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The monthly newsletter of Dharma Flower Sangha...this month on the topic of gratefulness!
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Our monthly newsletter for November 2012...on gratitefulness! Email not displaying correctly?View it in your browser.
Admirable FriendsDharma Flower Sangha Newsletter
NOVEMBER 2012
Dis-Ease?Tam Gioi (Chris O'Brien)
Recognizing the availability
of ease in the here & now,
I wonder, why so much dis-
ease?
While dwelling in the
present moment, enjoying
a beautiful day, a knot or
bout of anxiety. Where did
you come from? How do we
say hello & let you go?
Grateful for this human
birth & the births of all
sentient beings, discord
arises. Mindfulness,
skillfulness & dwelling in
the present moment will
quiet the storm, won't it?
Appreciative of the causes
& conditions that allow for
a sustaining livelihood,
challenges appear. Hard
work is supposed to equal
stability isn't it? Aren't my
co-workers supposed to do
things the way I think they
should?
A roller coaster ride.
Climbing hills towards the
wonder that is available in
each moment. Let go off
the crossbar, throw your
hands up and plunge in to
this moment...and this
moment...and...
Moments spent outside of
this one; I think that is why
there is so much dis-ease.
Sangha news
We will hold a refuge
ceremony on Thursday,
December 6. Anyone
wishing to take refuge and
receive the precepts may
do so on this date. Please
contact Sister Phap Chan
for more information.
The Dharma Flower
Sangha Service and
Practice Book is now
available on the Web, to
read online or to
download. Look for it on
the "Our Publications" page
of our web site.
GRATEFULNESS
These two people are hard to find in the world. Which
two? The one who is first to do a kindness, and the one
who is grateful and thankful for a kindness done.
Anguttara Nikaya 2.118
We all know what gratefulness is. Or do we? Here is Br.
David Steindl-Rast's definition: “…it is our full
appreciation of something altogether unearned, utterly
gratuitous--life, existence, ultimate belonging--and this is
the literal meaning of grate-full-ness. In a moment of
gratefulness, you do not discriminate. You fully accept
the whole of this given universe, as you are fully one with
the whole.” This is not about writing thank-you notes.
This is high-level spiritual practice!
"Full appreciation" requires our mindfulness, our
presence. And what about "unearned, utterly gratuitous"?
Can we open ourselves to the possibility of gratefulness
for something that we did nothing to earn? Have we
noticed these gifts--"life, existence, ultimate belonging"?
They are not material objects, not services rendered, not
appreciation earned. Life, existence, and ultimate
belonging are our birthright as humans.
Now consider how gratefulness requires that we "do not
discriminate." Life, existence, and ultimate belonging
aren't always beautiful and happy. Br. David is asking us
to embrace, to "fully accept," the entirety of our
existence...the good, the bad, the indifferent. And in
doing this, we become "fully one with the whole." If
gratefulness is present, we are not separated from our
experience nor are we separated from others. We might
even suggest that gratefulness is the fifth Immeasurable
Mind!
Practicing mindfulness of gratitude consistently leads to a
direct experience of being connected to life and the
realization that there is a larger context in which your
personal story is unfolding. Being relieved of the endless
wants and worries of your life's drama, even temporarily,
is liberating.
Phillip Moffit
Each week, the sangha
engages in a different
practice. Here's our
monthly schedule by
week:
1. Deep Listening
2. Dharma
Contemplation
3. Precepts Recitation
and Repentance
4. Dharma Talk and
Dharma Discussion
(No practice on
Thanksgiving.)
5. Dharma Cake
(yes...you read that
correctly...CAKE!
And, yes, November
does have 5
Thursdays!)
Dharma Flower Blog
A few sample posts from
our blog:
• The purpose of
renunciation
• Living in the Body:
A Poem
• Making a fresh start
in life: repentance
• Verses to purify the
mind
Also find us on Facebook
and Meetup!
Learn more
• The best resource on the Web for gratefulness
• A touching video narrated by Br. David Steindl-Rast,
"A Good Day"
• A beautiful, short video by Louis Schwartzberg,
"Take Time Out For Gratitude"
• An ecumenical blessing to offer on Thanksgiving, by
Thich Nhat Hanh
• "Thanksgiving and Aimless Love," an audio Dharma
talk by Joan Halifax Roshi
• Learn about the Japanese practice of Naikan
(gratitude)
• Several enjoyable Web resources on gratefulness to
explore
• "Thanks A Lot for Gratitude," a video Dharma talk
by Ajahn Brahm
• Movies with a focus on gratefulness..."Smell of
Camphor, Fragrance of Jasmine"; "Babette's
Feast"; "Wings of Desire"
• "Gratitude in the Buddha's Teachings," a small
booklet by Ven. Nyanadassana Bhikkhu
• A lovely Buddhist song on gratitude (in Chinese with
English translation)
• Subscribe to an email service to receive quotes on
gratefulness every day
For children...
• A song about gratitude from Plum Village that is
great for children and adults
• A video about gratitude, based on a traditional
Native American prayer
forward this newsletter to a friend
Our mailing address is:
Phap Hoa Buddhist Temple
85 Prospect St
Vernon, CT06066
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