Fri, January 1
Fri, January 1, –
Dear Friends,
You are warmly invited to join the Still Water community on New Year’s Day to celebrate and to reflect. We will have two online events — you are welcome to join one or both.
Morning Meditation Practice – from 8:00 to 9:00 am (Eastern time)
- Opening bell
- Listening to Thich Nhat Hanh and Brother Phap Niem offering the Great Bell Chant
- Thirty minute sitting meditation
- Dharma sharing on our aspirations for the new year
- Closing bell
Community Celebration — from 10:00 - 11:30 am (Eastern time)
- Social mingling
- Tea Ceremony (with cookie/fruit meditation and the offering of poems, songs, and stories)
- Selection and sharing of oracle readings (From the Tao Te Ching, or Winnie the Pooh, or both)
- Closing circle: closing reflections and appreciations
- Social time in self-selected breakout rooms
We would love to have you join us. Please register online. This will allow for a more secure event, will allow us to send you more information (about the tea ceremony, for example), and will let us know if we will have to upgrade our Zoom license to include everyone.
The text of the Great Bell Chant is below.
Warm wishes,
The Still Water New Year’s Day Celebration Team
Barbra Esher, Beth Gingold, Mitchell Ratner, Rachel Phillips-Anderson
The Great Bell Chant (The End of Suffering)
May the sound of this bell penetrate deep into the cosmos
Even in the darkest spots living beings are able to hear it clearly
So that all suffering in them ceases
Understanding comes to their heart
And they transcend the path of sorrow and death.
..
The universal dharma door is already open
The sound of the rising tide is heard clearly
The miracle happens: a beautiful child appears in the heart of a lotus flower
One single drop of this compassionate water is enough
To bring back the refreshing spring to our mountains and rivers.
..
Listening to the bell I feel the afflictions in me begin to dissolve
My mind calm, my body relaxed
A smile is born on my lips
Following the sound of the bell
My breath brings me back to the safe island of mindfulness
In the garden of my heart, the flowers of peace bloom beautifully.
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