Sylvia’s Blog

On March 3 we celebrated all of the people who have supported Spirit Rock in a significant way in the last few years with what we called a Dharma Jamboree. It was a beautiful beginning of spring day at Spirit Rock. Almost three hundred people filled the Community Hall for the afternoon for a program of “TED” style teachings from six different teachers. Larry Yang started with a meditation connecting us to ancestors back through time, and Anushka Fernandopulle presented a slide show of Buddhist cosmology. Jack led a meditation connecting each of us to our own wisdom, and Richard Shankman roused everyone’s zeal for practice by presenting the questions one could (ought to) ask oneself to keep practice alive. Then Wes Nisker and I presented what we thought of as a Metta/Gratitude “duet”, taking turns teaching by presenting what we had to offer as a conversation between us. The entire afternoon was great. People loved it. People who had come to sign up for the Sangha Of Thousands of Buddhas joined. I reminded people, as I thanked them for fulfilling their initial pledge that they could pledge again, this time signing the scroll in the name of someone they wanted to honor. I’m always pleased to remind people that it looks as if Chogyam Trungpa Rimpoche has signed the school twice, while in fact two separate people, unknown to each other, have joined in his name to honor him. I also know that one of the names signed on the school is the name of a six month old baby who grandfather joined in honor of his birth.

The Sangha of Thousands of Buddhas has almost 1,000 members! That is wonderful! Our goal is 2,000, but I think the second thousand will be easier. People who found that they loved discovering every month that they had contributed (electronically) and that their generosity was causing the plans for building to move forward will help, I am sure, by encouraging others to join or re-pledging themselves. We ARE beginning to feel like a real community.

We have between 970 and 980 Buddhas enrolled in the program. I thought of making a sort of BINGO prize for the one thousandth joiner, but decided in the end that whoever that person is, her (or his) gift will be equally significant as the first gift was and the last gift will be.

Thank you for your support!

Warmly,

Sylvia

My friend John Travis tells of him meeting a venerable teacher in the Tibetan tradition while he has practicing in Asia years ago. The person who introduced the teacher to him said, “This is John Travis.” The teacher extended his hand to shake John’s hand and said, “Thank you.” John knew that the teacher spoke English and so he realized that his expression of gratitude was not a grammatical error but an expression of his practice, the willingness to meet each new person with open hearted acceptance.

I’ve been thinking a lot this last year about mindfulness—the non-coercive acknowledgement of experience—as the expression of freedom. Rather than leading to freedom, it IS freedom. I would add to con-coercive the element of warm curiosity: What is this, and how best can I respond? And, I’ve thought of it as forgiveness practice: Whatever this is, it is: I can respond to it with cordiality and good will whether I like the experience or not. That’s why I think, on the eve of Thanksgiving, of John’s meeting with the teacher. “Thank you” moves us closer to any experience. It’s an expression of confidence and safety.

I remember many years ago when I first realized that the most liberating response to any experience was gratitude. I told my friend and teacher Jack Kornfield. I said, “We need to say ‘Thank you’ to everything.” Jack said, “But, what would you say to…{he named a terrible time in history}. I said, “I would say, ‘No. thank you.’” I really hope I would be able to.

Blessings to you all.

Sylvia Boorstein

Dear Friends,

The October 28^th celebration event hosted by my dear friend Jack Kornfield and me in our beautiful Upper Hall was a lovely celebration of the beginning of Spirit Rock’s twenty-fifth birthday year and the first birthday of the Sangha of Thousands of Buddhas (now numbering over 700). Even though the final World Series game happened to fall on the same evening—Go Giants!!!—we had a great turnout. We are deeply grateful to the generosity of a donor who pledged a matching gift of $50K AND to several donors who helped us match and exceed this pledge that night. This money will help us replace the temporary buildings of our lower campus with permanent, ecologically sound buildings so that we may better serve you and the Dharma.

I also want to let you know of a new course that you might be interested in. You may recall that my friend and colleague James Kullander and I offered two online courses, one on lovingkindness and one on mindfulness, for Spirituality & Practice a couple years ago. Now James is offering a course on his own about how to learn to be alone well. I believe some of you might be interested in the subject. Here’s the link to learn more about it: http://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/ecourses/ecourses.php?id=138&key=jk

Warmly,

Sylvia