Monday, May 5, 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, May 5, from 7-8:30PM EDT in person at our meditation space (3812 Northampton Street NW); Wednesday morning, May 7, from 7-8AM EDT online; and Friday, May 9, from 12-1PM EDT in person/online (hybrid).
On Monday, our evening meditation will be facilitated by Annie. Annie shares:
As we face political, mental health, and climate crises, I’ve been trying to figure out how, in each moment of my short life, I might contribute more love, more awakening, and more peace to myself and the world.
Starting with the awareness of non-self, I know that whatever is occurring in the present moment is not personal. I see that this moment is coming from our ancestors, our previous actions, the cosmos, and all causes and conditions. I am not personally responsible for the troubling thoughts inside of me or the chaos happening around me. What shows up in each moment is not really in my control.
And yet, I do have agency in this moment.
It’s as if we are the person at bat in a baseball game, receiving a pitch. We didn’t throw the ball, but it’s our job to swing at the ball as best we can. What happens next depends on our actions, the speed and direction the ball was thrown, and all of the other conditions in the stadium. We do what we can to connect with the ball, and yet the outcome is not fully in our control.
With that awareness, I see that in each moment my responsibility is to be like that batter – concentrated on the moment as it comes to me and remembering how I want to swing the bat. What kind of actions and energy do I want to add to this moment? My awareness and my actions will be the foundation of the next moment, which then impacts all future moments.
Sometimes I picture this moment as a stream flowing into me. The stream arises from past moments and from all parts of the cosmos. It manifests who I am, and what I perceive, feel, and think in this moment and presents me with a precious opportunity to add something to that flow. What I add depends on the quality of my mindfulness and my intentions.
Just like the batter, this practice requires concentration on what is arising in the present moment without owning what’s coming in (I am not the pitcher) and/or beating myself or others up for what is arising. If the batter spends all her time judging the pitcher or herself, she won’t have much of a chance to hit the ball.
Just as the me in this moment is not responsible for the thoughts, feelings, and perceptions arising in this me, neither is anyone else completely responsible for the thoughts, feelings, and perceptions arising in them. We are all dealing with the infinite causes and conditions that have led us to our perception of this present moment. This awareness helps relax my habit of blaming other people for the messes we are facing now.
As I watch the stream of moments arising and passing, my best choice is to continuously remind myself of my deepest intention. I want to contribute only unconditional love to this stream of awareness. To do that, I have to notice what inside of me is getting in the way of that love. Unconditional love may take the form of gentle speech or strong statements. It may take the form of walking away or staying in a conflict. Only the me in that moment can make the decision about how to respond, just like the batter can’t plan how she will hit the ball. We learn to trust the moment as it arises.
Rumi: “Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.”
We will likely not be able to hit the ball out of the park every moment, but our practice can help us find this sweet spot, the place where we have the most agency and ability to be of benefit to the world.
Below is one of my favorite quotes from Thich Nhat Hahn’s book The Miracle of Mindfulness. It’s from a page that caught my attention when I first read it in the 1990s and reminds us of why we would want to practice this way.
With love,
Annie
Excerpt from The Miracle of Mindfulness by Thich Nhat Hanh:
If while washing dishes, we think only of the cup of tea that awaits us, thus hurrying to get the dishes out of the way as if they were a nuisance, then we are not “washing the dishes to wash the dishes.” What’s more, we are not alive during the time we are washing the dishes. In fact we are completely incapable of realizing the miracle of life while standing at the sink. If we can’t wash the dishes, the chances are we won’t be able to drink our tea either. While drinking the cup of tea, we will only be thinking of other things, barely aware of the cup in our hands. Thus we are sucked away into the future—and we are incapable of actually living one minute of life.