Rachel Switala
The Places Where I Dwell

Dear Friends,

This week, we will meet Monday evening, July 6, from 7-8:30PM ET online; Wednesday morning, July 8, from 7-8AM ET in person at our meditation space (3812 Northampton Street NW); and Friday, July 10, 12-1PM ET online.

On Monday, our evening meditation will be facilitated by Magda. We will continue our Monday evening summer reading of Thich Nhat Hanh’s At Home in the World. Our discussion will focus on the second chapter, Life in Vietnam, with special emphasis on the story of the Hermit and the Well, summarized below. Read on for Magda’s reflections on this story. 

In The Hermit and the Well, Thầy recalls searching for a hermit in the mountains as a child. Unable to find him, he instead discovered a beautiful natural well where he rested and fell asleep. Though the hermit was absent, the solitude and intimacy with nature allowed him to experience the hermit’s presence in another form. When friends later asked about the journey, he chose silence.

The Places Where I Dwell
Rachel Switala
Where Is My True Home?

Dear friends,

This week, we will meet Monday evening, June 29, from 7-8:30PM ET in person at our meditation space (3812 Northampton Street NW); Wednesday morning, July 1, from 7-8AM ET online; Thursday morning, July 2, from 7-8AM ET online; and Friday, July 3, 12-1PM ET online/in person (Hybrid).

This week, Camille will guide our meditation. She shares:

Welcome to our Monday evening sangha. As you may know, we are beginning our Monday evening summer reading of Thich Nhat Hanh’s book At Home in the World. Tonight, we will begin our discussion with the introduction and will continue discussions on the book through August 31. Feel free to read along with the book this summer if you have it, or if not, please just come and enjoy as we share aspects of this lovely book full of “lessons on compassion, love, endurance, and resilience.”

In the introduction of the book, Thich Nhat Hanh (Thay) talks about his being exiled from his native country, Vietnam. At first, he shares that his exile was very hard. His first couple of years, he spent traveling to different countries and lecturing on the practice of Buddhism, and yet he felt he had not really arrived. He had not found his “true home.” He would dream at night about his beloved Vietnam and wake, never really remembering where he was. He was not living in the here and now.

As time went on, Thay became active working with children and spiritual leaders of different countries and began to appreciate the natural environment that was quite different from Vietnam. His practice eventually brought him back to his true home in the here and now. He stopped suffering and learned to live joyfully in the present moment.

Where Is My True Home?
Rachel Switala
Are You Sure?

Dear friends,

This week, we will meet Monday evening, June 22, from 7-8:30PM ET online; Wednesday morning, June 24 from 7-8AM ET in person at our meditation space (3812 Northampton Street NW); and Friday, June 26, 12-1PM ET online.

On Monday, Rachel H. will facilitate. She shares:

In early June, my students took one of their many annual standardized assessments. I am not a fan of these tests, and I do not bring an open heart to my thinking about them. As I was reading over a student’s shoulder, I was alarmed to see a question about triangle classification that had two correct answers. We had done a lesson on the topic the day before, and I felt like a real expert. 

I took a picture and contacted the assistant principal, and we were about to contact the central office, when he looked at the question one more time and saw the triangle’s angles differently. I was wrong! My first response was to keep arguing (inside my head), but I finally let go and laughed at my attachment to that imagined mistake. 

Are You Sure?
Rachel Switala
Finding Joy Through Mindfulness

Dear friends,

This week, we will meet Monday evening, June 15, from 7-8:30PM ET in person at our meditation space (3812 Northampton Street NW); Wednesday morning, June 17, from 7-8AM ET online; and Friday, June 19, 12-1PM ET online/in person (Hybrid).

This week, Ellen will guide our meditation. She shares:

These are hard days and times. Stress feels like  the common denominator, and I find it hard to see and feel the joy and happiness that is available to us. Our teacher, Thay, has written extensively on ways mindfulness can show us the joy that’s there in front of us, and how to find that joy through mindfulness. This is different from the peace and serenity that we know mindfulness can bring with practice.

I was looking at various videos of and writings by Thay on this topic of joy. He makes it seem so easy and obvious though for me, and perhaps others, that’s not the case. But what better time to focus on how we can touch joy and happiness and how mindfulness helps us do that than now?

Finding Joy Through Mindfulness
Rachel Switala
Let Go & Be Free

Dear friends,

This week, we will meet Monday evening, June 8, from 7-8:30PM ET online; Wednesday morning, June 10 from 7-8AM ET in person at our meditation space (3812 Northampton Street NW); and Friday, June 12, 12-1PM ET online.

On Monday, Susie will facilitate. She shares:

As I continue my meditation practice, I’m reminded again and again that it will always be just that — practice. I will always be a student. I don’t expect to ever say I’m “good” at meditation or give myself an A. Instead, I try to meet myself with forgiveness, non‑judgment, tolerance, acceptance, and love as I simply breathe in and breathe out.

 When I sit with this truth, I find myself reflecting on relating — our mindfulness practice of interbeing. Being with others, and recognizing that we inter‑are, naturally brings me back to how I relate not only to those around me, but to myself.

Let Go & Be Free

sangha

Watering the Seed of Vulnerable Self-Expression To Water the Seed of Collective Care

Watering the Seed of Vulnerable Self-Expression To Water the Seed of Collective Care

Special Guest Sandra Kim will lead our sangha this Monday.

A sangha that aspires to support its members in becoming free from suffering and realizing our interbeing-ness needs to have a culture of collective care - where all are cared for because all are caring. While at any given moment, who and how we are giving and receiving may be different, we can trust in the sangha to hold us.

Like all aspirations, nurturing a culture of collective care in our sanghas is not easy, particularly in a society that promotes hyper-individualism, consumerism as the cure to all, and work being the only valid activity to focus on. And in our society that expects people to be perfect in order to be acceptable, it can be very difficult for many to acknowledge their own difficult feelings and express their need for support.

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