Heartful Contemplation of the Week
14.02.2022
Today is Valentine’s Day.. But many of us now call it the Day of Love.. May we live each day, each moment, each second, feeling, receiving and transmitting pure love and compassion in breath, intention, thought, body and action..
So, honoring this day of love and loving, I wanted to offer “hugging meditation” as a practice. It is a practice introduced by dear Thay (Thich Nhat Hanh). I have not yet written about him, his teachings and my contact with them yet. For the time being, it is brewing in my heart and soul. The sharing will come I am sure at the right moment. Dear Thich Nhat Hanh who was an actual Zen Master, never called himself that and preferred to be called Thay (Teacher) by his students. In my understanding, he gave the world two main gifts: one was having Buddhism that was engaged in the world affairs (in social justice) with complete presence, equanimity and compassion. The second one was his adaptation of many of the Zen Buddhist teachings into everyday life of the West, be it in the form of songs, readings, little practice verses (Gatas) or calligraphy all in the local languages, in secular form, and doing so without oversimplifying the teachings. So he made Buddhist teachings, their core wisdom, accessible in secular form and easy to practice in everyday practice and transmitted these in elegance, beauty, wisdom and compassion. This kind of teaching /sharing with elegance and metaphor can also be seen in Zen paintings, calligraphy and architecture. The transmission of ideas is done using less of the logical mind and actually overriding the logical mind through metaphor, intuition, with the help of riddles as well. It is why for example the Japanese adore with deep love and respect Sakura, the cherry blossoms. Because Sakura is a beautiful, elegant reminder of transience, of impermenance.. The flowers bloom in full beauty and generosity (with no holding back), to be seen, touched, loved in full presence, till they are gone with the first rains.
It is from Dear Thich Nhat Hanh and Dipa Ma (an Indian woman Buddhist master), that I learned the everyday applications of teachings. Dipa Ma, a mother and wife herself, taught many householder women how to practice mindfulness while doing housework, breastfeeding and taking care of children. Meditation and mindfulness is not after all only to be practiced on the meditation cushion or during mindful movements like yoga, qiqong but, while these continue, one can keep expanding the awareness, a kind focus or compassionate awareness to many activities of every day life as we can.. As my MBSR teacher Wolfgang Schröder had said, mindfulness is like islands -I am thinking of volcanic islands in the sea :) – and initially one or two pops up.. but as you keep practicing, more pop up and they become an Archipelago.. :)
Then we recognize the presence of our beloved with love and joy and bow to them, or bow to each other. Then we take three long joyful conscious breaths to come fully to this moment (of connection). Then we open our arms and hug the person, tree, animal friend, holding each other in the gentle embrace for 3 inbreaths and 3 outbreaths. In the first breath, we are aware that we are present in this moment and we are happy. (“I am here with you, I am so happy”). With the second breath, we are aware that the other person, animal friend, tree is present in this moment, and we are again very happy that it is so. (“You are here with me, I am so happy”). In the third breath, we are aware that we are here together, right now on this earth and in this moment together, and we are happy as well. (“We are both here, I am so happy and grateful”). We may then release each other and bow and thank them.
Dear Thich Nhat Hanh says, the best thing we can give a loved one is our presence. If you are not there, you can’t love and if you are fully present with the other, what a gift it is.. Hugging meditation can be used to rejoice in our connection with a loved one in full presence as well as for reconciliation and healing. In Covid times, many of us got afraid (and were advised not) to make human contact, to hug and to kiss.. It was very difficult for most of us. A close friend of mine who went abroad during the time said she really missed hugs. I shared with her that if hugging people were not possible, maybe we can hug trees in the meantime. Here is a video the musician Tom Rosenthal made during Covid times. He asked people to send him videoclips of their hugs and 600 responded. Here is the very touching videoclip of this.
I hope you try this short and joyful meditation many times this week. And if so, please leave a comment below.
