Proposed text, offered by the Plum Village sangha.
The Sangha is invited to go back to our breathing, so that our collective energy of mindfulness will bring us together as an organism, going as a river, with no more separation.
Let the whole Sangha breathe as one body, generate peace as one body, be free as one body. Let us transcend the boundaries of a delusive self, liberating from the superiority complex, the inferiority complex, and the equality complex.
We are aware that the happiness and suffering of all people is also our own happiness and suffering. We are one with those caught in situations of oppression; We are also one with the oppressors. We see ourselves in all people and all people in ourselves.
We are one with the wise and good people who are present a little bit everywhere in the world. We are one with those who are able to embrace the whole of this world with their heart of love and their two arms of caring action.
We are a people with enough peace, joy and freedom to be able to offer fearlessness and the joy of life to living beings around us. We see that we are not alone. The love and the joy of great beings who are present in this world is supporting us, not allowing us to drown in despair and showing us the way of understanding, compassion and right action.
Thanks so much for the suggested contemplation for before sitting. I will be facilitating our Sangha tonight, in Brooklyn. I had been considering reading “Please Call Me By My True Names,” but find this gentle, and to the point.
Also, does Thay have something written along the lines of the old story, “It’s hard to know what’s good and bad,” the one where a horse is found (good), a leg is broken(bad), a person doesn’t have to go off to war because of the broken leg(good). I ask because we might not really know where the situation with Buddhism in Vietnam is going right now. We might not yet be at the last step in the unfolding of events. (Will we ever be?)
May our brothers and sisters of Bat Nha find safety and peace. May all of us also find happiness in our present moment. A lotus for all beings.
Autumn 2009
Our sangha did Metta meditation. It seemed appropriate.
May the monks, nuns and their oppressors all find happiness, peace and safety.
We used the suggested contemplation as a guided meditation for our second Sangha sit last night, with just a few word changes, and it was very helpful.