. Now you can meditate on seeing your life as one of being among friends."

Robert Thurman, excerpted from Lion's Roar article: Know Your Enemy