orchard sangha newsletter may 2009
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Orchard Sangha Newsletter May 2009TRANSCRIPT
The Orchard Sangha Newsletter
New Shoots, New Growth
As spring begins to turn into summer, and the
season of new growth and vision transforms
into blossoming and fruition, I reflect on how
heartening and inspiring it is to receive the
contributions for the newsletter. Practice can
move us deeply and touch the very core of our
being; it can sometimes make us feel
vulnerable and sensitive. To be willing to
undertake the sometimes difficult task of
expressing those feelings, those experiences, in
words and then to share them with us all is very
special indeed. So thank you to all those who
have contributed to the newsletters, and to The
Orchard for holding the space that nourishes
this unfolding.
Ad
Ad’s operation went well. He returned from
hospital earlier than expected and is now
recuperating back at The Orchard. Many thanks
to all those who held him in their thoughts.
Inspirations – Rinpoche’s Story
Here is where I make an apology. The last
issue contained Rinpoche’s Story, which came
from Sonia. Unfortunately I omitted Sonia’s
name from the final copy so, my apologies
Sonia.
In metta
Sandra
Contents Page
Editorial and 1
This Precious Human Birth
Sangha News 2 & 3
Inspirations 4
Insights in the Spring by Tony Birch 5
Poetry Corner & Contact details 6
This precious human birth
A star hurtles through space a vessel of luminous
radiant light
Its destination unchartered journeying on a
voyage of discovery
Into the depths of an infinite ocean of possibility
and potentiality
Oblivious to its inevitable doom it is magnetically
drawn towards a formless void
Caught in the web of its insatiable appetite
resistance is futile
Frustration gives way to exhaustion, capitulation,
resignation and surrender
The release and letting go of effort yields
transformation engendering acceptance and joy
Perpetual motion gathering momentum a cosmic
dance of mutual attraction
Form spiralling around an invisible axis enacted
on the stage of spaciousness
Driven by love in perfect harmony
Meeting and merging a fusion of opposites as
form and emptiness embrace
Fulfilment, Completion, Union
Compression, consumption, extinction, expansion
An orgasmic explosion of bliss and awareness
bathing the universe with light
Stardust navigated by karma condenses into form
the genesis of life
Within a distant galaxy on the outer reaches of
the expanding cosmos
Inside a small blue planet orbiting its golden sun
Life consciously witnesses itself unfold
Peace to all beings
May all beings be well and happy and free from
fear
John
Newsletter 5 2 May 2009
The Orchard Sangha Finance Group report
that there are still funds available in the bursary
fund and would welcome applications.
If these financially challenging times are
preventing you from attending a workshop or
undertaking a private retreat then do please
contact Gini at [email protected]
DEDICATING PRACTICE
Dear Orchard Sangha
It has been very moving to receive the recent
requests asking the sangha to hold and
remember those people you know who are in
need at times of dedicating the practice.
The messages you send to us will be sent out to
about 150 other sangha members, including Ad
and Sonia of course, and, whenever possible,
their names will be put in the blue Medicine
Buddha healing bowl in the zendo - in this
way they will be held by the practice of many,
many beings.
So, please continue to send any future requests,
or if you are not included on this database and
would like to be, to [email protected]
Thank you
May all beings be well and happy
Jane and Sarah
TARA SPACE
As reported in the last newsletter, changes have
been taking place to the kitchen at The Orchard.
The following photos show just how stunning
those changes have been. Now re-named the Tara
Space it provides a modern, fitted kitchen and a
larger, much improved relaxation space. Our
grateful thanks to all who made it possible.
Work in Progress
The Relaxation Space
The Productive Space!
TUESDAY AT THE ORCHARD: PRACTICE DAY
AND MEDICINE BUDDHA MEDITATION
Tuesday is a day of silence,
a joyful mind attending to deepening the practice
of mindfulness,
releasing grasping,
bringing the mind home,
resting in the natural state,
free from fabrication arising from hope and fear.
The 5.30 pm sitting will be dedicated to the
practice of the Medicine Buddha using the short
version, for the benefit of all those in need,
including Sonia Sensei and Ad Sensei.
Newsletter 5 3 May 2009
Those of us who attended the 'Musical Rasalila'
with Tanji on 21st March were richly rewarded with
an exhilarating performance by Tim and Jon.
The zendo was flooded with Tim's passionate
singing and Jon's mesmerizing tabla playing.
Occasionally the audience was invited to join in the
singing which many of us did with joyful
enthusiasm.
Bodies were swaying to the rhythm of the music, feet were tapping, hands clapping - if we can
persuade Tim and Jon to come back and play for us again, next time we may even get up and dance!
After the performance everyone was invited down to Maitreya house for refreshments which
included delicious scones and cakes handmade by Barbara, Jo and Sarah.
Thank you to everyone who helped to make the evening such a success.
Eleri
tandj on 21st March 2009.
Tandj....
......the zendo filling with sounds, uplifting
songs of devotion, and the stirring of a thousand
yearnings in the heart.........
..........a beautiful evening,
thank you................
Jane Sethi
A reminder that the Orchard Sangha Summer Celebration is happening at The Orchard on
Saturday 20 June 2009. No programme as such, just a relaxing day of connecting, celebrating
and ‘being’ rather than ‘doing’. Do come along – partners and/or families welcome - as are
contributions of food.
For further information contact:
Eleri on [email protected] or
Gill on 01981 241315
To book accommodation at The Orchard please contact:
Ad on [email protected] or 01873 860207.
