Walking Meditation, Spring '09

We had a beautiful walking meditation together at Radnor Lake this afternoon. The weather was perfect, as you can see above.

When the Friends who would attend were gathered in the parking lot, we began our walk with a song Thich Nhat Hanh uses, "I am free." After several rounds of the song, we felt quiet and reflective, and we entered the park. At no time were we able to get everyone in the same photo frame, but we remedied that by taking a group photo at the entrance to the lake.

Everything was in bloom, including a grouping of flowers which caught Bliss' eye at the top of a tree! She caught the scene beautifully in the photograph to your right. In fact, everywhere we looked, Spring was revealing itself to us, and we were in awe at the sights as well as the sounds all around us. We even saw a deer, not the deer stick of Marjie fame, but an actual deer crossing the road. A truly gentle sight to behold.

I wish everyone could have been there, but there is always another opportunity. We look forward to that time. You can see the entire photo stream here, but in the meantime I leave you with a touching picture that truly captured this beautiful afternoon together. I hope you can join us the next time.

Dear friends,

Dear friends,

Let me tell you how I feel.

You have given me such pleasure.

I love you so.

I love you so.

"Ripples on the Surface of Being"

This article first appeared in Issue 18 “What Does It Mean To Be In The World But Not Of It?”

Andrew Cohen: Eckhart, what is your life like? I’ve heard that you’re a bit of a recluse and that you spend a lot of time in solitude. Is that true?

Eckhart Tolle: That was true in the past, before my book The Power of Now came out. For many years I was a recluse. But since the publication of the book, my life has changed dramatically. I’m now very much involved in teaching and traveling. And people who knew me before say, “This is amazing. You used to be a hermit and now you are out in the world.” Yet I still feel that inside nothing has changed. I still feel exactly the same as before. There is still a continuous sense of peace, and I am surrendered to the fact that on an external level there’s been a total change. So it’s actually not true anymore that I am a hermit. Now I’m the opposite of a hermit. This may well be a cycle. It may well be that at some point this will come to an end and I will become a hermit again. But at the moment, I am surrendered to the fact that I’m almost continuously interacting. I do occasionally take time to be alone. That is necessary in between teaching engagements.

Cohen: Why is it that you need to take time to be alone, and what is it that happens when you take the time to be alone?

Tolle: When I’m with people, I’m a spiritual teacher. That’s the function, but it’s not my identity. The moment I’m alone, my deepest joy is to be nobody, to relinquish the function of a teacher. It’s a temporary function. Let’s say I’m seeing a group of people. The moment they leave me, I’m no longer a spiritual teacher. There’s no longer any sense of external identity. I simply go into the stillness more deeply. The place that I love most is the stillness. It’s not that the stillness is lost when I talk or when I teach because the words arise out of the stillness. But when people leave me, there is only the stillness left. And I love that so much.

Read the rest of the article in EnlightenNext Magazine here.

Listen to the complete Eckhart Tolle interview online here. Be sure to note the 15 day free membership trial. COF believes this free trial should allow you to listen. In any event, there is a short free clip.

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What Is Enlightenment? and EnlightenNext are registered trademarks of EnlightenNext, Inc.

Walking Meditation This Tuesday at Radnor Lake

Every year A Circle of Friends enjoys practicing silent group walking meditation at Radnor Lake. This year is no exception.

This coming Tuesday, April 28, we will meet in the Radnor Lake parking lot for walking meditation. We will begin promptly at 5:30.

If you arrive late, please catch up with us in the park. There are two entrances to the park. We will meet on the Granny White Market side. You can find directions here.

It is still pretty cool out at the park, so plan to bring a light jacket. Oh, and if Tanya is able to attend, wheelchair pushing volunteers are needed!

When we walk, we stay together, not getting too far ahead or too far behind. We walk as a group, stopping at the sitting areas along the way, enjoying the lake views together, in silence. Please click here for instruction on walking meditation by Thich Nhat Hanh.

You may enjoy reading a summary of last year's walking meditation written by Tanya. Keep in mind that one never knows when they may have the opportunity to view the rare deer stick! Good memories to Marjie on that one! See you Tuesday!

Walking Meditation at Radnor Lake Last Night. Rare Deer Stick Sighting!
Wed May 14, 2008

Good morning everyone,

Several of us gathered for walking meditation at Radnor Lake last night. It was good to see some folks we don't get to see all the time, as well as a new friend, Hunter!

