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Dear Friends,
To start, Dee, we missed you and are thinking of you and your family as you process the death of your son. Thank you for asking Lama Trinley and Tim last night how to pray to him - we can join you in this.
Thanks in advance to Joan H. for inspiring us with her Slogan 15 practice when we gather in November. In one sentence, the slogan is about weaving bodhichitta into daily life. Generally, the four practices encourage making a habit of generous, wholesome living; honestly acknowledging when we've caused harm and confusion as a way of clearing the clutter in our minds; meeting obstacles with gratitude and openness, sort of as teachers; and, as we talked about last month when we shared our daily practices to start and end the day, asking for support from our teachers ("bless me" and "think of me"), while trusting the conditions of our situations to turn us toward our practice.
This means training in presence and effort. Using whatever shows up: kindness, difficulty, joy, sorrow. Training in opening our hearts. Cultivating warmth.
So, to what end do we practice? What does it take to feel and offer warmth, to be gentle and tender?
I often don’t know how these emails land, especially as I experiment with pop culture to inspire connection with our “shaky tenderness.” Shaky tenderness describes the raw, open vulnerability that emerges when we drop our emotional armor and really experience the world. From your responses, I sense the same generous listening receptivity we share in our monthly gatherings, which creates plenty of space to explore personal experiences. To learn.
Thich Nhat Hanh defined true love as being here for another: “I am here for you.” “I am here for you,” or “I’m present,” lets me set down biases and preconceptions by noticing when they arise, letting them come and go without grasping. I’m attentive to the moment. Pema uses one word to practice that: “Stay.” I can hear her saying that word, elongating it, gently repeating, “Stay, stay, stay.” All to help us tap into our natural warmth.
Tapping in and staying touches our basic nature. I recall author Ocean Vuong in a Tergar interview saying that we are infused with the love of our teachers, teachings, and those who love us. When I listen to this contemporary song by Imaginary Future, I’m reminded similarly: “This is not some one-way mirror…we are the love we give…” Remembering this could be slogan 41: “Two activities, one in the beginning and one at the end.” Gratitude for that love, and sending it out to all. Or as Tim says in remarkably numerous ways: love everybody.
Please join us in November. All are welcome.
May our practice be rich,
Susan
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