The Five Mindfulness Trainings and Healing Our Home
Thursday, 18. October 2007, 16:23:46
"The Five Mindfulness Trainings are Love itself. To love is to understand, protect, and bring well-being to the object of our love. The practice of the trainings accomplishes this. We protect ourselves and we protect each other."
- Thich Nhat Hanh in For a Future to be Possible: Commentaries on the Five Mindfulness Trainings
- Thich Nhat Hanh in For a Future to be Possible: Commentaries on the Five Mindfulness Trainings
Dear Friends,
If the early reds, yellows, and oranges of the maple trees in New York are any indication, we are in store for a beautiful Fall. What a treat it was to sleep under bright stars, planets, meteors, and satellites in a tent on the New England ground of Blue Cliff Monastery over a long weekend.
Thay and the monastics hosted a four-day retreat entitled "Sitting Together Under the Autumn Breeze," and sit together under the autumn breeze we did.
We walked slowly on mossy paths through colorful woods.
We ate breakfast with the sunrise and dinner with the sunset, bundled up to stay toasty and warm in the chilly October air.
Seven hundred people gathered.
We worked together quietly, joyfully, washing dishes, clearing up after meals, or other jobs assigned to our "family" groupings.
In discussions, we shared what we were learning and experiencing during our time together, made new friends, and reunited with old ones.
It was a rich time.
Two of the prevailing things I came away with were these:
1) The Five Mindfulness Trainings (modern-day adaptations of the Buddha's 5 Precepts for Lay People) are quite precious. Like the instructions to a treasure-hunt, they send people on a journey that has countless rewards and lessons along the way.
2) Our planet is in trouble and needs our help. If the air conditioning or heating in our home was ailing, we'd call in the repair people without much hesitation. In the case of the earth, *we* are the repair people, and we've got work to do.
So, with our little sangha, I am proposing to explore the following two themes over the coming weeks.
This Monday, the focus of our discussion will be an introduction to the Five Mindfulness Trainings. You can listen to a recitation of the trainings here: http://www.deerpark.libsyn.com/index.php?post_id=158823, or read the text here: http://www.mindfulnessdc.org/fivemt.html
In the weeks to come, we will take time to read, study, and discuss the trainings one at a time.
The trainings will inform our discussions on global warming, and actions we can take to protect the planet.
If you haven't yet had a chance to do so, please do visit Sister Viet Nghiem's blog to learn about some of the steps Deer Park Monastery is taking to heal the Earth. It is an inspiring example of love in action, and a wonderful antidote to despair: http://my.opera.com/soulfulheart/blog/blog-action-day
You are warmly invited to join us Monday if you can. And if you can't, please feel free to share your experiences with the trainings and/or global warming. We'd love to hear from you!
Global Healing Action #1: Stay home. Take a walk. Sit in the garden. Watch snails with a child. Take a nap. Did you know that every mile not traveled equals 1 pound of greenhouse gas not emitted? (visit www.carfreedays.org for more great ideas)
