Monday, June 30, 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.
Dear friends,
This week, we will meet Monday evening, June 30, from 7-8:30PM EDT in person at our meditation space (3812 Northampton Street NW); Wednesday morning, July 2, from 7-8AM EDT online; Thursday, July 3, from 7-8AM EDT in person/online (hybrid); and Friday, July 4, from 12-1PM EDT online.
Annie will facilitate on Monday evening, and we will begin our summer reading of the book The Art of Power by Thich Nhat Hanh (Thay). This week, if you are able, we invite you to read the Introduction and Chapter One: True Power (pages 1-29).
In the introduction, Thay asks, “What does power mean to us?” In the United States (and the world) today, we are thinking and talking about power a lot. How much power does a president have? How much power do the people have?
This summer, we can read how Thay defines and measures power, and we can reflect together how that lands for us, and how we might use these practices and concepts to develop the kind of power that can help us live a more joyful and compassionate life.
On page 1, Thay offers this definition of power:
My dear friends, I suggest that there is another kind of power, a greater power: the power to be happy right in the present moment, free from addiction, fear, despair, discrimination, anger, and ignorance. This power is the birthright of every human being, whether celebrated or unknown, rich or poor, strong or weak.
This is the kind of power that no one can take from us, and that we develop through our everyday practice of mindfulness. On page 5, Thay writes:
When you look deeply, you see the pain and suffering in the world, and recognize your deep desire to relieve it. You also recognize that bringing joy to others is the greatest joy you can have, the greatest achievement. In choosing to cultivate true power, you do not have to give up your desire for the good life. Your life can be more satisfying, and you will be happy and relaxed, relieving suffering and bringing happiness to everyone.
Note how these words, written by Thay (page 23) in 2007, are relevant to our world in 2025:
In Buddhism, we see power differently from the way most of the world views it. Buddhists are as concerned with power as anyone else, but we are interested in the kind of power that brings happiness and not suffering.
Usually, people chase financial and political power. Many people believe that if they attain these kinds of power, they can do a lot of things and make themselves happy. But if we look deeply, we see that people who are running after power suffer greatly. We suffer first in the chase, because so many people are struggling for the same thing. We believe that the power we are searching for is scarce and elusive and available only at the expense of someone else. But even if we achieve power, we never feel powerful enough. I have met people who are rich, with lots of power and fame. But they are not always happy and some even commit suicide. So money, fame, and power can all contribute somewhat to your happiness, but if you lack love, even if you have a lot of money, fame , and power. You can’t be entirely happy.
Who has more power than the president of the United States? President George W. Bush is the commander in chief of the most powerful army in the world, the leader of the strongest and richest nation in the world. Not many people have that kind of power. But this does not mean that the president is a happy person. Even with all these so-called powers, I believe he still feels powerless and suffers deeply. He is caught in a dilemma: to continue or not to continue in Iraq? Continuing with the war is difficult, and not continuing is also difficult. It’s like when you eat something and it gets stuck in your throat. You cannot spit it out and you cannot swallow it. I don’t think President Bush sleeps well. How can you sleep well when your young people are dying every day and every night in Iraq? How can you avoid nightmares when hundreds of thousands of people are dying because of your policy? You are very lucky you are not the president of the United States; if you were, you’d be suffering a lot right now. It is very clear that if political leaders do not have compassion and understanding as their foundation, they will misuse their power and make their own country suffer, and make other countries suffer.
Toward the end of Chapter 1, Thay writes about the Five Spiritual Powers:
What most people call power Buddhist call cravings. The five cravings are for wealth, fame, sex, fancy food, and lots of sleep. In Buddhism, we speak of the five true powers, five kinds of energy. The five powers are faith, diligence, mindfulness, concentration, and insight. The five powers are the foundation of real happiness; they are based on concrete practices we will learn in this book.
Faith refers to confidence and trust in ourselves and our ability to become a Buddha, the capacity of transformation and healing. Diligence is remembering to practice coming back to the present moment and making the effort to do this every day. It means to do our best to always water the wholesome seeds that come up inside of us, not to water the unwholesome seeds, to help the wholesome mental formations stay alive in us, and to embrace our suffering so that it has the chance to transform.
The third power is the power of Mindfulness, of being aware of what is happening, just as it is. The power of Concentration helps us look deeply into the nature of reality, and allow us to transform our unhelpful habit energies. These powers lead us to the power of Insight, which is to cut through ignorance and see the truth of impermanence and non-self. Our insights create understanding and compassion in us. Thay calls insight our superpower because it liberates us from suffering and creates happiness for ourselves and those around us.
On Monday, we will enjoy doing sitting and walking meditation together. After that, we will read some of the above excerpts and then have time during our dharma sharing (guidelines here) to discuss what power means to us in our lives today and whatever else is on our hearts this week, from the book or from our daily lives.
I look forward to seeing you then. If you’d like to arrive early to help set up the room, feel free to join me at our space around 6:30 PM.
Much love,
Annie