Gathas, Gratitude and Interbeing 2021

The course has two components
- Recorded practices and resources (below) sent by weekly email for personal practice (5-10 minutes a day)
- Live zoom calls on Sundays from 2-3:30pm Pacific/5-6:30pm Eastern to practice, play, and process together.
The zoom calls are optional and will be recorded for those who cannot attend. All materials are be posted below
-
Part 1 - January 3-17, Part 2 runs until March 28 for a full 12-week immersion.

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Course Materials

WEEK 1 - Jan 3 - Drinking Tea

Week 1 Gatha Video: https://vimeo.com/496321419
Drinking Tea This cup of tea in my two hands, mindfulness held perfectly. My mind and body dwell in the very here and now.

Week 1 Zoom Class Video: https://vimeo.com/496720056

Resources:

Background on Gathas: How to do Gatha Practice by Zachiah Murray
Video: Thich Nhat Hanh on Gatha Practice

Musical Inspiration:

GRATEFUL: A Love Song to the World | Empty Hands Music | nimo feat. daniel nahmod

From Thich Nhat Hanh: A gatha can open and deepen our experience of simple acts which we often take for granted. When we focus our mind on a gatha, we return to ourselves and become more aware of each action. When the gatha ends, we continue our activity with heightened awareness.

The gatha brings our mind and body together. Gathas are nourishment for our mind, giving us peace, calmness and joy which we can share with others. Reciting these poetic, yet practical verses can help us to slow down and enjoy each moment of our lives. They are designed to use while doing ordinary daily activities such as washing the dishes, driving the car, or standing in line, as an opportunity to return to a state of mindfulness.


There are no required books to read for this course, though you may like to read “Present Moment, Wonderful Moment” By Thich Nhat Hanh.

 

WEEK 2 - Jan 10 - Holding the Empty Bowl & Serving Food

Week 2 Gatha Video: https://vimeo.com/498957210
Holding the Empty Bowl Looking at this bowl, I see how fortunate I am to have enough to eat to continue the practice.
Serving Food In this food, I see the entire universe supporting my existence

Week 2 Zoom Class Video: https://vimeo.com/499319913


Resources:

How My Son Ruined My Life - Selma & James Baraz
Many Hands - a musical meal contemplation

The Book of Delights by Ross Gay (it’s worth reading the whole book, or better yet, listening to it)
Listen to Ross Gay read two essayettes on delight - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcLEwL4WQnc

Read the Preface and Chapter 1 of The Book of Delights

Musical Inspiration: After the past week, I think everyone needs to dance so…

Sly & The Family Stone - Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wj5VODa-eTY&list=PLgPkeDJ3qTj21DOu9DYJHopY_dn5QtVlp&index=8

 

WEEK 3 - Jan 17 - Sitting Down

Week 3 Gatha Video:  https://vimeo.com/501468698
Sitting Down Sitting here is like sitting under a Bodhi tree. My body is mindfulness itself, free from all distraction.

Week 3 Zoom Class Video: https://vimeo.com/502260267 Sorry for the technical difficulties!

Resources:

“The Grammar of Animacy” from Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer (it’s worth reading the whole book, or better yet, listening to it)

Musical Inspiration:

Louis Armstrong, What a Wonderful World*
https://www.youtube.com/watch?index=2&list=PLgPkeDJ3qTj21DOu9DYJHopY_dn5QtVlp&v=CWzrABouyeE
Note -
The world may not appear all that wonderful, especially right now. Can you make space for the harm and hurt you witness and experience, and then say, “And this is also true” as you listen to the song?

