Gathas, Gratitude and Interbeing 2022
Course Resources
Session 1 - January 9
Beginning & Ending the Day
If you’re short on time, you can just watch the intro video each week and have enough to practice with
Gathas
* Waking up this morning, I smile. Twenty-four brand new hours are before me. I vow to live fully in each moment and to look at beings with eyes of compassion.
* The day is ending and our life is one day shorter. Let us look carefully at what we have done. Let us practice diligently, putting our whole heart into the path of meditation. Let us live deeply each moment and in freedom, so the time doesn’t slip away meaninglessly.
* The breeze at dawn has secrets to tell you. Don't go back to sleep. You must ask for what you really want. Don't go back to sleep. People are going back and forth across the doorsill where the two worlds touch. The door is round and open. Don't go back to sleep. (Rumi)
Music
And When I Rise (includes waking up gatha)
Impermanence Gatha (The day is now ended…)
What is a Gatha?
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. (Thich Nhat Hanh)
This list has 68 Gathas from the Plum Village tradition
And this web page is about creating your own gathas
Further Resources
Vagal Nurturing practice that we used for the meditation
There are no required books to read for this course, though you may like to read “Present Moment, Wonderful Moment” By Thich Nhat Hanh.
About the Five Remembrances - Article from Lion’s Roar
The Five Remembrances - This teaching by Kaira Jewel Lingo is a great way to go deeper.
Session 2 - January 16
Mealtime Practice
Gathas
- Looking at this bowl, I see how fortunate I am to have enough to eat to continue the practice.
- In this food, I clearly see the entire universe supporting my existence.
Music
Spotify playlist
We Are - Sweet Honey in the Rock
Zoom Call
https://vimeo.com/666579904/aa7a9f7d6b
Further Resources
Gatha Shortcut: Wow. Thanks.
The Five Contemplations Before Eating: This food is a gift of the earth, the sky, numerous living beings, and much hard and loving work. May we eat with mindfulness and gratitude so as to be worthy to receive this food. May we recognize and transform unwholesome mental formations, especially our greed and learn to eat with moderation. May we keep our compassion alive by eating in such a way that reduces the suffering of living beings, stops contributing to climate change, and heals and preserves our precious planet. We accept this food so that we may nurture our brotherhood and sisterhood, build our Sangha, and nourish our ideal of serving all living beings.
Before Eating: Beings all over the Earth are struggling to live. I aspire to practice deeply so all may have enough to eat.
Beginning to Eat: With the first taste, I offer joy. With the second, I help relieve the suffering of others. With the third, I see others’ joy as my own. With the fourth, I learn the way of letting go.
Looking at Your Plate or Bowl after Eating: The meal is finished, and I am satisfied. The four gratitudes are deeply in my mind
Monastic bowl gatha: The bowl of the Tathagata is in my two hands. Giver, receiver, and gift held in perfect oneness.
Quote: “In a real sense all life is inter-related. All men are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be, and you can never be what you ought to be until I am what I ought to be... This is the inter-related structure of reality.” ― Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., Letter from a Birmingham Jail
Quote: “Gratefulness is the key to a happy life that we hold in our hands, because if we are not grateful, then no matter how much we have we will not be happy -- because we will always want to have something else or something more.” You can't be grateful for war in a given situation, or violence, ... no, not for everything, but in every moment. ― Br. David Steindl-Rast
Session 3 - January 23
Drink your Tea
Intro Video
https://vimeo.com/669137183/89b51ca63a
Gatha
This cup of tea in my two hands is mindfulness held perfectly
My mind and body dwell in the very here and now
Zoom Call Recording
https://vimeo.com/669230610/5fa762d235
Music
I am a cloud - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPebeqrum_M
Breathing in, breathing out - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OHI6wRaclnA
Resources
Thich Nhat Hanh and Oprah drinking tea: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNiwOI0u9AI
Thich Nhat Hanh on “I have Arrive, I am Home” - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNQhj82jDRQ
The Four Wise Efforts
- The first practice is, don’t water the bad seeds. You know that there are negative seeds in you, and if they manifest, you will suffer. So let them sleep peacefully. When you watch a film, when you read a newspaper, when you listen to music, there is a chance that a seed will be watered and will manifest. We have to consume in mindfulness so that the bad seeds are not watered.
- The second practice is that every time a bad mental formation manifests, we have to make it go back to sleep, because if we keep it here too long, then it strengthens down in the base. If we leave it up in the mind for an hour, then that seed has an hour of strengthening. It’s dangerous.
- The third practice is to allow the good seeds to be watered so they have a chance to manifest in the mind. For example, a Dharma talk is a kind of rain that can water the good seeds in you. When they manifest in the mind consciousness, the landscape will be much more beautiful.