You can find here the description of hugging meditation and more practices at the Plum Village website. Here, brother Phap Lai from Plum Village guides children in this meditation.
It is from Dear Thich Nhat Hanh and Dipa Ma (an Indian woman Buddhist master), that I learned the everyday applications of teachings. Dipa Ma, a mother and wife herself, taught many householder women how to practice mindfulness while doing housework, breastfeeding and taking care of children. Meditation and mindfulness is not after all only to be practiced on the meditation cushion or during mindful movements like yoga, qiqong but, while these continue, one can keep expanding the awareness, a kind focus or compassionate awareness to many activities of every day life as we can.. As my MBSR teacher Wolfgang Schröder had said, mindfulness is like islands -I am thinking of volcanic islands in the sea :) – and initially one or two pops up.. but as you keep practicing, more pop up and they become an Archipelago.. :)
Beautiful Calligraphy by Dear Thich Nhat Hanh
One of the everyday practices introduced by dear Thich Nhat Hanh is hugging meditation. He said that he introduced it based on his own life experience. While in the U.S., a woman practitioner had invited him to a city to lecture and then I think as he was leaving (or maybe when he arrived), she wanted to give him a hug. Being a monk and also not used to hugging, dear Thay found himself becoming very rigid in the embrace. But being a good practitioner who says “no mud, no lotus” and that transforming suffering and difficulty into compassion and understanding is always possible, he created a meditation out of this life experience, to be able to let go and be fully present in a hug. How do we do it? We have our partner in crime :). A person, an animal friend, a tree friend to hug. Of course with each one, it is best to ask their willingness for a hug (same for trees and animal friends and children and adults)..
Then we recognize the presence of our beloved with love and joy and bow to them, or bow to each other. Then we take three long joyful conscious breaths to come fully to this moment (of connection). Then we open our arms and hug the person, tree, animal friend, holding each other in the gentle embrace for 3 inbreaths and 3 outbreaths. In the first breath, we are aware that we are present in this moment and we are happy. (“I am here with you, I am so happy”). With the second breath, we are aware that the other person, animal friend, tree is present in this moment, and we are again very happy that it is so. (“You are here with me, I am so happy”). In the third breath, we are aware that we are here together, right now on this earth and in this moment together, and we are happy as well. (“We are both here, I am so happy and grateful”). We may then release each other and bow and thank them.
Dear Thich Nhat Hanh says, the best thing we can give a loved one is our presence. If you are not there, you can’t love and if you are fully present with the other, what a gift it is.. Hugging meditation can be used to rejoice in our connection with a loved one in full presence as well as for reconciliation and healing. In Covid times, many of us got afraid (and were advised not) to make human contact, to hug and to kiss.. It was very difficult for most of us. A close friend of mine who went abroad during the time said she really missed hugs. I shared with her that if hugging people were not possible, maybe we can hug trees in the meantime. Here is a video the musician Tom Rosenthal made during Covid times. He asked people to send him videoclips of their hugs and 600 responded. Here is the very touching videoclip of this.
I hope you try this short and joyful meditation many times this week. And if so, please leave a comment below.
You can find here the description of hugging meditation and more practices at the Plum Village website. Here, brother Phap Lai from Plum Village guides children in this meditation.
May all my intentions, thoughts, feelings and actions arise and take place in pure love, compassion and gratitude, now and always.
Ayşe
Heartful Contemplation of the Week
7.02.2022
Welcome to another Heartful Contemplation of the week.
This week, the invitation is to use the energy of Winter to reflect gently and joyfully on what needs attending to in ourselves ..
Ancient cultures lived more in tune with the rhythms of nature, learning great wisdom from the cycles, strategies, ways of being of animals, plants, mountains, seas, clouds and stars.. Taoism is one among many of those traditions. In Qiqong that is based on Taoism, there are animal forms of movement / being (e.g. tiger, dragon, turtle, crane, snake, etc) all of which are associated with certain seasons, elements, organs, energy, and movement.