We began with a short meditation and then entered the woods. The weather was perfect for such a walk and we were very surprised that the park was mostly all ours! Hardly anyone was there but us, and so our walk was able to be even deeper than usual.

We walked quietly, enjoying the sights and sounds, and leaving our weary office experiences of the day behind us. We were totally absorbed in the sights and sounds. Also, we got to notice a lot of things others might not ... simply because we were silent. There is something about that collective, group silence that is very healing.

On our way back around the lake, Marjie excitedly motioned to us because she had spotted something across the lake. We all gathered together and peered intently where she was pointing. We looked for a long time at a deer drinking from the lake. What a sight to behold! We stood there smiling for a while when, lo and behold, we realized that this great beast had not moved in quite some time. It was then that we realized we'd been gifted with a rare treat - an actual deer stick sighting! (LOL) We enjoyed that realization immensely.

Further around the lake, we actually saw several deer, thanks to Virginia's eagle-eye, that were deer of the typical sort, meaning they moved and were alive -- not quite as exciting as the first sighting of the deer stick, but exciting nevertheless. Speaking of Virginia's eagle-eye - we also were gifted with a sighting of an Eagle. Now that was really exciting. Marjie spotted that one, too! And, it even moved!

After we made our way back to the entrance and parking lot, we gathered in a circle, held hands, and enjoyed singing together "Dear Friends." Marjie and Dani, being the talented musicians they are, made it into a round, complete with harmonies. Very beautiful.

We talked about how there is a whole world out there that doesn't involve phones, computers, and office stress. A whole culture called Nature. I hope you will take some time to notice that :)

Look for "Cloud Meditation" soon at Centennial Park. We will bring blankets, lie on our backs, and notice the clouds quietly together (just like children used to do before Game Boys [or whatever they gaze into now - I am probably out of touch / out of date on the Game Boy reference].

I hope you can join us the next time. In the meantime, have a happy day and look forward to your own deer stick sighting - It can happen! Tanya

"We don’t just say the words. We really see flowers blooming under our feet. We really become one with our green planet. Feel free to use your own creativity and wisdom. Walking meditation is not hard labor. It is for your enjoyment."

***

"When you begin to practice walking meditation, you might feel unbalanced, like a baby learning to walk. Follow your breathing, dwell mindfully on your steps, and soon you will find your balance. Visualize a tiger walking slowly, and you will find that your steps become as majestic as the steps of a tiger."

~Thich Nhat Hanh~

**Photo showing Bliss, Marjie, and Maribeth at last year's (2008) walking meditation. Just a few of the many Friends who were there!

Spiritual Partnership Guidelines

A spiritual partnership is a partnership between equals for the purpose of spiritual growth. Spiritual partners use spirituality information from their inner sources, such as their emotions and intuition. They also learn to choose their intentions consciously and how to develop trust in the Universe. Spiritual partnership is a new relationship dynamic in the human experience. It exists for a new multisensory humanity that is being born – a humanity that is not confined to the limitations of what can be seen, heard, touched, tasted, and smelled. You are likely a candidate for creating spiritual partnerships, or you would not be drawn to these words.

Spiritual partnerships are not exclusively for couples in marriage or relationships; they can be created in families, between friends, in the workplace, on sports teams, at school – anywhere two or more individuals decide to create a relationship as equals in order to grow spiritually. For example, among co-workers, even if one is the boss, another is the manager, and others are hourly employees, the commitment of each is to his or her own spiritual growth, although co-workers of different job levels have different responsibilities in the workplace. Their intention to grow spiritually with every interaction rather than blame or judge each other when reactions occur becomes the defining point of their relationship.

Now that you know what we mean by “spiritual partnership,” you will better understand the Spiritual Partnership Guidelines. Because spiritual partnership is a new relationship dynamic, creating partnerships of this nature will take practice. We suggest that you use the Spiritual Partnership Guidelines daily and see for yourself the changes that you make in your life. Then if you are drawn, please join me and Linda Francis, my spiritual partner to whom I am also married, in one of our spiritual partnership seminars or retreats this year, and we will share with you the beauty and empowerment of this type of relationship.

Practice using these Spiritual Partnership Guidelines everywhere – at home, with family, at work. And remember to enjoy yourself!

COMMITMENT –MAKING MY SPIRITUAL GROWTH (CREATING AUTHENTIC POWER) MY HIGHEST PRIORITY.