- The fourth practice is when the good seed has already manifested, we help it to stay in the mind consciousness as long as possible. Like when you have a friend who comes to visit bringing good news, you try to keep that friend with you as long as possible.
On Joy:“Even a wounded world is feeding us. Even a wounded world holds us, giving us moments of wonder and joy. I choose joy over despair. Not because I have my head in the sand, but because joy is what the earth gives me daily and I must return the gift.”
- Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass
Session 4 - January 30
Inviting and Listening to the Bell
Intro Video
https://vimeo.com/671662307/dfbeb5bc35
Gatha
Listening to the Bell 1 - Listen, listen, this wonderful sound brings me back to my true home.
Listening to the Bell 2 - Listening to the bell, I feel my afflictions begin to dissolve. My mind is calm, my body relaxed, a smile is born on my lips. Following the bell’s sound, my breathing guides me back to the safe island of mindfulness. In the garden of my heart, the flower of peace blooms beautifully. Namo Shakyamunaye Buddhaya.
Listening to the Bell 3 - Hearing the bell, I am able to let go of all my afflictions. My heart is calm, my sorrows ended. I am no longer bound to anything. I learn to listen to my suffering and the suffering of the other person. When understanding is born in me, compassion is also born.
Inviting the Bell 1- Body, speech, and mind held in perfect oneness, I send my heart along with the sound of the bell. May the hearers awaken from forgetfulness and transcend all anxiety and sorrow.
Inviting the Bell 2 - May the sound of this bell penetrate deeply into the cosmos. In even the darkest spots, may living beings hear it clearly, so their suffering will cease, understanding arise in their hearts, and they can transcend the path of anxiety and sorrow. Namo Shakyamunaye Buddhaya.
Inviting the Bell 3 - May the sound of this bell penetrate deeply into the cosmos so that beings, even those in dark places, may hear it and be free from birth and death. May all beings realize awakening and find their way home. Namo Shakyamunaye Buddhaya.
Zoom Call
https://vimeo.com/671763639/e7e53d1a65
Music
Listening to the Bell, Plum VIllage monastics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9VHqXrOo49k
Wishless by Joe Reilly: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfR2qe0FdLQ
Additional Resources
May I be loving, open, and aware in this moment;
If I cannot be loving, open, and aware in this moment, may I be kind;
If I cannot be kind, may I be nonjudgmental;
If I cannot be nonjudgmental, may I not cause harm;
If I cannot not cause harm, may I cause the least harm.
Larry Yang
Session 5 - February 6
You Have A Cosmic Body / Thank Everything
Intro Video
https://vimeo.com/674140921/7254820779
Gatha
Rather than offering a particular gatha this week, I invite you to practice recognizing your Cosmic Body with the practice of Thanking Everything (see the Intro video.)
You may also want to look through the resources from last year’s course to find one or two more gathas we did not cover this year, including bowing to your seat/cushion, working meditation, practicing with the elements, money, breath, body, and more. Click here for all 12 sessions.
Zoom Call
https://vimeo.com/674247960/21c2636e47
Music
Thank you, by Joe Reilly: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWiGfSRV3uE&t=165s
MILCK - Oh My My (What A Life): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVg6hDTz9Ho&list=RDMM&start_radio=1&rv=MS7pMg6XXoY
Brave, by Sarah Bareilles: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUQsqBqxoR4
Keep Loving, by Nimo Patel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WAViUDYZOQ
The Great Bell Chant by Thich Nhat Hanh and Brother Phap Niem: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1ZwaEzMtJw&t=3s
Reciprocity Resources
Social Justice Tithing: http://blog.jdlh.com/en/2012/12/31/social-justice-tithe/
Beyond Land Acknowledgment: https://nativegov.org/beyond-land-acknowledgment/
Voluntary Land Taxes - https://nativegov.org/voluntary-land-taxes/
Poems
The Summer Day read by the author, Mary Oliver
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
HOW TO PREPARE
- Let this be a time of practice and play. Set yourself up in a focused space, turn off anything that might beep or distract you, have snacks on hand if you'd like, and a comfortable seat. We will only do a short grounding practice at the beginning of the session so you don't need to prepare for a long meditation session.
- Every Sunday morning I'll send out a message with a short video to introduce the week's practice and a reminder of a Zoom link for the live session.
- If you join the Zoom session, you're welcome to bring a journal, art supplies, musical instruments, or simply yourself. There will be options for creative exploration which I'll explain in the first session.
- I encourage everyone to arrive a little early. I'll play some music to open the space and settle. If you have to arrive late, that's okay though you'll miss some instructions.
- Some of you have offered donations already - Thank you! I will explain the process of dana at the end of the course though each week's email will also provide a link for donations. Please offer what you can and what brings you joy.