The meeting began by conducting our opening meditation on the outdoor deck amid a plethora of nature's greenery and the lyrical guidance of feathered troubadour's. Since with the exception of "mother" (who I hope you NOW! all know who I refer to), we were all in attendance so this will be as brief as my memory demands.
The initial discussion focused on Beck's use of the term "manipulation" and we quickly got clarification from all directions. It is interchangeable with the following terms with regard to one's practice: intention, concept driven ideas, anticipation of exchange or reward, and expectations - just to name a few. It can also be understood as incompatible with equanimity when our actions are examined from the standpoint of motive.
We then managed to beat up on Ken by suggesting that he is actually quite humble and giving. In fact we did so to the extent that he was adequately mortified and will, I suspect, still be recuperating at this very hour.
Nadine reminded us that all the best ideas are dead without works to support them and that we need to put them into actual practice in our daily lives.
And it would seem that the group has passed a milestone after our humble beginning in 2009. We crossed the proverbial River Styx, from the land of primarily intellectual discussion to more difficult terrain of personal support and encouragement for one of our own. Congratulations are in order to us all for having persevered through the shadows and into the sunlit land of compassion. Actually it's probably due in great part to Mary Ann's teachings on vulnerability, as she has so willingly shared her poems with us. My thanks to you all.
Next Meeting: We will meet again on July 22 at Ginny and Claudine's.
Assignment: The First Four Chapters of the new book, Carefree Dignity, by Tsoknyi Rinpoche (which may another sign of a seismic shift in the level of commitment within the group.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment