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Gunilla Norris, Inviting Silence
Sharing silence with others creates a bond
that cannot be compared to ordinary exchanges.
It helps us know that each of us is essential:
a vibrating essence. We can sense that vibration.
We can feel it singing in our cells.
Sharing silence creates a bond
One World
O God:
You made One World.
You have blessed us
with the knowledge
to travel the universe.
Please guide us
to reach over the oceans,
across physical and political boundaries,
to share our knowledge
with emerging nations,
to help us all realize
our full potential,
in order for us
to help ourselves and each other.
Together and with your help
we can make this One World
a better world for everyone.
Amen.
A supplication for God's guidance to share with and help each other.
Happy Anniversary to the Thurmans
Having just celebrated 48 years of marriage with Mary Ann, I was delighted to see Penelope Green's article in The New York Times about the fifty-year marriage of Buddhist scholar and activist Robert Thurman and former model Nena von Schlebrugge. As professor of Indo-Tibetan studies at Columbia University and the president of Tibet House USA, he is promoting a biography in graphic-novel form of the Dalai Lama called "Man of Peace." Thurman hopes it will appeal to millennials. The Tibetan leader ordained Thurman as a Tibetan monk, the first known Westerner to take the necessary 253 vows.
Thurman and his wife took marriage vows despite the fact that they were once voted by their friends as the couple least likely to succeed. They built their own house in Woodstock, New York, where they still live. Ms. Thurman offers two keys to a lasting and mindful marriage:
"If you share a spiritual outlook, it's an area you can return to when you are having your petty struggles, which are nonsense compared to what you really care about. On a practical note, you have to take turns, so that no one partner becomes dominant in the relationship."
Having just celebrated 48 years of marriage with Mary Ann, I was delighted to see Penelope Green's article in The New York Times about the fifty-year marriage of Buddhist scholar and activist Robert Thurman and former model Nena von Schlebrugge. As professor of Indo-Tibetan studies at Columbia University and the president of Tibet House USA, he is promoting a biography in graphic-novel form of the Dalai Lama called "Man of Peace." Thurman hopes it will appeal to millennials. The Tibetan leader ordained Thurman as a Tibetan monk, the first known Westerner to take the necessary 253 vows.
Thurman and his wife took marriage vows despite the fact that they were once voted by their friends as the couple least likely to succeed. They built their own house in Woodstock, New York, where they still live. Ms. Thurman offers two keys to a lasting and mindful marriage:
"If you share a spiritual outlook, it's an area you can return to when you are having your petty struggles, which are nonsense compared to what you really care about. On a practical note, you have to take turns, so that no one partner becomes dominant in the relationship."
Living a Complete Life
You cannot buy an insurance policy to guarantee that you will live a whole and complete life. A complete life is not about time, but about our actions . . . particularly our acts of kindness.
One of my favorite quotes, from Stephen Grellet, that I try to live by is "I expect to pass through the world but once. Any good therefore that I can do, or any kindness that I can show to my fellow creature, let me do it now. Let me not defer or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again." This quote says it all.
If you want to live a complete life, then find a way to share kindness. If you wonder who, when, and how to help, just look at the person in front of you. Do for her what she needs done, now.
Solution of the Day: Perform the acts of kindness we all came here to do.
Sharing kindness.
What Could I Do with This Money?
If you are not chronically strapped for money each month, consider adopting the practice of tithing — that is, giving one-tenth of your income to a worthy cause. Compute what one-tenth of your monthly income is and seriously consider whether you could live without it. If you find that you could live without it, then ask yourself, "What could I do with this money that would help people in greater need than I am?"
Adopting the practice of tithing.
Ordinary Goodness
First, turn your attention to what you have in your life from the very moment you wake in the morning. Appreciate the breath, the blankets that warm you, the shower that refreshes and cleans you, and even the alarm clock that wakes you up. Next, find a reminder of ordinary goodness that you can carry with you throughout the day, such as a picture of a loved one, a stone or other object from a memorable trip, or an inspirational quote. Finally, share your appreciation of ordinary goodness with others. Doing so does not ignore the difficulties of life. Sharing ordinary goodness is about helping one another enjoy that which makes life worthwhile.
Paying attention to what you have in your life.
Living Life as a Thank You
Ten Ways to Cultivate a Grateful Heart
"1. Be grateful and recognize the things others have done to help you.
"2. When you say, 'Thank you,' to someone, it signals what you appreciate and why you appreciate it.
"3. Post a 'Thank you to all' on your Facebook page or your blog, or send individual e-mails to friends, family, and colleagues.
"4. Send a handwritten thank-you note. These are noteworthy because so few of us take time to write and mail them.
"5. Think thoughts of gratitude — two or three good things that happened today — and notice calm settle through your head, at least for a moment. It activates a part of the brain that floods the body with endorphins, or feel-good hormones.