 

WEEK 4 - Jan 24 - Sweeping, Garbage, & Dishes

Week 4 Gatha Video:  https://vimeo.com/502270754

Sweeping As I carefully sweep the ground of enlightenment, a tree of understanding springs up from the Earth.
(alternate melody here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pG5J8br0pXk)
Throwing Out the Garbage/Compost In the compost, I see a rose. In a rose, I see the compost. Everything is in transformation. Impermanence is life.
Dishes Washing the Dishes is like bathing a baby Buddha. The profane is the sacred and everyday mind is Buddha mind.
* chose the task you like the least! or got to this list to look for an even less enjoyable task: https://beherenownetwork.com/thich-nhat-hanhs-gathas/

Practice Video for Week 4:  https://vimeo.com/502299710

Resources:

an excerpt from Chapter 8 on Mudita, Sympathetic Joy from Sharon Salzberg

The Four Brahma Vihara qualities - by Caroline Jones and Paul Burrows
Metta, [kindness] the love that connects, is an antidote to all forms of aversion. It is not attachment. If it slides into sentimentality, karuna [compassion] brings the heart back into balance. 
Karuna, the love that responds, is an antidote to cruelty. It is not pity. If it slides into sorrow, mudita [appreciative joy] brings the heart back into balance. 
Mudita, the love that celebrates, is an antidote to envy. It is not competitive. If it slides into agitated excitement, upekkha [equanimity] brings the heart back into balance. 
Upekkha, the love that allows, is the antidote to partiality. It is not indifference. If it slides into disconnection, metta brings the heart back into balance.

Musical Inspiration: (for comfort & an invitation to dance!)

Michael Franti & Spearhead | How We Living - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9l-q4cgaTPc
Michael Franti & Spearhead | I'm On Your Side - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95-MYnvF7h0&list=PLgPkeDJ3qTj21DOu9DYJHopY_dn5QtVlp&index=64

 

WEEK 5 - Jan 31 - Computer, Telephone, & Car

Week 5 Gatha Video:  https://vimeo.com/502276558
Driving a Car:
Before starting the car, I know where I am going. The car and I are one, If the car goes fast, I go fast.
(melody here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jX_XVclImI)
Turning on the Computer: Turning on the computer, my mind gets in touch with the store. I vow to transform habit energies to help love and understanding grow.
Using the Telephone Words can travel thousands of miles. May my words create mutual understanding and love. May they be as beautiful as gems, as lovely as flowers.

Practice Video for Week 5:  https://vimeo.com/502314004

Resources:

Read this excerpt from the Gratitude Chapter in Rick Hanson’s book “Resilient.
For those who like to read up on the scientific side of this practice, here’s “How Gratitude Changes You and Your Brain” from the Greater Good Science Center. https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/how_gratitude_changes_you_and_your_brain
Why is gratitude important? - https://outwittrade.com/why-is-gratitude-important

Musical Inspiration:

Lyla June performs "Thank You" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDT0kvd7_eU&feature=emb_logo
Massari, Ali Gatie - I See The Dream (Badna Salam) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VftnMhPaV0M&list=PLgPkeDJ3qTj21DOu9DYJHopY_dn5QtVlp&index=52

 

WEEK 6 - February 7 - Water Element

Week 6 Intro Video:  https://vimeo.com/509440567

Washing Your Hands Water flows over these hands. May I use them skillfully to preserve our precious planet.
Turning on the Water Water comes from high mountain sources. Water runs deep in the Earth.
Miraculously, water comes to us and sustains all life. My gratitude is filled to the brim.

Recording of Week 6 Zoom Call:  https://vimeo.com/510025841

Further Reflections:
A Cloud Never Dies - Video teaching from Thich Nhat Hanh
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Dn9kqVrKzE

Thay’s commentary on contemplating the elements from The Discourse on the Four Foundations of Mindfulness

Maha-Rahulovada Sutta: The Greater Exhortation to Rahula:  https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.062.than.html

Musical Inspiration:

The Water Song by Mashkoonce Day, Wasaw Wahzhoo Banaise Dodem, Performed by Dorene Day, Waubanewquay, Marten Clan
*Read the video notes by clicking “Show more” for the story of the song
* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ks5IIzYX3t8

We Are - Sweet Honey in the Rock
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWaw-tQ4W7w&list=PLgPkeDJ3qTj21DOu9DYJHopY_dn5QtVlp&index=47

 

WEEK 7 - Feb 14 - Fire Element

Week 7 Gatha - Video:  https://vimeo.com/512084446
Lighting a Candle Lighting this candle, Offering the light to countless Buddhas, the peace and the joy I feel brightens the face of the Earth.
Turning on the Light Forgetfulness is the darkness, mindfulness is the light. I bring awareness to shine upon all life.

