Michelle and Robert Smith will present a spiritual series beginning in December, 2011, called “Light for the Path.” Their description of that series is as follows.
“Light for the Path Is intended for everyone committed to a personal exploration of what it might mean to live as a "mystic - activist" ponders the seriousness of that call and the times in which we live. How is it possible to live a life of radical -- sustainable -- commitment as a member of an intentional community not just for winter break, or for a year after college, but as the most intensely wonderful career one could imagine? How to follow after the examples of people like Dorothy Day, Thich Nhat Hahn, Aung San Suu Kyi, Daniel Berrigan, and Wangari Maathai -- and perhaps stay both sane and alive, if not flourish in joy?
Beginning Friday, December 2, and continuing for fourteen weeks we will focus the burninghand blog (www.theburninghand.com) on the Fourteen Mindfulness Trainings of Thich Nhat Hahn.
Thich Nhat Hahn is a poet, Zen master, and peace activist. He is the author of over 75 books, including Living Buddha, Living Christ, Being Peace, and Peace Is Every Step. He was nominated by Martin Luther King, Jr. for the Nobel Peace Prize -- so he has been around for a while and has maintained his personal commitment to a path of transformation. He continues to live in exile from his native Vietnam since 1966; he lives in Plum Village, the meditation community he founded in southwestern France.
Every community of "activists" struggles with all of the issues anyone / everyone faces as a human being -- but with a difference. We are "aware" enough of the reality of suffering in the world that we feel compelled to do what we can to ease it. We are "aware" enough of the connections between greed, power, violence, and poverty, injustice, exploitation, and oppression that we feel compelled to do what we can to ease it. Or maybe we've discovered that we don't really fit in the "structures" of the world and hunger for our own liberation... And so we begin to look for a place to stand... a place upon which we can build our lives, be of service, and maybe make a difference because we breathed for a while the air of this Planet. Awareness requires connecting with others -- oftentimes those connections lead to the formation of intentional communities -- that is both the "difference" and the nexus of rEvolution...
An increasing number of intentional communities are finding a real mix of folks bringing with them a real mix of faiths, philosophies, beliefs, and un-beliefs. How is that mix going to find a common ground -- but not just any common ground, especially one that is likely to become a swamp and slowly suck the juices out of everyone involved? How is that mix -- a truly human community -- going to find in one another light and support for their mutual liberation? Six years ago when Michelle and I were "re-forming" the Catholic Worker Community "Companions of the Way" in Salinas, we discovered the Fourteen Mindfulness Trainings as taught by Thich Nhat Hahn. We "massaged" them to deepen their inter-faith flavor, and used them as the basis for our community focus, intention, practice, and evaluation in the midst of a soup kitchen, day shelter, emergency women's shelter, a mixed permanent supportive housing project, youth program, summer camps, and assorted other projects. Four months into our sabbatical year, we are going to ruminate together and offer some of the fruits of those ruminations for you to ponder and perhaps use as tools for deepening your own practice, intention, and path.
Again, beginning Friday, December 2, and continuing for fourteen weeks the burninghand blog (www.theburninghand.com) will offer reflections on the Fourteen Mindfulness Trainings for you to personalize and use as you feel called and inspired. Here is a way for your "Open Hearts, Open Hands" to enter the sacred circle: Awareness, Awakening, Action...
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First Reflection
The first reflection in this series can be read here.
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First Reflection
The first reflection in this series can be read here.
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Michelle and Robert Smith are founding members of Dorothy’s Place Hospitality Center in Salinas. They are on sabbatical, living and writing in Decorah, Iowa. Their web site is www.theburninghand.com
Michelle and Robert Smith213 Valley View Dr.
Decorah, Iowa 52101
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