• Focus on what I can learn about myself all the time, especially from my reactions (such as anger, fear, jealousy, resentment, and impatience) instead of judging or blaming others or myself.
• Notice my emotions (by feeling the physical sensations in my energy centers).
• Notice my thoughts (such as planning my reply, judging, analyzing, comparing, day-dreaming, etc.)
• Notice my intention (such as blaming, judging, needing to be right, wanting admiration, escaping into thoughts (intellectualizing), trying to convince, etc.)

COURAGE –STRETCHING MYSELF BEYOND THE LIMITED PERSPECTIVES OF THE FRIGHTENED PARTS OF MY PERSONALITY.

• Take responsibility for my feelings, experiences, and actions (no blaming).
• Practice integrity at all times (often requires action, such as speaking when frightened parts of my personality don’t want to speak and not speaking when they feel compelled to speak).
• Say or do what is most difficult (sharing what I notice, if appropriate, when someone speaks or acts from a frightened part of her personality; sharing about myself what I am frightened to say and know that I need to say.)

COMPASSION –SEEING MYSELF AND OTHERS AS SOULS WHO SOMETIMES HAVE FRIGHTENED PARTS OF THEIR PERSONALITIES ACTIVE.

• Change my perspective from fearful to loving (choose to see myself and others in a loving or appreciative way).
• Release any distance I feel from anyone.
• Be present while others are speaking (not preparing replies, judging, etc.)

COMMUNICATION AND ACTION –STRIVING TO MAKE ALL MY INTERACTIONS CONSCIOUS AND LOVING.

• Consult my intuition.
• Choose my intention before I speak or act.
• Act from the healthiest part of my personality that I can find (rather than caretaking, fixing, teaching, judging, blaming, gossiping, etc.)
• Speak personally and specifically rather than generally and abstractly (use “I” statements rather than “we” or “you” statements).
• Release attachment to the outcome (trust the Universe). If I find myself attached, begin again with Commitment, Courage, Compassion.

Copyright © 2007 by the Seat of the Soul Institute

The Sangha Flows As A River

"If we are a drop of water and we try to get to the ocean as only an individual drop, we will surely evaporate along the way. To arrive at the ocean, you must go as a river. The sangha is your river. In our daily practice, we learn how to be a part of this river. We learn how to look with sangha eyes, how to walk with sangha feet, how to feel with a sangha heart. We have to train ourselves to see the happiness of our community as our own happiness and to see the difficulties of our community as our own difficulties. Once we are able to do this, we will suffer much less. We will feel stronger and more joyful. As members of a sangha, we can develop our individual talent and our individual potential, and at the same time contribute to and participate in the talent and happiness of the entire group. Nothing is lost; everyone wins. A sangha has the power to protect and carry us, especially in difficult times. We have a better chance to develop our potential and protect ourselves when we participate in the work of sangha building.

The Sangha River is a community of friends who practice the way of harmony, awareness, and compassion. In the sangha we practice mindful walking and breathing. The sangha radiates a collective energy that can support us and make us strong. The sangha is a boat that transports us and prevents us from sinking into the ocean of suffering. This is why it is so important that we take refuge in the sangha. Allow your community to hold you, to transport you. When you do, you will feel more solid and stable and will not risk drowning in your suffering. Taking refuge in a sangha is not a matter of belief. "I take refuge in the Sangha" is not a statement of faith; it is a practice. As a river, all the individual drops of water arrive together at the ocean."

Thich Nhat Hanh, from Creating True Peace

We Shall Remain, Monday, April 13, 2009

"We Shall Remain is a groundbreaking mini-series and provocative multi-media project that establishes Native history as an essential part of American history. Five 90-minute documentaries spanning three hundred years tell the story of pivotal moments in U.S. history from the Native American perspective."

Episode 1 - "After The Mayflower" - Premieres 13 April 2009
"In March of 1621, in what is now southeastern Massachusetts, Massasoit, the leading sachem of the Wampanoag, sat down to negotiate with a ragged group of English colonists. Hungry, dirty, and sick, the pale-skinned foreigners were struggling to stay alive; they were in desperate need of Native help. Massasoit faced problems of his own. His people had lately been decimated by unexplained sickness, leaving them vulnerable to the rival Narragansett to the west. The Wampanoag sachem calculated that a tactical alliance with the foreigners would provide a way to protect his people and hold his Native enemies at bay. He agreed to give the English the help they needed. A half-century later, as a brutal war flared between the English colonists and a confederation of New England Indians, the wisdom of Massasoit’s diplomatic gamble seemed less clear. Five decades of English immigration, mistreatment, lethal epidemics, and widespread environmental degradation had brought the Indians and their way of life to the brink of disaster. Led by Metacom, Massasoit’s son, the Wampanoag and their Native allies fought back against the English, nearly pushing them into the sea."

