How has your week been? Have you been able to be outdoors? I hope so. Nothing grounds us as well as any taste of nature. A dream to be realized for us in another five days or so.
As we are fantasizing of an outside world let me say, quarantine has been way more difficult than I imagined. After 58 days of lockdown curfews, what is a couple of weeks of courteous voluntary quarantine? Well, here in a region that is super strict and has closed borders, people walk by and peek in the window of the house with the big red quarantine sign that implies danger or toxic substance. Neither make one feel very rosy.
The saving grace for me this week has been the course that I was suppose to participate in here at the Tushita Meditation Centre. Since it was cancelled they offered it online for free, but of course donations are welcome. It is a ten day beginner's meditation course in the Tibetan lineage that is a requirement to attend any of the other amazing teachings that they offer. I took a separate apartment for isolation and immersed myself in it.
There have been 3-4 hours of teachings and about 3 hours of meditation a day. The only way I could make such a commitment of time, other than attending the residency was exactly the circumstance I am in. It couldn't have been more appropriate for helping me put perspective in place and dispel some angst. It's great to deepen our mindfulness practice when emotions are running high and global fluency seems so askew.
It's also good to be reminded that suffering is associated with a sense of separate self, which doesn't exist. Attachments and aversions without the 'I' don't hold much weight. The more we see that we are so incredibly interconnected to everyone and everything, the clearer a path of gratitude and fierce compassion can arise. Has there ever been a more important time to exercise these attributes as we all hold proverbial hands through this global suffering.
It's important these days to plug into what will nourish your heart of hearts. There is always more truth there than you'll get on the news, and almost every school and great teacher have made their offerings possible online since covid.
If you are curious about the Tushita Centre here, visit http://tushita.info You can participate without having to travel to the Himalayas.
Now of course if I was participating in person at the retreat, I'd be without a computer, would have handed in my phone as I arrived and there would be no Sunday hello note from my heart to yours. Shhhh, now I will re-enter the last three days in noble silence.
Holding space for the healing of us all. With love and respect from Mother India,
