“In the last year and a half, from the black community in and of itself, as we say “black lives matter,”
you see the light that comes inside of people to other communities that are like, I’m going to stand on the side of black lives.
You see people literally transforming. And that’s a different type of work. And for me, that is a spiritual work.
It’s a healing work and we don’t have it codified. There’s no science to it. Really, it’s — we are social creatures.
Human to human, if you take a moment to be with somebody, to understand the pains they’re going through, you get to transform yourself.”
“The offering of one’s heart happens in stages, with shadings of hesitation and bursts of freedom. Faith evolves from the first intoxicating blush of bright faith to a faith that is verified through our doubting, questioning, and sincere effort to see the truth for ourselves.
Bright faith steeps us in a sense of possibility; verified faith confirms our ability to make that possibility real. Then, as we come to deeply know the underlying truths of who we are and what are lives are about, abiding faith, or unwavering faith as it is traditionally called, arises.
Abiding faith does not depend on borrowed concepts. Rather, it is the magnetic force of a bone-deep, lived understanding, one that draws us to realize our ideals, walk our talk, and act in accord with what we know to be true.”
~Sharon Salzberg, “Faith: Trusting Your Own Deepest Experience”
my sundays are extra sweet because of the sacred time i spend in the full embrace of sangha.
the nourishment i receive from “listening to each other listen” sustains me at the cellular level. today, we contemplated the practice of Beginning Anew to honor the lunar new year as well as the seasonal mid-winter shift which heralds the return of the sun. we basked in that energizing and healing light and began to see ourselves clearly — our tender places and tight knots (samyojana) to which we offered loving and patient awareness and the spaciousness of breath so that those gnarly fetters may loosen, unfold, and be transformed. we watered flowers by celebrating our commitment to showing up, paying attention, telling the truth, learning to abide in the process rather than being attached to outcome, and trusting our capacity to begin anew again and again.
“self-love is the foundation for your capacity to love the other person.”
this day is all the more precious for my family because we celebrated my husband’s birthday with gifts from heart and hand: a card, my first attempt at scratch-made brownies (so yummy i had to get them out of the house and share them with the rest of our family), a trip to the local sledding hill (where, by the way, we both played as children), and an amazing dinner (i won’t taunt you, as i did my sisters, with that mouth-watering plate!) that i whipped up.
as thây’s quote above reminds us, tending to our well-being is crucial. when we practice cultivating love and kindness for ourselves, it fortifies us to be present and available for our beloveds…not just on “valentine’s day” or special occasions but each and every day.
On Sunday, February 14, 3 Jewels Yoga Sanghawill enjoy the mindfulness practice of Beginning Anew in celebration of the lunar new year.
Join us in cultivating authenticity and accountability as we shine the light (to see, understand, and transform unskillfulness) and water flowers (to honor our gifts, talents, and contributions) on our spiritual aspirations.
11:00 am – 12:30 pm. Heartdance Studio, 1806 E. Michigan Avenue, in Lansing.
To “blow the dust” from each other’s eyes as we walk the path of love and understanding is indeed the suchness of sangha!
Join in the practice of seeing clearly and listening deeply to foster compassion, wholeness, and safety through these important and often difficult explorations into matters of inclusion, freedom, belonging, and healing.
Study Schedule
February 14th ~ Beginning Anew : A Mindfulness Practice in Celebration of the Buddhist Lunar New Year
It’s going only on two weeks since my sister friend and I journeyed into the woods of Michigan and embarked on our Winter Immersion Healing Retreat. We were held in the beauty of unpredictable snow, sheltered by a well-heated hermitage. We were charged up by the thoughtful welcoming of the owners and how they curated a sense of peacefulness in an eco-friendly environment. We had a fantastic time, so many of those details will be reserved for us and Spirit. But, what I will share is that this weather-tested trip was a reminder to take a second look at home and at the distance needed to experience travel.
Many times, we think travel requires huge amounts of planning, a large budget, excessive luggage, and a choice between the window or aisle seat (given that most of us hate the middle seat!). However, traveling can be something we do…
“For faith to be alive and to deepen we need to use our power to inquire, to wonder, to explore our experience to see what is true for ourselves. This requires us to approach life with an inquisitive, eager, self-confident capacity to probe and question. It requires us to examine where we place our faith, and why, to see if it makes us more aware and loving people.
To develop VERIFIED FAITH* we need to open to the messiness, the discordance, the ambivalence, and, above all, the vital life-force of questioning.
