The Columbia City Yoga on-line Moving into Meditation class met this morning.  We reflected on the vital importance of having spiritual friends.  Good spiritual friends support us in living with authenticity and compassion.  Spiritual leader, teacher and author, Thich Nhat Hanh, encourages us to draw on our inner meditator, artist and warrior while serving in the world.  He urges us to cultivate relaxation and joy so “our actions become a true expression of our love, care and awakening.  It’s not that we have to take action.  If we’re awakened, action will naturally take us.”

Once again we drew insights from  Thich Nhat Hanh’s book, Zen and the Art of Saving the Planet.  This beautiful book will help readers to bring compassion and mindfulness to their response to the many environmental and social crises we are witnessing today.

We heard Joseph Rubano’s beautiful poem, Friend by Friend.  Joseph is a counselor who also offers True Heart/True Mind Enlightenment Intensive Retreats at the beautiful Manzanita Village Retreat Center in Warner Springs California.

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The Columbia City Yoga on-line Moving into Meditation class met this morning.  We drew on the body and the breath to bring us into the Here and Now.  We affirmed our deep caring for each other.  We explored loving awareness as a way of creating the space in which loving presence and compassion arise.

We heard Rosemerry Wahtola’s poem,  Big Lesson.  This poem is an affirmation of our natural inclination to care for each other.

We heard Julia Fehrenbacher’s poem The Cure for It All.  This poem is an invitation slow down, to be accepting and gentle with ourselves, to call on the breath to find equanimity.

We ended with Matty Weingast’s poem Mitta – Friend. This poem is from Matty’s book, The First Free Women: Poems of the Early Buddhist Nuns, a reimagining of the Therīgāthā.  This poem is about how we support one another as spiritual friends on the Path.

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The Columbia City Yoga on-line Moving into Meditation class met this morning.  We explored the Earth’s inspiration for bringing mindfulness practice into daily life. We looked deeply to find aspirations that nourish our well being and inspire compassionate action.  Like sunlight shining through a forest, our loving awareness can shine on all beings.

We can choose love again and again.  Love can help us realize our inter-being and live with open hearts.

Our guided meditation was inspired by Thich Nhat Hanh’s book, Zen and the Art of Saving the Planet.  This beautiful book will help readers to bring mindfulness to our climate crisis.  Thich Nhat Hanh  and his students teach us how to face challenging feelings and create a sense of freedom and possibility. It aims to help us to engage in compassionate action.

We heard Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer’s poem, As You Have Done for Me. Since 2006, she’s maintained a poem-a-day practice. Since 2011, she’s posted those poems for all to enjoy.  You can enjoy her lively interview with Tara Brach: The Courage to Say Yes.

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