Good afternoon dear friends –
Those of us who enjoy the sound of the rain are watering many seeds of happiness these days! Shorter days, longer nights, everything impermanent. It can be difficult to adjust – or perhaps the possibility of change brings us joy. As we adjust to our personal, familial, and social circumstances, we offer congratulations to Waves and Water Caretaking Council member Vincci Shiu who received the Five Mindfulness Trainings in a Transmission Ceremony October 3, 2021.
We can also offer heartfelt gratitude this Sunday in the variety of ways we may observe Thanksgiving. For some of us – and particularly this year – the suggestion that we celebrate the “founding” of Canada in a context of Indigenous genocide is not bearable. Nevertheless we can give thanks for those ancestral and current conditions that allow us to recognize an ongoing process of awareness and understanding. NOTE: We will not be gathering as a Sangha this Sunday – October 10.
In October, we will continuing our study and practice of the Five Powers with the fifth and final Power: INSIGHT. On October 17th we will look at this Power through The Sutra on the Insight that Brings Us to the Other Shore. Thay’s new translation of the Heart Sutra provides the foundation for our deep understanding that we are not separate self-entities – rather we inter-are.
October 24th we will look at the insights arising from the Eight Realizations of Great Beings and, on All Hallows’ Eve we will share the sources of our own insights in a Tea Ceremony of music, poetry, readings, movement – whatever allows us to touch the Greatest Wisdom – even if just for a moment!