Newsletter 5 4 May 2009
As promised in the last newsletter Sonia’s teachings are now available on CD. Details are
as follows:-
NB: postage for Europe, outside UK: £ 1.50 (1 or 2 CD’s) or £ 2.50 for 3 or more CD’s
postage for rest of the world: £2 (1 or 2 CD’s) or £3 for 3 or more CD’s
Make all cheques payable to Sonia Moriceau and send to:
The Orchard,
Lower-Maescoed,
Hereford HR2 0HP
UK
www.soniamoriceau.org
Tel: 01873 860 207
INSPIRATIONS
CD-1: Flowering the Mind of Loving Kindness (1 CD) £12.00 with postage free within the UK
CD-2: Peace to All Beings Meditation (1 CD) £12.00 with postage free within the UK
CD-3: Medicine Buddha Meditation: a set of 3 CD’s including: Medicine Buddha Meditation; Explanation of Text; and Tom Thumb Blue Healer Meditation. £25.00 with postage free within the UK NB: only available for those who have attended a Medicine Buddha retreat with Sonia A second set has the Medicine Buddha Meditation with a German Translation
“To study the Buddha Way is to study the self. To study the self is to forget the
self. To forget the self is to be realised by myriad things”.
Eihei Dogen, 13th century Zen master
Newsletter 5 5 May 2009
This year has presented a rare opportunity for
me as I seldom have the luxury of being able to
do two retreats with only a few weeks between
them; these were the two Insight retreats in
March and April. On the first, the practice
centred on developing an open heart and the
contemplation of impermanence, and the
second developed the open heart practice
further and focused on instant presence, being
fully in the present moment with an open heart.
Retreats at The Orchard always produce
profound insights, but after the short break
which allowed the effects of the first to be
integrated and digested, when I started the
second my practice really deepened, leading to
a more pronounced state of letting go than I
think I have ever experienced before. In that
calm state I came to understand more fully
many of the things Sonia had been trying to
teach me over the years that through my own
failings I hadn’t fully comprehended. I’d like
to share my thoughts and experiences of this
time…...
When we practice with an open heart we merge
our awareness with each unfolding second, so
that the ‘present moment’ stops being a concept
and becomes a dynamic and endlessly creative
experience, and in the silence of no internal
dialogue we become aware of the spaciousness
of our mind. At such moments it’s possible to
see a gap, and to feel and widen that gap,
between awareness and conceptualisation,
between contact and conditioned response.
In that gap we have a choice.
All our habitual ways of thinking, all the
different energies that flow through our minds
each day, attraction, non-attraction, differing
levels of stimulation or excitation, keep us
firmly tied to a feeling and emotional
rollercoaster all of our lives. They are just
transient states and not mind itself, and as such
we can choose whether to be dominated by
them or not. But to do so we need the right
tools, it is not enough to simply be aware of the
present moment, we need to know how to work
with it, we have to develop meditative calm
and concentration.
I read a chapter from ‘Food for the Heart’ by
Ajahn Chah at the beginning of the retreat, and
in it he makes the point that the Buddhist path
is a training, a discipline, that has to be
practiced continuously if the mind is not to
endlessly fulfil its own desires. Through
walking and sitting meditation and mindfulness
the mind begins to be controllable and useable
as an effective tool in moving away from
perpetuating inner turmoil and pain, and we see
clearly how clinging, grasping and attachment
all create their own future.
My average working day is often pressured,
adrenaline-fuelled and stressful, but now I
realise that although I may still be working to
deadlines they don’t have to control how I
respond, I can (with a lot more practice!)
experience my day with an open heart, in the
present moment, and in doing so choose an
alternative response.
The retreats have left me feeling empowered
and more in charge of my life than I think I
have ever felt before, and with an even deeper
gratitude and respect for Sonia, for her
teachings and her wisdom and compassion.
Insights in the Spring
by
Tony Birch
Like stars, mists and candle flames
Mirages, dew-drops and water bubbles,
Like dreams, lightning and clouds
In that way I will view all composite phenomena
Kagyu Wishing Prayer
Newsletter 5 6 May 2009
Jump! Lose your balance. Let gravity be your mother. Trust.
Patricia asked me, what was your feeling as you arrived at the Orchard?
Being at home. Coming back to a space and a time, I never left.
What is your experience now, two months later?
Sitting in front of a computer. The sweet smell of wild daffodils in my nostrils,
a wind is moving branches and leaves and there is a soft long breath –the wind,
the computer, inside, outside?
Being at home.
Sitting on a regular chair, how joyful, how pleasant.
All these long bones folded up on the earth again and again, released.
A seat is contacting a seat. Warmth.
A hand is contacting a chin. A day is falling into a night. The screen is too bright to contact this small line of
between. Branches? Leaves? Do know it from yesterday. They are green. Now there is a black, moving thing
with small gleaming holes in it.
Being at home.
A mind is tired. A body is filled with energy. Trust. Lose your balance.
Slow walking. Is that walking or a mind story? A head one metre in front of a body, knee and shoulders, the
deputies of a not trusting mind, holding on to tension. What is the risk? Following gravity. And? A trusting
and a not-trusting being are close together. A mind is tired to hold on. Jump! Open your heart, no matter
what.
Being at home.
An itch. Who is that, mind or body? It’s green and moves. Oh, the branches from yesterday.
Being at home.
Can you follow me?
No? You are in front. It doesn’t matter.
Shall I carry on? Shall we jump together?
Being at home.
Christina
� Contact Details E-� Offers of assistance - Gill - [email protected] or on 01981 241315 Helping at Events and Cards - Sarah on [email protected] Bursary Fund - Gini at [email protected] Finance - Jo on [email protected] or on 01432 890312 Website - Tony on [email protected] or 17 Goodwood Mansions, Stockwell Park Walk, London SW9 0XY. Newsletter - Sandra - for comments and contributions – at [email protected] or on 013873 70787 (and if there is anyone out there with DTP skills who would like to offer their services to the newsletter, please do get in touch!)
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