Winter is a time for going inward.. After harvest time (when the produce is harvested and stored), the pace slows down. Trees shed their leaves and draw their energy inward, some animals go into hybernation, the earth rests to recuperate while supporting seeds underneath. While nature is going inward and collecting her energy, we modern or postmodern :) humans, keep running around. Our bodies, minds, souls may give us signals to slow down, rest, recollect, yet aside from the allowed times of Christmas and New Year breaks, we keep rushing as usual.
We are approaching the early beginnings of Spring. Last week, on 02 02 2022, the day of the Celtic Festival of Imbolc (celebrating light and hope), with my dear friend and colleague Orla O’Sullivan, we guided the workshop Noble friendship with the Body: A Springtime Session to nourish peace, healing and hope. With a great group of people from Turkey, Italy and Germany, we reflected on our relationship to our bodies and shared on beginning anew with our bodies with the upcoming Spring.
Before full-fledged entry into Spring, the invitation for this week is to reflect first on Winter. If the winter supports going inward, reflecting and recollecting our energies, this week’s heartful contemplation becomes asking ourselves “what needs attending to in me this winter, right now?” Tending is a word (and a verb :)) I love, cause it has “attending to” as directing one’s attention / focus to something but with great gentleness, in a tender and delicate way.. Reminds me of the Little Prince and his rose..
Nature Does Not Hurry, Yet Everything Is Accomplished. – Lao Tzu
We are approaching the early beginnings of Spring. Last week, on 02 02 2022, the day of the Celtic Festival of Imbolc (celebrating light and hope), with my dear friend and colleague Orla O’Sullivan, we guided the workshop Noble friendship with the Body: A Springtime Session to nourish peace, healing and hope. With a great group of people from Turkey, Italy and Germany, we reflected on our relationship to our bodies and shared on beginning anew with our bodies with the upcoming Spring.
Before full-fledged entry into Spring, the invitation for this week is to reflect first on Winter. If the winter supports going inward, reflecting and recollecting our energies, this week’s heartful contemplation becomes asking ourselves “what needs attending to in me this winter, right now?” Tending is a word (and a verb :)) I love, cause it has “attending to” as directing one’s attention / focus to something but with great gentleness, in a tender and delicate way.. Reminds me of the Little Prince and his rose..
His rose was unique and he tended to her with love and care; he missed his rose when he came to Earth. If you bring this kind, compassionate focus to yourself (to your mind, body, energetic body, our relationships, your home and work, your relationship to the community and to the planet), what calls out to you that needs some caring?People where you live,” the little prince said, “grow five thousand roses in one garden… Yet they don’t find what they’re looking for… And yet what they’re looking for could be found in a single rose. The Little Prince, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
exercise
We may pause now, come back to our breathing (deep breath in, slow breath out…), have a smile on our lips, if it feels good, put our hand on our heart or lower belly, turn the attention inward and ask:You may keep on asking these questions on different days of the week, different times of day and collect the insights.. Imagine how a little seed is protected under the earth and it gets all the nourishment of the earth, the minerals, the rains, some warmth of the sun.. It needs all its energy to grow and go with full force to the pearce the earth and come out. So do we (need thi energy to start fresh). With deep looking, becoming aware of what needs tending and what conditions of tending each part exactly needs, we can create the conditions of nourishment for our minds, bodies, souls and energy to be able to flourish with new ideas, to allow for inspiration.. May we all have a nourishing week ahead. Please share your experiences below.-What does my body need to be ready for Spring, to be rejuvenated, for beginning anew?: How do my different organs and my spine feel right now? How can I care for them? What happens when I smile to my organs, to my spine, thank them and ask if they have any messages for me, for the whole?
