This Monday November 6, we will meet in person.
Go to calendar for our schedule
Newcomers Orientation (optional) Monday at 6:15PM.
Sign up for orientation
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.
Dear friends,
This week we will meet in person (3812 Northampton Street NW in DC) on Monday 7-8:30PM EDT, online on Wednesday morning from 7-8AM, and online on Friday 12-1PM.
On Monday evening, Camille will facilitate.
Thich Nhat Hanh (Thay) says our daily life is like a prayer. He also says praying is like an energy that we can touch at any time. He says if we are in touch with reality in the present moment, then “when you practice mindfulness while sitting, walking, cooking, washing, you don’t feel that you waste your life. You are living every moment of your life deeply. Your life becomes a prayer. Much happiness and peace result from that kind of living.”
Praying has been always been part of my life but has sometimes been elusive to me - not always sure about what I was looking or asking for in prayer. In the last few weeks I have been better able to bring prayer into my life in the present moment in “body, speech and mind” with the help of “meditation, concentration and insight” or “mindfulness” as Thay describes. With mindfulness Thay shares we can “produce the energy of faith and love necessary to change a difficult situation."
I was very grateful to have the opportunity to travel to Europe to visit family and friends for about two and a half weeks. While I spent much time hiking and exploring with others - I was drawn to visiting churches on my own. I spent almost every day visiting a church, whether in remote mountain villages or in big cities. I was originally drawn to the magnificent architectural structures adorned with beautiful columns, intricately carved marble sculptures, paintings, murals, and colorful stained glass windows. But I found that my interest was not so much with the architecture but of having a place to meditate, contemplate and feel truly at home. While I kept news from the media at a minimum - I couldn’t help but hear and feel all the suffering that was happening in the world. My visit to the churches became a necessity where I could be in touch with the present moment and reality and find a way to ask for help. A tradition in Christian churches is to light candles for those you are praying for. Like sitting and walking meditation, lighting candles is a meditation or prayer. I would sit in front of the light and feel the energy of the prayer, and also begin to feel healing taking place as I sent the light to those I was praying for.
Thay shares that in many religions when we talk of praying we talk of the one who prays and asks for help, the one to whom we address the prayer (who we pray to), and the one we pray for. While I am usually quite sure who I am praying for - I am not always so sure who I am praying to. In Thay’s book “The Energy of Prayer,” he has helped me understand that I may ask for help from someone or something solid and real (and not just an idea), like Jesus, Buddha, our ancestors, our parents, our sangha, as long as they are not just a notion but a reality and we can get in touch with. From “The Energy of Prayer” - “Praying is also asking for help, and in the Buddhist tradition, we ask the Sangha to help us; we ask the Buddha to help us. The one who is asking, the one who is praying, is the starting point. That person has to see things clearly enough, has to be calm and serene enough, to ask for help; and first of all he or she should be truly there, concentrated, with a desire, an intention. This is the basic condition for the effectiveness of prayer.”
During my time away and quiet time alone in prayer I noticed a change in my heart where I was in touch with more love and energy. I thought of my ancestors - often in churches in my ancestral home. And with this energy I felt healing and transformation for my well being and hopes that the energy of my prayers will help generate healing, love and freedom for all others in the world.
I look forward to seeing you in person on Monday night, and knowing that together as we gather - our collective energy and prayers will radiate out to all beings everywhere so they may find peace, love and freedom.
With love,
Camille