“Be still. Stillness reveals the secrets of eternity.
When there is silence one finds the anchor of the universe within oneself”
― Lao Tzu
"Be still and know that I am God."
― Proverbs 46:10
There
were fifteen of us gathered to Sit Together in Stillness at
the Recovery Learning Community's Greenfield Center last night. The Silence was
Golden. As I rang the bell to end our first period of meditation, bowed
and looked around the room, I knew that I wasn't alone in feeling the
Presence. The energy was palpable. As one person mentioned as we went
around the Circle to compare notes on Practice, "you could hear the
silence!" Others nodded. Everyone knew exactly what she meant.When there is silence one finds the anchor of the universe within oneself”
― Lao Tzu
"Be still and know that I am God."
― Proverbs 46:10
I love it when that happens.
Our essential Oneness becomes less theoretical.
Immersed as we are in a patently materialistic society, a milieu that fosters greed, speed, fear and frustration, we have been conditioned to experience our world through mental and emotional states that manifest a lot of noise and motion. Bombarded with stimulation and stress, our minds habitually filled with incessant chatter, most of us have spent untold hours being constantly distracted and disconnected from our True Nature.
Coming to rest in the clear, open and spacious quality of consciousness that emerges as we Sit in Stillness is a precious experience. Unfortunately, it's all too rare. That has enormous consequences -- and not only for our individual happiness. A glance at the evening's news makes it obvious: the future of our planet hangs on it. More of us need to get our act together.
Thich Nhat Hanh and thousands Sit in Silence, London, 2012 |
It's a tough job, but somebody's got to do it, right?
Passing the Hat for the RLC's Greenfield Center
The Wednesday (and Tuesday) Mindfulness Circles take place at the Recovery Learning Community's Greenfield Center, the hub of a vibrant and very special peer support community here in Western Massachusetts. It's existence has been threatened by a recent shift in the town's priorities for CDBG funding. With a bit more compassion for my friends in the clergy who have to do this all the time, I'd like to "pass along the donation basket" and ask you to consider to join in the effort to Save the RLC's Greenfield Center.
If you'd like know more about this: Here's a guest column I wrote for
our local daily:
"My Turn: Saving a real life saver" Greenfield Recorder, November 10. 2015
Here's a 5 minute video on the effort:
https://www.youcaring.com/western-mass-recovery-learning-community-rlc-419925
(You can also make a donation at that link or the button to the left)
https://www.youcaring.com/western-mass-recovery-learning-community-rlc-419925
(You can also make a donation at that link or the button to the left)
and, if you still want more:
In his own inimitable -- and a bit more blatantly political -- style,
my identical twin Brother Lefty blogged about it yesterday as well!
Rambling On with Brother Lefty Smith, S.O.B.*
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