I woke up tired, sunburned, feeling good and energized. I took an inventory of why I felt so good after having had none of the things this weekend I usually crave: sleep, uninterrupted alone time to watch my favorite reruns on TV, watching football, playing SNOOD or WORD WHOMP on my computer, scrolling through dozens of art blogs on-line, and napping. Instead, I participated in the KTC Jax Meditation-thon.
The Meditation-thon began Friday night at 5:00 p.m. in Memorial Park and ended
Sunday night in Memorial Park at 5:00 p.m. The entire event wasn’t in the park. As a matter of fact, half of it was held at our center, with an opening program of Chenrezig sadhana on Friday night and all night meditation Friday and Saturday nights. In addition, one of our members led a midnight Chenrezig sadhana at the center Saturday night/Sunday morning. This was all in celebration of the United Nation’s International Day of Peace. It was an honor to be a part of it. And I was only a very small part of it.
But what I did that made me feel so good was break my pattern. Instead of feeding my craving for mindless activities I believe I deserve to indulge in, I meditated more, chanted more, spent more time with like-minded people, contributed something to the world – if only a wish and a prayer for peace, spent time talking, listening, laughing, watching meditation, listening to birds, squirrels, and people playing in the park, talking to strangers, playing with a dog, talking and visiting with friends, and being outdoors in the sun. I drank lots of water, ate nutritious and delicious Viet Namese vegetarian food prepared by the daughter of a sangha sister, and enjoyed fresh fruit. I took good care of my body and I fed my inner life. The only thing tired at the end of it was my body, and 9 hours out in the sun will do that to anyone. I feel renewed by the whole experience and am so glad I participated. It was a gift to me.
The Meditation-thon began Friday night at 5:00 p.m. in Memorial Park and ended
Sunday night in Memorial Park at 5:00 p.m. The entire event wasn’t in the park. As a matter of fact, half of it was held at our center, with an opening program of Chenrezig sadhana on Friday night and all night meditation Friday and Saturday nights. In addition, one of our members led a midnight Chenrezig sadhana at the center Saturday night/Sunday morning. This was all in celebration of the United Nation’s International Day of Peace. It was an honor to be a part of it. And I was only a very small part of it.But what I did that made me feel so good was break my pattern. Instead of feeding my craving for mindless activities I believe I deserve to indulge in, I meditated more, chanted more, spent more time with like-minded people, contributed something to the world – if only a wish and a prayer for peace, spent time talking, listening, laughing, watching meditation, listening to birds, squirrels, and people playing in the park, talking to strangers, playing with a dog, talking and visiting with friends, and being outdoors in the sun. I drank lots of water, ate nutritious and delicious Viet Namese vegetarian food prepared by the daughter of a sangha sister, and enjoyed fresh fruit. I took good care of my body and I fed my inner life. The only thing tired at the end of it was my body, and 9 hours out in the sun will do that to anyone. I feel renewed by the whole experience and am so glad I participated. It was a gift to me.
Credits
1. Photo of the Meditation-thon by EMILY BARNES/The Times-Union
2. International Day of Peace Poster by the United Nations
2 comments:
Hey - wish I could be sunburned but I'm in Norway at the time and it is getting really cold and windy here, which is terribly bad news...
I am going on a boat now and will work 14 hour shifts. horrible.
Will really struggle to keep my inner peace in the middle of that chaos...
Am on the boat now - paceful as ever :) I love that you have the cost of the war in Iraq on your blog. I want to add that one too, I think, wish it was counting lives... maybe that exists??
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