Week 7 Zoom Class Recording:  https://vimeo.com/512490791

Resources:

Four-Element Meditation guided by Sister Chan Duc (Sister Annabel) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7jAy-yxQ1ms

The Buddha's words on the Fire Element, from the Maha-Rahulovada Sutta: The Greater Exhortation to Rahula MN 62
"And what is the fire property? The fire property may be either internal or external. What is the internal fire property? Anything internal, belonging to oneself, that's fire, fiery, & sustained: that by which [the body] is warmed, aged, & consumed with fever; and that by which what is eaten, drunk, chewed, & savored gets properly digested; or anything else internal, within oneself, that's fire, fiery, & sustained: This is called the internal fire property. Now both the internal fire property & the external fire property are simply fire property. And that should be seen as it actually is present with right discernment: 'This is not mine, this is not me, this is not my self.' When one sees it thus as it actually is present with right discernment, one becomes disenchanted with the fire property and makes the fire property fade from the mind…
"Develop the meditation in tune with fire. For when you are developing the meditation in tune with fire, agreeable & disagreeable sensory impressions that have arisen will not stay in charge of your mind. Just as when fire burns what is clean or unclean — feces, urine, saliva, pus, or blood — it is not horrified, humiliated, or disgusted by it; in the same way, when you are developing the meditation in tune with fire, agreeable & disagreeable sensory impressions that have arisen will not stay in charge of your mind.”
https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.062.than.html

Musical Inspiration:

I am Light - India Arie (We are the sun and fire, we are light)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OL-gxfx2QtY

Alicia Keys - Underdog
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izyZLKIWGiA&list=PLgPkeDJ3qTj21DOu9DYJHopY_dn5QtVlp&index=30

 

WEEK 8 - February 21 - Earth Element

Week 8 - Introduction Gatha Video:  https://vimeo.com/514791550

Using the Toilet - Defiled or immaculate, increasing or decreasing – these concepts exist only in our mind. The reality of interbeing is unsurpassed.
Washing Vegetables - In these vegetables I see a green sun. All dharmas join together to make life possible.

Week 8 Zoom Call Recording: will be posted here on Monday, Feb 22

Resources:

Land Acknowledgements as a way to connect to Earth Element

Native Land - https://native-land.ca
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNZi301-p8k - a good critical introduction to the land acknowledgment by Indigenous students and faculty at York University

A Poem shared during the Zoom Call:
Hamatreya by Ralph Waldo Emerson - https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/52341/hamatreya

*
Want to be happy? Be grateful - Brother David Steindl-Rast
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UtBsl3j0YRQ&list=PLgPkeDJ3qTj21DOu9DYJHopY_dn5QtVlp&index=34

A Covenant of Reciprocity by Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass
“We are all bound by a covenant of reciprocity: plant breath for animal breath, winter and summer, predator and prey, grass and fire, night and day, living and dying. Water knows this, clouds know this. Soil and rocks know they are dancing in a continuous giveaway of making, unmaking, and making again the earth. Our elders say that ceremony is the way we can remember to remember. In the dance of the giveaway, remember that the earth is a gift that we must pass on, just as it came to us. When we forget, the dances we'll need will be for mourning. For the passing of polar bears, the silence of cranes, for the death of rivers and the memory of snow.

Maha-Rahulovada Sutta: MN 62
Develop the (mind-) development that is like the earth, Rāhula. For, from developing the (mind-) development that is like the earth, Rāhula, agreeable and disagreeable sensory impressions that have arisen, taking hold of your thought, will not persist. As, Rāhula, people cast what is clean on to the earth and what is unclean and, ordure and urine and spittle and pus and blood, and yet the earth is not troubled thereby nor worried or disgusted, even so do you, Rāhula, develop the (mind-) development that is like the earth. For, from developing the (mind-) development that is like the earth, Rāhula, agreeable and disagreeable sensory impressions that have arisen, taking hold of your thought, will not persist.

