happy friday

this weekend:

• the buddhas, ganeshas, marys, lakshmis, kwan yins and jesuses in the gypsy hill multidenominational living room peace summit altar are getting bathed.  the buddha heads were the first (here they are, posing pretty after their bath). this is a huge job that needs to be completed in stages as there are nearly thirty members waiting in line at the kar(ma) wash.  :)

• i want to make something in the kitchen that i've never made before.  i don't know what it is yet.  i'm going to let the farmer's market and the karma garden inform the decision.

• there is a meditation center, the bodhi path, in the mountains not far from our house.  we are planning our first visit on sunday.  also, there is a classic diner nearby.  pancakes and spirituality go nicely together.  this reminds me of the time i was browsing through an omega catalog and saw an ayurvedic panchakarma retreat listing and my brain read it as "pancake-a-rama".  

• i am a great starter.  i have a constant stream of new ideas that i like to kick into existence.  trouble is, i lose steam quickly and am on to the next amazing idea or project.  so a bit of incomplete exists on gypsy hill.  this weekend i will be finishing projects i started last month, last winter, last summer, three years ago.  

i hope you are planning (or not planning, if spontaneity works for you this weekend) all kinds of goodness and fun and togetherness.

sunday grace

“very little grows on jagged rock. 

be ground. 

be crumbled, 

so wildflowers will come up where you are.”

-rumi

grace keeps showing up as summer flowers, both wild and tamed, and endless opportunities to practice. 

some things i am practicing this summer:

• being crumbled (reading pema chödrön helps)
• being ground (ditto)
• softening the edges
• rest
• wellness
• using what i have
• growing a garden
• avoiding news 
• allowing tenderness and accepting help
• not always having to be right
• and when i am, not always having to assert it

if you have been here before, you might notice that not one of these things is new.  i have to remind myself to practice each one.  over and over and over again.   this summer i'm exploring my pockets of resistance around these practices. it seems i've been given extra (not huge, but persistent) opportunities to practice some of the more challenging items on the list.  with each step of progress and every awkward gaffe on the journey, i reach a new level of understanding and integration, a fuller definition of how these things are true for my individual life.

grace is also showing up as opportunities to be curious and learn.  i'm not sure if i've mentioned it here before, but om yoga teacher cyndi lee relocated from nyc to our little burg last summer.  next weekend i'm so happy to participate in her yoga body, buddha mind workshop. 

and there are a few flower workshops, art classes and virtual gatherings on the horizon.  

and travel, for work and for fun, always a learning experience.

and nights out back, sitting under the stars with him, talking about beautiful things.

how are you experiencing grace this summer?

sunday grace: big buddha

while i was at creative joy in breathtaking upstate new york a few weeks ago, i wandered away from the monastery at garrison on a whim to visit another monastery a few miles away:  the chuang yen buddhist monastery, home of the largest buddha in the western hemisphere.  (for size perspective, see tiny live human head in bottom right corner.)

i went to see the big buddha and he is awesome.  but i discovered so much more about the buddhist traditions.

on the walls surrounding the building, there are a thousand tiny buddhas, each with his own golden light and a label printed in chinese.  i couldn't find an english-speaking person to explain it to me, so i just enjoyed the light show.  i imagined they are akin to lighting candles in a catholic church:  sweet little prayers for loved ones.  i have a thing for prayers that glow.

the base of the big buddha is encircled with beautiful boddhisattvas.  the hands of each form different mudras.  (it's true, i am all about the hands and the feet.)

ten thousand peaceful buddhas are sitting en masse to create the illusion of giant white lotus petals.

the center is a school and there is a small library of literature to browse or take home.

the grounds are spectacular.  i sat outside on a bench while troupes of (softly) laughing children played.  i watched a tour bus tai chi lesson as i sipped hot jasmine tea in the crisp autumn air.  i whispered a note of gratitude that there are tour buses that bring americans to places other than outlet malls and off-track betting.

there are countless buddhas on the grounds as well.

up the hill from the main campus, there is the beautiful and peaceful thousand lotus memorial terrace, where ashes of loved ones are placed.  pots of burning incense are at every turn, as are children and families honoring their deceased parents and elders.

on the second terrace a young man stood in a deep bow for what seemed like an hour before the urn of a loved one.  at his feet were a few white boxes of take-out and two sets of chopsticks, one set for his respected elder. what a lovely tradition, to bring a favorite meal to share.  it was so touching and tender.  i sensed lightness and joy from all the families who were present.

i will never forget this sacred place.