In our Day of Mindfulness, this Saturday December 17 at Riverside Church, room 430-MLK, we will explore ‘non-clinging,’ impermanence and emptiness. We will begin with stopping, calming and resting through mindfulness of breathing and of the body. Then, sitting with full body awareness, we will practice what Thay calls active concentration:
“In Active Concentration, the mind dwells on whatever is happening in the present moment, even as it changes.
A Silver Bird flies over the Autumn Lake.
When it has passed,
The lake’s surface does not try to hold on to the image of the bird.”
As the bird flies over the lake, its reflection is lucid. After it is gone, the lake reflects the clouds and the sky just as clearly. When we practice active concentration, we welcome whatever comes along….We just dwell in the present moment with all our being. Whatever comes, comes. When the object of our concentration has passed, our mind remains clear, like a calm lake.”
We will enjoy eating together in mindfulness, Dharma sharing, mindful movements and walking, singing, total relaxation and resting.
Chairs and cushions available. Beginners welcome. Bring a vegetarian lunch. Please do not wear fragrances. Attend the whole Day or any part of the Day.
10-4:30pm: At Riverside Church, Room, at 91 Claremont Avenue in Manhattan, in room 430-MLK [walk past security desk and turn left, walk across lobby to elevators and go to 4th floor.]
Schedule [may change]:
1. 10-10:10 mindful movements
2. 10:10-10:45 Sitting/Walking: breath awareness
3. 10:50-11:15-sitting: whole body/ease
11:20-11:30: walking: whole body/ease
4. 11:40-12:05: Sitting--Active concentration
5. 12:10-12:30 [If staying inside]: Walking meditation/mindful movement
6. 12:35-12:45: silent sitting.
7. 12:50-1:15-Dharma Sharing
OR if going outside for walking meditation
12:20-1pm: outdoor walking: mind is clear blue sky.
Lunch: 1:20-2:00
Total Relaxation: 2:10-2:50
3pm-3:10-walking meditation
3:15-3:45: Sit: active concentration
3:50-4:20: Dharma Sharing.
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Thich Nhat Hanh on meditation practice:
Mindfulness of Breathing
“Breathing in, I know I am breathing in. Breathing out, I know I am breathing out.”
“The object of mindfulness is your in-breath and your out-breath, and nothing else. Observe the reality of your in-breath all throughout its duration. Stay at one with your out-breath all the way through”
“You don’t need to make an effort to stop your thinking. Just by concentrating on your breathing one hundred percent, your thinking will quiet itself. You don’t need to force yourself to be mindful. Just enjoy your breathing.”
“A period of sitting meditation is time worth living. Don’t interfere with your breathing. Breathing takes place by itself. Just light the lamp of mindfulness and shine it on your breathing. Don’t modify, bend, or make your breathing the way you think it is supposed to be. If your in-breath is short, let it be short. If your out-breath is long, let it be long. Become aware of your in-breath and out-breath as they are….After a few minutes you will notice an improvement in the quality of your breathing, and a feeling of well-being will be born in you.”
Mindfulness of the Body and calming/ease
“Breathing in, I am aware of whole body. Breathing out, I am aware of my whole body.”
With this second subject, we embrace our body with mindfulness rather than just embracing our breathing…. We recognize the presence of our body and “return home” to be one with it…. If we do not come back to our home and care for it, who will? When we come home to it, our body breathes a sigh of relief and says, “She has come back at last.”
“Breathing in, I calm my whole body. Breathing out, I calm my whole body.”
“Now that we have observed and accepted our whole body, we can bring peace and calm to it.”
“If you practice this way for ten or twenty minutes, the flow of your breathing and of your bodily functions will become very calm, and your mind will feel quite released… It is like drinking a glass of cool lemonade on a hot day and feeling your body becoming cool inside. When you breathe in, the air enters your body and calms all the cells of your body. At the same time, each “cell” of your breathing becomes more peaceful and each “cell” of your mind also becomes more peaceful. The three are one, and each one is all three. This is the key to meditation. Breathing brings the sweet joy of meditation to you. It is food. If you are nourished by the sweet joy of meditation, you become joyful, fresh, and tolerant, and everyone around you will benefit from your joy.”
[Breathe! You Are Alive, by Thich Nhat Hanh. Pages 45, 49-50.]
“In Active Concentration, the mind dwells on whatever is happening in the present moment, even as it changes.
A Silver Bird flies over the Autumn Lake.
When it has passed,
The lake’s surface does not try to hold on to the image of the bird.”
As the bird flies over the lake, its reflection is lucid. After it is gone, the lake reflects the clouds and the sky just as clearly. When we practice active concentration, we welcome whatever comes along….We just dwell in the present moment with all our being. Whatever comes, comes. When the object of our concentration has passed, our mind remains clear, like a calm lake.” [Heart of the Buddha, p. 96-7]
The Buddha:
"Then, Bahiya, you should train yourself thus: In reference to the seen, there will be only the seen. In reference to the heard, only the heard. In reference to the sensed, only the sensed. In reference to the cognized, only the cognized. That is how you should train yourself.
When for you there will be only the seen in reference to the seen, only the heard in reference to the heard, only the sensed in reference to the sensed, only the cognized in reference to the cognized, then, Bahiya, there is no you in terms of that. When there is no you in terms of that, there is no you there. When there is no you there, you are neither here nor yonder nor between the two. This, just this, is the end of stress." [Bahiya Sutra, Thanissaro Bhikkhu, on
www.accesstoinight.org]
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