Musical Inspiration this week comes from Joe Reilly (www.joereilly.org)

Touch the Earth
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lu6B_yrfW90&list=PLgPkeDJ3qTj21DOu9DYJHopY_dn5QtVlp&index=44

Healing Song
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3R_zRyOnhI&list=PLgPkeDJ3qTj21DOu9DYJHopY_dn5QtVlp&index=45

Tree Meditation
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzYjJHRu9DU&list=PLgPkeDJ3qTj21DOu9DYJHopY_dn5QtVlp&index=43


 

WEEK 9 - February 28 - Air Element


Week 9 - Introduction Gatha Video:
https://vimeo.com/517677093

Gatha - Calming the Breath Breathing in, I calm my body. Breathing out, I smile. Dwelling in the present moment, I know this is a wonderful moment!
or a shorter version: This breath - a gift.

This week I invite you to meditate with Joe Reilly - Breathing - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggMMLZZDFKc

Week 8 Zoom Call Recording:
https://vimeo.com/518605910


Resources:

in every breath
if you’re the center
of your own desires
you’ll lose the grace
of your beloved

but if in every breath
you blow away
your self claim
the ecstasy of love
will soon arrive

in every breath
if you’re the center
of your own thoughts
the sadness of autumn
will fall on you

but if in every breath
you strip naked
just like a winter
the joy of spring
will grow from within

all your impatience
comes from the push
for gain of patience
let go of the effort
and peace will arrive

all your unfulfilled desires
are from your greed
for gain of fulfillments
let go of them all
and they will be sent as gifts

fall in love with
the agony of love
not the ecstasy
then the beloved
will fall in love with you

Rumi - Translation by Nader Khalili, “Rumi, Fountain of Fire” Cal-Earth Press, 1994

Musical Inspiration:

Nahko And Medicine For The People - Black As Night - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkGBLLjAXEA&list=PLgPkeDJ3qTj21DOu9DYJHopY_dn5QtVlp&index=56

Breaths - Sweet Honey In The Rock - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3e-zLKyZLw&list=PLgPkeDJ3qTj21DOu9DYJHopY_dn5QtVlp&index=49


WEEK 10 - March 7 - Happy Money

Week 10 - Introduction Gatha Video:
https://vimeo.com/520407601


Gatha: While Thay has not offered a gatha about using money, I found that this practice from Ken Honda’s “Happy Money” is a natural fit into our practice:

Say “Thank you” as money comes into and out of your life. This includes receiving a paycheck, disability insurance, paying rent, buying a new coat, getting coffee, donating to a cause you like, and paying subway fare. You can also do this while looking into your wallet or online bank account - pay attention to the good ou can do with the money you do have, and find gratitude to pay for the bills you can pay to balance out the usually exorbitant amount of time we spend worrying about bills to come and upset about the money we do have. This is not prosperity gospel. It’s about bringing mindfulness, gratitude and awareness of Interbeing into every area of our lives - and then seeing what happens. The Intro video explains this more.

This may feel really hard, or stupid, or scary. Great. Notice that. It’s helpful information. Then try the experiment for a week and see what happens. If this still feels like too much, make a list of five ways you receive and give money that you feel good about, and take time to feel the goodness of it, in your body, mind, and heart. Soak it in rather than just rushing through the task.

Week 10 Zoom Call Recording:
https://vimeo.com/521140337

Resources:

from Happy Money by Ken Honda - It is not how much you make or have that makes you have Happy Money or Unhappy Money; it’s the energy with which your money is given and received that determines your flow. Whether you make a lot of money or very little, your money can be in either flow. Ultimately, it’s your choice. If you want to be in the flow of Happy Money, you can. You can choose to be grateful when you receive money and you can give generously with joy and enthusiasm… [though it] i’s easier said than done. 