If we don’t, our faith can wither. If we don’t, our faith will always remain in the hands of someone else, as something we borrow or abjure, but not as something we can claim fully as our own.”
~ Sharon Salzberg, “Faith: Trusting Your Own Deepest Experience”
[*emphasis mine]
THE DHARMA FOR REAL
sarasvati + durga (a card i received from a friend last fall)
It’s been a tough season for so many of us navigating illness, loss, uncertainty, and atrocious acts of injustice that get closer and closer to home. Anger, fear and doubt easily arise. It presses on the soul and depletes our mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual resources.
So grateful to many, many loved ones who bolster me with laughter, inspiration, and perspective. Offering special appreciation to a dear friend + interspiritual minister, Holly Makimaa, for immediately suggesting and sharing her copy of Salzberg’s book on faith when I spoke with her about sangha’s study and practice of the 5 Spiritual Faculties.
FAITH(Pali: “Saddha” with TRUST or CONFIDENCE offered as surrogates for those who are less comfortable with the deeply religious connotations of faith) can feel the heaviest and most complicated — as frustrating and elusive as any attempt to meditate when the mind feels restless and foggy!
Last Sunday, we contemplated CONCENTRATION + DILIGENCE with a fresh understanding that the root meaning of the latter is “love, take delight in.”
Calling on the energy of delight how might we “brighten” and “verify” faith (a trajectory that Salzberg delineates in her book) and sharpen discernment through our practice of mindfulness?
Join us this Sunday, 11 – 12:30 PM, at Heartdance Studio for 3 Jewels Yoga Sangha’s final dharma discussion on the 5 Spiritual Faculties as we explore the relationship between DISCERNMENT + FAITH.
“Regardless of my health status, I deserve respect at this size, which includes the right to make my own decisions about my body…
I’ve learned that the consequences of that weight cycling include greater risks for eating disorders, health problems, depression, lower self-esteem, and weight gain. So, when you keep talking about your diet, I’m just no longer interested.” ~ Judith Matz
SHINING THE LIGHT
I had a similar conversation a few days ago upon observing the pattern of an individual in my circle who is trapped in this very same cycle of dieting despair and weight loss triumphs. And on any given occasion, we will be subjected to the litany of foods they are abstaining from and the fitness program du jour they are “trialing” through in an effort to get their high school body back. I empathize with the struggle and am saddened and exhausted by the virulent self-loathing that fuels some folks’ mission to “improve” their health. So I was AUMing + AMENing when a dear friend,who is a registered dietitian, postedthis article from Everyday Feminism.
In 8 Reasons Why I Don’t Want to Hear About Your Diet, Judith Matz , LCSW, breaks down the top frustrations of clients who are tired (like me) of being subjected to the mindless and harmful chatter about food, weight, and dieting that holds no regard for the deeply private struggles of others. More important, Matz offers ways to reframe these triggering conversations and to cultivate compassion and understanding for the multitude of experiences we have with our bodies.
The Buddhist Perspective
The 5th Mindfulness Training – Nourishment + Healing – reminds us to be aware of the suffering that arises from our unskillful consumption of the 4 Nutriments*: not just of Food but of Sense Impressions, Volitional Thought/Intentions, and Consciousness.
So how does it serve us to participate in conversations about the body that breed contempt, anxiety, frustration, and shame?!
What are skillful ways to discuss health and wellness?
_____ *Note: In the Pali canon, the four nutriments are outlined in the Puttamansa Sutta, which I must warn, is a gruesome tale.
Tiq Milan + Kim Katrin Milan | NOW Toronto Magazine (Jan 2016)
SHINING THE LIGHT
In this season of resolution-making, NOW Toronto Magazine’s LOVE YOUR BODY issue cuts through the cacophony of guilt-and-shame-inducing messages with a photo-essay project featuring folks of different abilities, shapes, ethnicities, gender identities who are celebrating the realities of their bodiesin naked glory and sharing personal stories of reconciling with their bodies!
Kudos to the Radical Monarchs, an Oakland, CA-based leadership and social justice program for young girls of color, for its initiative to combat body-shaming with its #RadicalBodiesUnit! I’ve loved what they’ve shared so far to promote understanding and body positivity–especially for preteens, whose changing bodies can be the source of angst and ridicule.
In solidarity, I’m taking taking up their #AllBodiesAreGreatBodies and #LoseWeightNotHate hashtag campaigns as lead-ins for my upcoming workshop, Inviting Mindfulness: Reconciling With The Body.
tscottmiller 