Being there to give and receive True Love

Dear Friends,

We had a wonderful day of Mindfulness this weekend guided by the monk-teacher Phap Xa. Next to a big representation from our Sangha, there were about 90 persons present coming from as far as Utrecht to Turnhout.

Our Sangha was complimented for the flawless and loving way we had prepared the day and have received the visitors.

In line with the theme of this day of Mindfulness: "True Love" we would like to stay in this flow.

As explained by Phap Xa in his Dharmatalk, True love can be seen as a combination of 4 elements:

Maitri: Loving kindness

Karuna: Compassion

Mudita: Joy

Upeksha: free and borderless

Phap Xa further explained: In order to experience and to give this kind of love we need to be there. If we cannot be fully present, what can we notice or give?

We will practice tonight in being there, mindful fully present:

Fresh as a flower

Solid as a mountain

our mind as Transparent as calm still water 

having space in me for my self and others.

Doors will be open 19h30

Meditation starts at 20h

followed by Dharma sharing and

as usual we close with informal tea.

Enjoy !

Hans

We have done this meditation several times but still it refreshes me.
There are many other groups that do the same in their own way.
Here a few links:

http://www.allthingshealing.com/Meditation/Pebble-Meditation/5630#.U3DPxvl_uSo

and:

http://mymeditativemoments.com/?p=177

Present moment, Wonderful moment

Dear Friends,

Tomorrow, monday (28-4) we will focus our mindfulness evening on enjoying the present moment.

A beautiful quote from Thay is:
"...It is a miracle to be alive !..."

If you see how many conditions and events have come together in order for us to be here, you start to realize that we are very privileged .

There is so much that we can enjoy like nature, all the inputs to our senses, we can enjoy company and friendship, we can enjoy doing sports or experiencing art.

All we have to do is come home to the present moment and observe and experience.

Monday evening we will practice meditation  and sharing together.

Doors will be open at 19h30.

Meditation will start at 20h00

Have a beautiful day !!

Hans

 

meditatie 14 april 2014 joost vriens

Vredevolle ontmoeting met jezelf.

Vorige week hebben we gekeken naar een documentaire die als titel had: mijn werk, mijn leven en foucuste op Thay’s bijdrage aan vrede. Vrede begint bij vrede met jezelf. Te-vrede-n zijn. Het zoekproces van dat wat van de ander is en dat wat van jou is.

Het is een uitdaging voor mij, vrede hebben met zijn wie ik ben. Het is een uitdaging voor mij, om in verschillende situaties mijn soms hardnekkige gewoonten te ontmoeten en ze te accepteren. Soms lijkt het gemakkelijker om ‘ik hou van jou’ te houden dan ‘ik hou van mezelf’

Een vredevolle ontmoeting met mezelf. Een beeld in de gnostiek (evangelie van Thomas) is dat je twee bent (aangepast en kern) en dat het een uitdaging is om een te worden. Je reist door het leven om op een bepaald moment, in een bepaalde ruimte, misschien dit moment, om je andere ik te ontmoeten en te omarmen. Jezelf voor je zien en ontdekken hoe mooi je bent.

Meditatie 31 maart 2014

Stoppen, aandacht, adem. Gevoelens en gedachten.

Afgelopen weken hebben we geoefend met de basis van de meditatie. Stoppen, aandacht, adem. Vanavond oefenen we verder met stoppen, aandacht en ademen. We oefenen onze aandacht steeds terug te laten keren naar het hier en nu. Het anker waarmee we oefenen zijn nu de gevoelens en gedachten die in ons bewegen. Het komt zoals het komt en het gaat weer. Het is als eb en vloed, als de golven van de zee. Bewust blijven dat het niet gaat om de verschijningsvorm van water: golf, druppel, troebel of spiegelglad helder. De verschijningsvormen leiden ons af en nemen ons in beslag. Ondanks haar vele verschijningsvormen, blijft water in haar essentie water. We hoeven niet te reageren, niet mee te gaan in de vorm. We kunnen waarnemen, aanvaarden en loslaten. We keren steeds weer terug met onze aandacht en volgen de adem hier en nu.

Stop, focus, breathe. Feelings and thoughts.
Past few weeks we have been practicing with the basics of meditation. Stop, focus, breathe. This evening we carry on with stop, focus and breathe. We exercise our attention more to return to the here and now back. The anchor which we practice are the feelings and thoughts that move us. It comes as it comes and it goes again. It is ebb and flow, like the waves of the sea. Remain aware that it is not the appearance of water: golf, drip, cloudy or clear slippery. The manifestations distract us and take us to complete. Despite its many manifestations, water remains in its essence water. We do not need to respond, not to go into the form. We can observe, accept and let go. We return again and again to our attention and follow the breath here and now.

Happy Teachers will change the world.


Date: Mon, 17 Mar 2014 04:43:07 -0700

Dear Friends, Quieridos Amigos,

I want to share this short (bilingual) video with you:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PaYkiRNLp-M&feature=youtu.be

It is a video I made for Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh and the Plum Village Community to promote a new Educators Retreat in Barcelona, May 2014. The goal of Thich Nhat Hanh and his community is to bring mindfulness to the classroom, so that the children and students of today will become mindful, responsible, ethical and happy citizens of the world community.

For educators of all levels interested to attend the Retreat (Conference and Course), registration will be open very soon at: http://escuelasdespiertas.org/english/general-description/

The complete film 'Happy Teachers will change the World', with an impression of the tranformational process at the Educators Retreat near Toronto, recorded in August 2013, will be released later this year.

If you want to keep updated about the activities of this Happy Teachers movement, you can subscribe at http://wakeupschools.org/

Feel free to Share :-)

I wish you a happy week, with a smile,
Wouter
Wouter Verhoeven
Stedekestraat 8-L
5041 DN Tilburg
The Netherlands
T:   +31 (0) 13-5439984
M: +31 (0) 6-57652703
E:   wouter.verhoeven@home.nl
W:  www.wouterverhoeven.com
W:  http://www.thelovingheartfilm.com/


Zie ook http://www.aandacht.net/sanghas/onderwijssangha
en: https://www.linkedin.com/groups?home=&gid=4821393&trk=anet_ug_hm&goback=%2Eanp_4821393_1395145787772_1

Mindfulness is the source of happiness

Dear Friends,

Happiness seems sometimes far out of reach and to big to get.

We will watch a part of a Dharmatalk where Thich Nhat Hanh reminds us that happiness is close by and made out of little things.

Like the river is formed by individual drops.

You are invited to come home to your self and enjoy what is there,

like friendship, the blue sky, drinking your tea

By being mindful we can recognise what makes us happy and we can take care of our pain and suffering.

Doors will be open at 19h30,

we will start at 20h00 with a short sitting meditation and about 20 min video.

Silent sitting and silent walking meditation.

We close with Dharma sharing

Kind regards

Hans

Sensing observing without judgement

Dear Friends,

The past two weeks we have been practising stopping , resting enjoying.

Also the coming monday evening we will practise stopping and observing, sensing without judgement. This is a very basic and powerful practise to come away from thinking and worrying and returning to the present moment via contact with your body. 

Doors will be open as usual at 19h30,

meditaion will start at 20h00.

Leo will lead the meditation.

Next we can gladly announce that Cuong Lu is coming to Eindhoven again.

On march 23 he will give a Dharma-talk (in dutch) in "De Heremiet" the Bookstore in the centre of town: Title: Juiste inspanning voor ontspanning in ons leven.

(doors open 13h30) details in up-coming events page of our Blog