Letting Go

Letting Go

Discussion date: Thu, Jan 02, 2014 at our weekly Thursday evening practice

< equanimity, nonattachment, nondiscrimi­nation, even-mindedness, or letting go. Upe means “over,” and ksh means “to look.” You climb the mountain to be able to look over the whole situation, not bound by one side or the other. . . . People who do not understand Buddhism sometimes think upeksha means indifference, but true equanimity is neither cold nor indiffer­ent. If you have more than one child, they are all your children. Upeksha does not mean that you don’t love. You love in a way that all your children receive your love, without discrimination.

The Theravadan teacher, Achaan Chah, encourages us to “Just let go.”

Do everything with a mind that lets go. Do not expect any praise or reward. If you let go a little, you will have a little peace. If you let go a lot, you will have a lot of peace. If you let go completely, you will know complete peace and freedom. Your struggles with the world will have come to an end.

You are invited to be with us this Thursday for our meditation, our Dharma discussion and our “letting go” ceremony. What is it you would most like to let go of?

Other New Year related Still Water events include:

  • a New Year’s Eve sitting on Tuesday evening with the Gaithersburg group.
  • a New Year’s Day Brunch for the whole Still Water community,
  • a regional transmission of the Five Mindfulness Trainings on Saturday, January 4th in Oakton, and,
  • a Setting Our Intentions Tea ceremony on Sunday evening, January 5th, with the Columbia Still Water group.

Lastly, I sent last week’s announcement to Sr. Pine and asked her if she would be willing to expand on what she meant by “keeping in mind what I really want.” My interpretation and her illuminating response are below.

May you have a 2014 full of peace, joy, and love.

Mitchell

Registration is now open for three upcoming Still Water events:

  • Beginning the Year Mindfully: New Year’s Day Brunch, Wednesday, January 1, 2014, in Silver Spring
  • A Calm Mind and A Joyful Heart: An Introduction to Mindfulness Meditation, Monday, January 20, 2014, at Crossings in Silver Spring
  • Smiling like a Buddha: A Ten-Session Mindfulness Meditation Class, Mondays, January 27 – April 15, 2014, at Crossings in Silver Spring
  • And you are invited to participate in or attend a region-wide Transmission of the Five Mindfulness Trainings Ceremony, Saturday, January 4, 2014, in Oakton, Va.


    Keeping in Mind What I Really Want

    In last week’s announcement I wrote:

    When Sr. Pine said “It is by keeping in mind what I really want,” my expansion of what she was saying is “It is my deep aspiration to bring peace, joy, and love into the world and that if I can keep that in mind, and know that it depends on the quality of the mental formations I nourish, then it is easier to be mindful moment by moment.” (I will send this to her and see if she agrees.)

    Sr. Pine responded in an email:

    I think when I gave that response at SWMPC, all I meant by it is that at any moment of the day, consciously or unconsciously, I am always watering seeds. I’m either watering seeds of understanding and insight, or I’m watering distraction and forgetfulness; I’m watering love, or fear. Understanding and love are life-enhancing and bring pleasant feelings in body & mind to me and to those I’m in contact with, right in the immediate moment and in the moments that follow. Distraction, though it may sometimes offer a brief pleasant buzz of excitement or entertainment, is mostly life-alienating, causing me to do or say things that can be obstacles to understanding & love and bringing experiences that are more unpleasant than pleasant over time. I have to be in touch, to be mindful, to know (as Thay always says) what is going on in me and around me, so I can choose the life-enhancing, more pleasant option. That’s what I mean by keeping in mind what I really want.

    in: Dharma Topics
    Discussion Date: Thu, Jan 02, 2014


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    Sun, June 18

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