"6. Remember the ways your life has been made easier or better because of others' efforts. Be aware of and acknowledge the good things, large and small, going on around you.
"7. Keep a gratitude journal or set aside time each day or evening to list the people or things you're grateful for today. The list may start out short, but it will grow as you notice more of the good things around you.
"8. Being grateful shakes you out of self-absorption and helps you recognize those who've done wonderful things for you. Expressing that gratitude continues to draw those people into your sphere.
"9. Remember this thought from Maya Angelou: 'When you learn, teach; when you get, give.'
"10. Join forces to do good. If you have survived illness or loss, you may want to reach out to others to help as a way of showing gratitude for those who reached out to you."
Nina Lesowitz and Mary Beth Simmons on joining forces to do good and being grateful for allies.
Finding the Waymarkers
"On the night before my departure from Iona, a special service of leaving-taking was held in the Abbey church for all the volunteers, permanent staff, and guests of the Iona Community. With prayer, song, and the reading of scripture, we gave thanks for all we had shared with one another and for the path before us. At the close of the service, we repeated a litany, a powerful and poignant reminder that we are all pilgrims on the way, whether we stay or go. The journey of return is one that all pilgrims share. We are challenged in our returning, not only to sustain new insights for our own well-being but to bear witness to the transformational power of pilgrimage, taking ' . . . into our daily life signs of hope and healing', for our wider world.
Leader: As Columba laid down his books
and the security of the monastery,
ALL: SO WE LAY DOWN WHAT IS PAST AND
LOOK TO THE FUTURE.
Leader: As Brigid, with a cross of rushes, comforted strangers,
ALL: SO WE TAKE INTO DAILY LIFE SIGNS
OF HOPE AND HEALING
Leader: As Patrick traveled ever on,
as Margaret built community,
ALL: SO WE REACH BEYOND OURSELVES,
TO SHARE THE LIVES OF OTHERS
AND TOUCH A WIDER WORLD.
Leader, with those staying:
The Maker's blessings be yours
on your road
on your journey
guiding you, cherishing you.
Those leaving:
The Son's blessing be yours
wine and water
bread and stories
feeding you, challenging you.
Leader, with those staying:
The Spirit's blessing be yours
wind and fire
joy and wisdom
comforting you, disturbing you.
Those leaving:
The Angels' blessing be yours
on your house
on your living
guarding you, encouraging you.
ALL: GOD'S BLESSING BE OURS:
THE BLESSINGS OF PILGRIMS
ALL THE NIGHTS AND DAYS
OF OUR JOURNEY HOME.
— Iona Abbey Worship Book
Susan Copeland on The Maker's blessings being with you on your journey.
Anger
"There may be times when you are angry with someone, and you try everything you can to transform your anger, but nothing seems to work. In this case, the Buddha proposes that you give the other person a present. It sounds childish, but it is very effective. When we're angry with someone, we want to hurt them. Giving them a present changes that into wanting to make them happy. So, when you are angry with someone, send him a present. After you have sent it, you will stop being angry with him. It's very simple, and it always works.
"Don't wait until you get angry to go and buy the present. When you feel very grateful, when you feel you love him or her so much, then go and buy the present right away. But don't send it; don't give it to the other person yet. Keep it. You may have the luxury of having two or three presents stored secretly in your drawer. Later, when you feel angry, take one out and deliver it. It is very effective. The Buddha was very smart."
To Practice: Go shopping and get a gift for your partner or a friend to have on hand next time you are angry with him/her.
Thich Nhat Hanh on simple and practical ways to defuse anger in ourselves and others.
Navigating the Tides of Change
An Excerpt from Navigating the Tides of Change: Stories from Science, the Sacred, and a Wise Planet by David La Chapelle
David La Chapelle charts the tides of change rocking our world and challenges readers to change their ways of being, seeing, and doing. In the following dramatic passage, he points to the healing powers inherent in the spiritual practice of kindness.
"If nature can give away its bounty with such abundance, then why can't the human community? Historically, some communities did. First Nations people in the Pacific Northwest organized regular potlatches in which individuals gained social and spiritual benefits by giving away much of their tangible wealth — an exercise in economic redistribution that may have helped stabilize their culture over hundreds of generations.
"It is the habit of the universe to give. Maintaining tight control over money, protecting one's assets, and living from a Darwinian perspective of survival of the fittest may create sinkholes in the ecology of economics that will doom the system in the long run. When the capacity to give becomes an anchor point of one's identity and stature, the synthesis of spirituality with rightful economic activities can help restore integrity to a system that is currently failing to meet the needs of the planet. In the end, as in the beginning, this is about love."
David La Chapelle on giving to restore the integrity of a system.