Episode 2 - "Tecumseh's Vision" - Premieres 20 April 2009

In the spring of 1805, Tenskwatawa, a Shawnee, fell into a trance so deep that those around him believed he had died. When he finally stirred, the young prophet claimed to have met the Master of Life. He told those who crowded around to listen that the Indians were in dire straits because they had adopted white culture and rejected traditional spiritual ways. For several years Tenskwatawa’s spiritual revival movement drew thousands of adherents from tribes across the Midwest. His elder brother, Tecumseh, would harness the energies of that renewal to create an unprecedented military and political confederacy of often antagonistic tribes, all committed to stopping white westward expansion. The brothers came closer than anyone since to creating an Indian nation that would exist alongside and separate from the United States. The dream of an independent Indian state may have died at the Battle of the Thames, when Tecumseh was killed fighting alongside his British allies, but the great Shawnee warrior would live on as a potent symbol of Native pride and pan-Indian identity."

Episode 3 - Trail of Tears - Premieres 27 April 2009
"The Cherokee would call it Nu-No-Du-Na-Tlo-Hi-Lu, 'The Trail Where They Cried.' On May 26, 1838, federal troops forced thousands of Cherokee from their homes in the Southeastern United States, driving them toward Indian Territory in Eastern Oklahoma. More than 4,000 died of disease and starvation along the way. For years the Cherokee had resisted removal from their land in every way they knew. Convinced that white America rejected Native Americans because they were “savages,” Cherokee leaders established a republic with a European-style legislature and legal system. Many Cherokee became Christian and adopted westernized education for their children. Their visionary principal chief, John Ross, would even take the Cherokee case to the Supreme Court, where he won a crucial recognition of tribal sovereignty that still resonates. Though in the end the Cherokee embrace of “civilization” and their landmark legal victory proved no match for white land hunger and military power, the Cherokee people were able, with characteristic ingenuity, to build a new life in Oklahoma, far from the land that had sustained them for generations."

Episode 4 - Geronimo - Premieres 4 May 2009
"In February of 1909, the indomitable Chiricahua Apache medicine man Geronimo lay on his deathbed. He summoned his nephew to his side, whispering, “I should never have surrendered. I should have fought until I was the last man alive.” It was an admission of regret from a man whose insistent pursuit of military resistance in the face of overwhelming odds confounded not only his Mexican and American enemies, but many of his fellow Apaches as well. Born around 1820, Geronimo grew into a leading warrior and healer. But after his tribe was relocated to an Arizona reservation in 1872, he became a focus of the fury of terrified white settlers, and of the growing tensions that divided Apaches struggling to survive under almost unendurable pressures. To angry whites, Geronimo became the archfiend, perpetrator of unspeakable savage cruelties. To his supporters, he remained the embodiment of proud resistance, the upholder of the old Chiricahua ways. To other Apaches, especially those who had come to see the white man’s path as the only viable road, Geronimo was a stubborn troublemaker, unbalanced by his unquenchable thirst for vengeance, whose actions needlessly brought the enemy’s wrath down on his own people. At a time when surrender to the reservation and acceptance of the white man’s civilization seemed to be the Indians’ only realistic options, Geronimo and his tiny band of Chiricahuas fought on. The final holdouts, they became the last Native American fighting force to capitulate formally to the government of the United States."

Episode 5 - Wounded Knee - Premeires 11 May 2009

"On the night of February 27, 1973, fifty-four cars rolled, horns blaring, into a small hamlet on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. Within hours, some 200 Oglala Lakota and American Indian Movement (AIM) activists had seized the few major buildings in town and police had cordoned off the area. The occupation of Wounded Knee had begun. Demanding redress for grievances—some going back more than 100 years—the protesters captured the world's attention for 71 gripping days. With heavily armed federal troops tightening a cordon around meagerly supplied, cold, hungry Indians, the event invited media comparisons with the massacre of Indian men, women, and children at Wounded Knee almost a century earlier. In telling the story of this iconic moment, the final episode of We Shall Remain will examine the broad political and economic forces that led to the emergence of AIM in the late 1960s as well as the immediate events—a murder and an apparent miscarriage of justice—that triggered the takeover. Though the federal government failed to make good on many of the promises that ended the siege, the event succeeded in bringing the desperate conditions of Indian reservation life to the nation's attention. Perhaps even more important, it proved that despite centuries of encroachment, warfare, and neglect, Indians remained a vital force in the life of America."

