Monday, December 1, we will meet in person.
Go to calendar for our schedule
Address for OHMC meditation space:
3812 Northampton St. NW, Washington DC 20015
Please arrive a few minutes early so we can invite the bell on time. You may also arrive 15 minutes early to practice working meditation by helping us set up cushions.
New to sangha?
This Monday we are offering an optional Newcomers Orientation.
Learn more and sign up here
Dear friends,
This week, we will meet Monday evening, December 1, from 7-8:30PM ET in person at our meditation space (3812 Northampton Street NW); Wednesday morning, December 3, from 7-8AM ET online; Thursday morning, December 4, from 7-8AM ET online; and Friday, December 5, 12-1PM ET online/in person (Hybrid).
This week we will recite the Five Mindfulness Trainings and focus our discussion on the First Training. Rachel H will facilitate.
I am too often surprised by the anger I find in myself when I stop long enough to pay attention. How can that be – that such an important feeling can go around in disguise so much of the time?
In reading the First Mindfulness Training: Reverence for Life, I was struck by the reference to anger. While I generally don’t kill, I certainly get angry. Sometimes I can see it and handle it skillfully. Other times, I get overcome or I shut down. In those cases, harmful actions are more likely to arise.
In the Buddha’s Sutra on the Four Establishments of Mindfulness (from Thich Nhat Hanh’s book, Awakening of the Heart: Essential Buddhist Sutras and Commentaries) it reads:
When anger is present in him, he is aware, “Anger is present in me.” When anger is not present in him, he is aware, “Anger is not present in me.” When anger begins to arise, he is aware of it. When anger already abandoned will not arise again in the future, he is aware of it.
Being attuned to anger in my body can be an enormous help in developing this awareness. A heaviness in my chest. An avoidance of a person. A racing mind. When I learned that a person I struggle with will join us for Thanksgiving, I started experiencing shallow breathing. This led to me noticing I was feeling frustrated with myself that anger about that relationship was arising again. An easeful body that is free of anger allows for more happiness. Riding my bike to work one morning, I noticed I was not pulling my shoulders up to my ears and when I paid attention, I could say “Oh, I’m not angry,” so the rest of the ride was enjoyment of non-anger, rather than obliviousness.
This week we will sit and walk together and then recite the Five Mindfulness
Trainings. After that we will share our thoughts about the First Training: Reverence for Life. We can consider:
What does anger feel like in your body?
What does non-anger feel like?
When, and how, does anger surprise you?
When, and how, does the absence of anger surprise you?
And in addition anything else that is on our hearts.
Xo,
Rachel H and Annie