-What kind of tending is needed for my mind? What thoughts, emotions, need tending to? How can I tend to them? What are the negative seeds in my consciousness (thoughts and feelings that lead to unwholesome actions and take away my energy) that need tending? What are the positive seeds that I can nourish and prepare for Spring (thoughts, feelings that lead to wholesome acts and bring me and others energy, joy, love and compassion)?
-What about my energy? What needs attending to, for my life energy to be balanced and vibrant? -Am I in right relationship with the Earth? What needs tending to in my relationships to loved ones, friends, colleagues, to community, to MotherEarth?
Heartful Contemplation of the Week
24.01.2022
This week onwards, I invite us to begin each week together with a heartful (sister term of mindful :)) contemplation. Take in the words, the concepts, and put it in our hearts to simmer through the week. Let us discover together what gifts we receive on this through the week.. We may smile and collect the insights that come our way on the theme, caught by surprise at the synchronicity at times..
I offer “interbeing” or “interdependent existence” as this week’s contemplation, represented here by the beautiful calligraphy and inspired by the teachings of dear Thay (Thitch Nhat Hahn) who left his bodily form on January 22, 2022. It is with a deep bow of respect and gratitude to him and his teachings, I share this.
We inter-are is the term Thay (Thitch Nhat Hahn) created in English. We inter-are with all other life forms. We inter-are with the beautiful planet, with MotherEarth, the Sun, the Moon, and the Stars. This is not a symbolic reference but is fact. Our bodies exist because many stars were formed and bloomed and died.. We carry the star traces within us, in our cells and DNA.
Each of us are formed by non-“self” parts.. Ayşe can “be” because of her parents, ancestors, stars, the Sun that shined on the food she eats, the minerals and vitamins that nourish her body, the bird that left the seed in the earth and the farmer that watered it.. Take out the parents, any of the ancestors, the Sun, the bird, the farmer, the water, the minerals and vitamins, Ayşe “is not” any more. Each breath Ayşe takes is co-breathed by other people, animals, the trees, forms clouds and becomes rain and perhaps comes back as tea.. So it is with each of us..
Let us ponder together all the ways we inter-are with life forms and lifeless forms, to cut the illusion of separateness, loneliness, and an independent “self.” Many of our quite human and humane afflictions, like social media dependency (on the level of addiction :)), or dependency within and to relationships might arise because of notions of loneliness, of separateness. The invitation is to contemplate heartfully joyfully this week all the very concrete ways of co-existence, of oneness. Please share your comments, insights and experiences here.
To learn more about the life and work of dear Thitch Nhat Hahn and his community, please visit Plum Village site.
We inter-are is the term Thay (Thitch Nhat Hahn) created in English. We inter-are with all other life forms. We inter-are with the beautiful planet, with MotherEarth, the Sun, the Moon, and the Stars. This is not a symbolic reference but is fact. Our bodies exist because many stars were formed and bloomed and died.. We carry the star traces within us, in our cells and DNA.
Each of us are formed by non-“self” parts.. Ayşe can “be” because of her parents, ancestors, stars, the Sun that shined on the food she eats, the minerals and vitamins that nourish her body, the bird that left the seed in the earth and the farmer that watered it.. Take out the parents, any of the ancestors, the Sun, the bird, the farmer, the water, the minerals and vitamins, Ayşe “is not” any more. Each breath Ayşe takes is co-breathed by other people, animals, the trees, forms clouds and becomes rain and perhaps comes back as tea.. So it is with each of us..
Let us ponder together all the ways we inter-are with life forms and lifeless forms, to cut the illusion of separateness, loneliness, and an independent “self.” Many of our quite human and humane afflictions, like social media dependency (on the level of addiction :)), or dependency within and to relationships might arise because of notions of loneliness, of separateness. The invitation is to contemplate heartfully joyfully this week all the very concrete ways of co-existence, of oneness. Please share your comments, insights and experiences here.
To learn more about the life and work of dear Thitch Nhat Hahn and his community, please visit Plum Village site.