Cleaning a house is different in the Spring than it is in the Winter because the windows can be opened wide, carpets dusted outside on the line, and fresh air in the house is not frigid. It is an inviting time to look into all that is unnecessary that has been accumulated – things, dust, cobwebs, and fears. Anytime that insight replaces assumptions or encrusted perceptions with clarity and openness is the Spring. New understandings sprout, new tolerances appear, and new curiosity draws us to previously dark places. As the air warms and the sun shines earlier and earlier and longer and longer, changes that once seemed oppressive to consider begin to appear possible, and even inviting.

Everyone is awakened, soothed, nurtured, and revitalized by the Spring, but how often does your Spring come? If you are a prisoner of the calendar or astronomy it comes once a year. If you are creating authentic power it comes again and again, sometimes more than once a month; sometimes more than once a week; and often more than once a day. It comes when you recognize a frightened part of your personality for what it is – an aspect of your personality that you were born to challenge and heal. It is the freedom of realizing that your painful experiences of anger, jealousy, resentment and more are not part of the unchangeable ground of your being (“Who I am”) but signals drawing your attention to what you need to change – and can change – in yourself in order to move into your full potential.

Creating authentic power is a continual Spring Cleaning. Painful emotional experiences reveal to you again and again all that prevents you from creating the life of harmony, cooperation, sharing, and reverence for Life that you long to create so that you can be rid of those painful experiences at last. What looked attractive or worth keeping in the Winter appears unnecessary in the Spring. What anger, jealousy, or resentment now looks unattractive to you? What out-of-control behaviors, such as over eating, gambling, shopping, searching for sex or watching pornography are candidates for disposal? Disposing of them is not easy, but the more you do the more you are free to create the life that is calling to you – a life of more joy and less pain, more freedom and less captivity, more love and less fear – and to give the gifts that you were born to give.

If you are not sure where to begin, print out the Spiritual Partnership Guidelines on the home page and begin experimenting immediately with those that attract you most.

Don’t waste a moment of Spring.

Love, Gary

Organic Food: Order as much or as little as you like -- or nothing at all!

Endorsement from someone I know, personally:

"I have been buying from John and Talley for several years, and could not be more happy. They operate on a subscription model. You send them a deposit - usually $50. Then, twice a week you will get an email letting you know what is going to be available that week. You order as much or as little as you like -- or nothing at all. The cost is deducted from your deposit, and when that deposit is used up, you just send more. This way, you are not out a large one-time fee, you don't have to order if you don't want to and you only get what you think you will use. Win-win for everyone!"

The information:

Fresh Harvest, LLC
Locally Grown Produce and Flowers
Certified Organic and Certified Naturally Grown
www.freshharvest.locallygrown.net
Now Accepting Deposits for the 2009 Growing Season!

Fresh Harvest, LLC is formed by two farms, Drury Family Farm and Turnbull Creek Farm. We are both small family farms located just outside of Nashville.

Our Subscription Service offers you fresh, local produce and flowers grown without chemicals. We send out weekly emails with our available produce, and you can place your order online at our website. You only order what you like, in the amounts that suit your needs, and you are not obligated to order every week. You can pick up your order Wednesday afternoon or Saturday morning at Trinity Presbyterian Church in Green Hills. We ask for a $50.00 deposit, which acts as credit for your account.

When you buy from Fresh Harvest, you are buying directly from the farmers who grew your food. Everything is picked to order, meaning that that your food comes right from our fields to your table! Your food is fresher, healthier, and better tasting than anything you can get in a store, and you are supporting local, sustainable agriculture.

Everything we offer is in accordance with the principles of sustainable agriculture which benefits the soil, nourishes the environment, and produces healthy food. Our farms are either Certified Organic or participate in Certified Naturally Grown.

Please visit our website to read more about us and see pictures of our farms. Please sign up for an account with us at www.freshharvest.locallygrown.net and start receiving our weekly emails! We are now taking deposits for the 2009 growing season. You can send deposits to

Fresh Harvest, LLC
3514 Gray Ln.
Thompson Station, TN 37179

Thanks for you support, and we look forward to seeing you in the spring!

John Drury, Drury Family Farm
Tallahassee May, Turnbull Creek Farm

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