As I sit and write my annual reflection from this corner of Practice, a smile appears and my heart is filled with gratitude. The Three Jewels promptly come to mind: Bodhi, Dharma, and Sangha. I see Bodhi being the process of awakening; Dharma being the teachings outlining the path to awakening; and Sangha being the practitioners on the path.
Bodhi is genuinely experienced each time I disidentify from conditioning and connect with breath. The process feels mysterious and miraculous. Sometimes it seems like a switch is thrown and I’m suddenly back home in well-being. Other times it is experienced as movement, a gradual letting go of suffering.
Dharma is revealed through direct experience of transformation springing forth from showing up and practicing with the tools offered by the Guide. Gratitude is one of my favorite practice tools to facilitate the process of waking up and ending suffering. I have many gratitude recordings which the heart never tires of. It feels like a miracle when I find myself saying "Thank You!" while in the middle of a conditioned reaction. It often drops in with a smile and a laugh and a deep inhalation, which generates more gratitude. There’s a release of muscular tension in the shoulders, as a door opens to clarity and a realization that there is nothing wrong.
Among my most intimate relationships by far are those in Sangha, created and fostered in the privileged environment as I participate in practice offerings. The wisdom that flows through each node of Intelligence in Sangha is mind-blowing. We are given countless opportunities to participate and practice together. I listen to and resonate with a process that a Sangha member is looking at, and I benefit from the guidance being offered. I regularly listen to Open Air Archives, the group recordings from the Monastery, and from Center that are available to Monthly Donors, and past recordings from the Year Long Retreats. Listening again and again, the heart never tires. I am always hearing something new. I love listening to my own recordings along with Sangha recordings throughout the night, drifting in and out of sleep while being enveloped in Practice.
“That which you are seeking is causing you to seek.” I celebrate being able to experience what these words are pointing at. I celebrate that we are being trained to see Life as process. How relaxing that is. May I live in celebration as the last breath is given to me.
With humility and gratitude, I offer this reflection of Practice.
Gassho,
Karen M.