(back to Still Water Dharma Topics)


Welcoming Our Sorrows

Dear Still Water Friends,

This Thursday evening, after our meditation period, we will work with a guided meditation that helps us expand our awareness of the pains and joys we experience in the present moment and in daily life. In particular, we will focus on developing a non-reactive embracing of each moment and of all that we are. 

In mindfulness practice, a transformation of our life occurs when we can open to the flow of our experiences, rather than denying, suppressing, or attaching to them. We learn to welcome all of our experiences as invited guest. The poet Rumi explains:

This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.

A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.

Welcome and entertain them all
Even if they're a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture.

Still treat each guest honorably,
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.

The dark thought, the shame, the malice,
meet them at the door laughing,
and invite them in.

Be grateful for whoever comes,
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.

(Translated by Coleman Barks,
From Open Secret: Versions of Rumi)


In the related excerpt below, Thich Nhat Hanh explores the mechanism of samyojana (internal formations), through which our lives are narrowed when we respond to experiences reactively rather than open-heartedly.

You are invited to join with us. The best times to join our Thursday evening gatherings are just before the beginning of our 7 p.m meditation, just before we begin walking meditation (around 7:25), and just after our walking meditation (around 7:35).

You are also invited this Thursday to share an informal dinner with other Still Water practitioners --  beginning at 5:30, at The Lebanese Taverna (next to the fountain on the Ellsworth Avenue Restaurant Row). If you have questions about the dinner, please email Steve Allen at sallen@jubileemd.org.


Warm wishes,

Mitchell Ratner
Senior Teacher

Thich Nhat Hanh, from Blooming of a Lotus

To oppose, brush aside, or deny pain in our body or mind only makes that feeling more intense. . . . Our painful feelings are not other than ourselves, or to put it more precisely, they are a part of us. To deny them is to deny our very selves. The moment we accept these feelings, we begin to feel more peaceful, and the pain begins to lose some of its intensity. To smile to our pain is the wisest, the most intelligent, the most beautiful thing we can do. There is no better way.

Every time we acknowledge a feeling of pain and make its acquaintance, we come in closer contact with ourselves. Bit by bit we look deeply into the substance and the roots of that pain. Fear, insecurity, anger, sadness, jealousy, and attachment form blocks of feelings and thoughts within us (Sanskrit samyojana, “internal formation”), and we need time and opportunity to acknowledge them and to look into them. The mindfulness of breathing does the work of making painful feelings bearable. Mindfulness recognizes the presence of the feelings, acknowledges them, soothes them, and enables the work of observation to continue until the substance of the block is seen. Mindfulness is the only way to transform it. All the seeds of pain are present within us, and if we live in forgetfulness, the seeds of pain will be watered every day. They will grow strong, and the internal blocks will become more solid. Conscious breathing transforms internal formations of painful feelings.

Internal formations can also be seen as “fetters”’ or “‘knots” of suffering deep in our consciousness. The knots are created when we react emotionally to what others say and do, and also when we repeatedly suppress our awareness of both pleasant and unpleasant feelings and thoughts. The fetters which bind us can be identified as any painful feeling or addictive pleasant feeling, such as anger, hatred, Pride, doubt, sorrow, or attachment. They are forged by confusion and a lack of understanding,, by our misperceptions regarding our selves and our reality. By practicing mindfulness, we are able to recognize and transform unpleasant feelings and emotions when they first arise, so they do not become fetters. When we do not let ourselves react to the words and actions of others, when we are able to keep our minds calm and peaceful, the fetters of internal formations cannot be made, and we will experience greater happiness and joy. Our families, friends, and associates will also benefit from our greater understanding and love.

In our consciousness there are also the seeds of happiness, such as a loving heart, the ability to let go, joy, calm, and freedom. But these seeds need water every day or they will never thrive. When we are able to nourish these seeds with mindfulness, they will burst into bloom and offer us the flowers and fruits of happiness.