Monday, January 26, we will meet online.
Please Note
The prediction is for a snowstorm starting Sunday and extremely cold temperatures for a few days. If the weather is unsafe, we will move our Monday Sangha meeting online. Please stay tuned, and we will send an email on Monday to let you know whether we will be meeting in person or online.
Dear friends,
This week, we will meet Monday evening, January 26, from 7-8:30PM ET in person at our meditation space (3812 Northampton Street NW); Wednesday morning, January 28, from 7-8AM ET online; and Friday, January 30, 12-1PM ET online.
Annie will facilitate with Sharon and Suzanne S.
On Monday, after our meditation period we will again read the Five Mindfulness Trainings with a focus on the third training.
The Five Mindfulness Trainings have their root in the Five Precepts offered by the Buddha. They have been expanded and updated so that they represent a way to bring mindfulness into every area of life.
Rather than hard and fast rules, the mindfulness trainings offer us a path to cultivate and develop actions of body, speech, and mind that can create a more healthy and compassionate world. We read them each month as a way to deepen our understanding of them and to recommit ourselves to practicing the way of understanding and love.
Some people choose to “receive” the Five Mindfulness Trainings from a Plum Village Dharma teacher along with a Dharma name that can help guide them in their practice. A new name can become a new way of facing the world, more solidly grounded in the practice and in the sangha.
We had a local transmission of the trainings in Oakton, Virginia, on January 3 of this year. Two of our Opening Heart friends received the transmission of the trainings at the ceremony. They will join us on Monday to share their experiences.
I received the Five Mindfulness Trainings and my 5MT Dharma name from Thich Nhat Hanh (Thay) on a family retreat. I was given the name Joyful Purpose of the Heart, which led me to more deeply consider a purpose that would bring me (and others) more joy. I wrote a story about my Dharma name and how it helped me develop more clarity in the Mindfulness Bell in 2006. You can read it here (and also see a picture of me from 20 years ago :-).
Since then, my understanding of the trainings continues to deepen, although I never feel that I have done them well enough. And that’s okay, because the trainings are not about completing anything. They are a refuge to turn to when life is challenging or when we aren’t sure which way to go. They are the voice of the Buddha, Thich Nhat Hanh, and our sangha. The more we read and study them, the more likely we are to have them at our fingertips when we need them.
On Monday, after we read the trainings, we will hear from the sangha members who received the trainings earlier this month: Sharon Solorzano received the trainings with the Dharma name Liberating Moment of the Source, and Suzanne Carroll Stork received the trainings with the Dharma name Joyful Awakening of the Source. Suzanne and Sharon share their reflections:
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Suzanne:
Choosing to Receive and Live the Five Mindfulness Trainings as Best I Can
I chose to receive the Five Mindfulness Trainings to formally commit to living mindfully. By practicing the trainings, I aspire to live these values. At first glance, this felt overwhelming, if not impossible. Yet, at the heart of the Mindfulness trainings is compassion for all beings, including myself. With the trainings as a North Star, I can reflect on my feelings, words, and actions and ask myself if I am on the path or wandering off the path. The trainings are a path to gently find my way back to my values. By cultivating calm through meditation, studying the Dharma, and attending sangha, I am gradually increasing my awareness and living where life is truly lived—in this precious present moment. At a time when the world feels fractured, volatile, and unstable, I am grateful to find hope and joy in these practices and this community.
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Sharon:
Reflection on the Transmission of Five Mindfulness Trainings: Liberating Moment of the Source
I chose to receive the Five Mindfulness Trainings as a natural, organic next step on my journey away from anger, numbing, and distractions. As I walked toward compassion and understanding, I learned of Thich Nhat Hanh in a Restorative Justice community circle. The facilitator shared how Thay’s words had transformed them. As I viewed Thay’s book in the circle centerpiece, a seed was planted! My partner recommended that I try yoga, and I began to find calm in meditation and mindfulness practices. I reflected on getting rid of things that no longer served me, seeking another way. We embraced simplicity in our home to cultivate joy. I became vegan, born of compassion for animals and the environment. Searching for a community of like-minded souls, or “sangha shopping,” led me to Plum Village online, and eventually to Opening Heart Mindfulness Community in person. The Five Mindfulness Trainings then called me to deepen my refuge in the Buddha, Dharma, and sangha.
I have arrived
I am home
~Thich Nhat Hahn
To live by the Five Mindfulness Trainings as best as I can, I read and reflect on them often. I see them as a pathway. Some seem easy to me, whereas others are more challenging. Discussing their meanings with my friends and partner cultivates clarity and calm within me. I live with purpose, aligned with my values, viewing the Five Mindfulness Trainings as a compass. This compass serves to guide me as I navigate my life as a partner, mother, educator, daughter, sister, friend, circle keeper, and practitioner. Deeply listening and practicing equanimity with all beings is most important to me. May I be compassionate with myself so I may be openhearted with those I encounter.
be beautiful
be yourself
~Thich Nhat Hahn