Since most of us don’t have a healthy relationship with money, we spend a lot of our precious time worrying about and resenting money. In fact, some of us are so tired from worrying about a lack of money that we have little energy for anything else in life. We become weighted down by the burden of working, making ends meet, and keeping up with our neighbors. So few of us realize just how much energy is required to think about money or how much money determines even our most basic decisions.

Musical Inspiration:

Gratitude - Jason Mraz
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMidk5rnQ0w&list=PLgPkeDJ3qTj21DOu9DYJHopY_dn5QtVlp&index=38

Heaven’s Here on Earth - Tracy Chapman
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvMbYRBPnHI&list=PLgPkeDJ3qTj21DOu9DYJHopY_dn5QtVlp&index=55


 

WEEK 12 - March 21 - Thank Everything

Week 12 Introduction Video:
https://vimeo.com/526870560

Gatha: Wow. Thanks.
Practice thanking everything for at least one minute every day

Week 12 Zoom Call Recording:
https://vimeo.com/527064406


Resources:

The Thanksgiving Address - https://earthtotables.org/essays/the-thanksgiving-address/

Beyond Land Acknowledgment - https://nativegov.org/beyond-land-acknowledgment/

Voluntary Land Taxes - https://nativegov.org/voluntary-land-taxes/

One Hundred Blessings - https://100blessings.org

Deepak Chopra - How Gratitude Heals - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Z11l8hwwdA

Eckhart Tolle, Gratitude - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=utDUB3egRJc

A 20-Second Prayer During Handwashing - https://reformjudaism.org/beliefs-practices/prayers-blessings/20-second-prayer-during-handwashing


“I don’t know exactly what a prayer is.
I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down
into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,
which is what I have been doing all day.

Tell me, what else should I have done?
Doesn’t everything die at last, and too soon?
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?”
~ Mary Oliver, The Grasshopper

*

Thanksgiving is sweeter than bounty itself.
One who cherishes gratitude does not cling to the gift!
Thanksgiving is the true meat of God’s bounty;
the bounty is its shell,
For thanksgiving carries you to the hearth of the Beloved.
Abundance alone brings heedlessness,
 thanksgiving gives birth to alertness.
The bounty of thanksgiving will satisfy and elevate you,
and you will bestow a hundred bounties in return.
Eat your fill of God’s delicacies,
and you will be freed from hunger and begging.
~ Jalal Ad-Din Muhammad Rumi

Musical Inspiration:

Joe Reilly, Thank You - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3YeFTBGTtA

MILCK - Oh My My (What A Life) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVg6hDTz9Ho&list=RDMM&start_radio=1&rv=MS7pMg6XXoY

Natalie Cole - Be Thankful - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6eLwhlxcJy8&list=PLgPkeDJ3qTj21DOu9DYJHopY_dn5QtVlp&index=23

Sara Bareilles - Brave - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUQsqBqxoR4&list=PLgPkeDJ3qTj21DOu9DYJHopY_dn5QtVlp&index=21


Week 13 - Finale

Zoom Call Recording:

https://vimeo.com/530361694

Thank you for taking part in Gathas, Gratitude, and Interbeing! Whether you tried one gatha or all of them, I hope that you've found some new practices and insights to support you in life, especially in this time of violence and pandemic. You don't have to stop this practice just because the course is ending. Reverence is a way of life!

I will leave this page up until September. I imagine that the intro videos would be enough to have as refreshers whenever you need them.

Feel free to download anything you like. There's a download button below each video. You can share all of this, but please also share my website and donation link as well.

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Donations - Thank you so much to everyone who has made a donation. The practice of dana is meant to bring happiness - it's a gift to give! I've enjoyed giving this course, and if you'd like to make a donation, please let it bring you joy. Your support allows me to offer more courses in the future, and save a little money to start university in the fall! This is my sole source of livelihood. For those who've not yet had a chance, please visit my Donation page.