(back to Still Water Dharma Topics)

Dear Still Water Friends,

A Zen center in California used to sell t-shirts that read "Meditation -- It's not what you think." Many of us grew up in families in which thinking was encouraged while other ways of responding -- such as with our hearts and souls -- were discouraged, dismissed, or ignored. For me, one of the treasures of mindfulness is that it encourages us and teaches us to respond lovingly, with our whole being.

This Thursday evening, July 6, we will begin at 6:30 with an orientation to mindfulness practice and to Still Water for those new to the practice or to our community. You are welcome to join us, to ask questions, to listen, or to share your experiences.

At 7 p.m. our meditation period will begin with a short guided meditation. At 8 p.m. our program will feature a segment from a Questions and Answer Session with Thich Nhat Hanh that took place this past month. We'll listen to two questions -- on mindfulness and thinking, and on facing our suffering. (An excerpt from Thay's response to the first question is below). Then we will share our experiences and questions.

Also, this Sunday evening, I will be co-hosting with Abbie the Still Water mindfulness group in Columbia, Maryland. The topic for our discussion will be mindfulness in daily life.

You are invited to join us for one or both of these events.

Warm wishes,

Mitchell Ratner
Senior Teacher

I Think We All Think Too Much by Thich Nhat Hanh 

(From a Question and Answer on June 6, 2006, at Plum Village, France.)

"Usually I do not respond to the situation with my thinking. I usually respond to the situation with my whole person, not just my thinking. If you have practiced nonviolence, compassion, brotherhood, you know that you have developed that capacity to respond to situations with brotherhood, understanding, and compassion. So you allow yourself to respond naturally to the situation. And that response is very peaceful, very natural, and very pleasant. And if you respond in a non-pleasant way, you know that that is not a natural, a good response. With your capacity of observing, you see why and how this negative response has been produced. And you know that kind of response without compassion, without equanimity, without love, has its roots within yourself. And you may tell yourself that is not the best way of responding, as far as you are concerned. Through the practice of breathing, you may like to respond differently to that situation, that will bring you more peace and the situation more peace.

"In fact, I do not base on my thinking for responding to situations. I allow myself to respond naturally, first. From time to time we need thinking to intervene. But I don't think that thinking is the best ground on which we can base in order to respond. It is like when you hear the bell. We don't have to think that this is the bell and I have to stop thinking, stop talking, and I have to breathe in and out. You don't think. You just respond to the bell in a very natural way, with pleasure. No thinking is needed. When you walk, when you enjoy the morning sunshine, the trees, the friends, you don't need thinking to do all that. We have to learn to be in a non-thinking mode in order to get in touch with the wonders of life. I think we all think too much."