Sitting meditation, or simply sitting, is a time to enjoy our sitting. The main form of sitting meditation practiced in this tradition is mindfulness of breathing, as described by the Buddha in the Sutra on Mindfulness of Breathing and the Four Establishments of Mindfulness. We practice returning home to ourselves to give ourselves the full attention and care that we deserve. We sit with the community in a comfortable way and return to our body, our feelings, our perceptions, our mind and our consciousness. We observe what is going on within us and around us with non-judgment and we let our minds become spacious and our hearts soft and open.
Sitting mindfully in this way can be very healing. We may realize that we can just be with whatever is within us – our pain, anger, and irritation, or our joy, love, and peace. We are with whatever there is without being carried away by it. We let our thoughts and feelings come, let them stay, and then let them go without trying to push them away, and without trying to cling to them. We observe the thoughts and images in our mind with accepting and loving eyes. In this way we cultivate our capacity to dwell happily in the present moment, the only moment in which life is truly available.
CONTEMPLATION BEFORE SITTING
The sangha is invited to go back to our breathing
so that our collective energy of mindfulness
brings us together as an organism
flowing as a river, with no more separation.
Let the whole sangha breathe as one body
generate peace as one body
be free as one body.
Let us transcend the boundaries of a delusive self,
liberating ourselves from the inferiority complex, the superiority complex, and the equality complex.
We are aware that the happiness and suffering of all people
is also our own happiness and suffering.
We see ourselves in all people
and all people in ourselves.
We are one with those caught in situations of oppression,
We are also one with the oppressors.
We are one with the wise and good people who are present everywhere in the world.
We are one with those who are able to embrace the whole of this world
With their heart of love
and their two arms of caring action.
We are a people with enough peace, joy, and freedom to be able to offer fearlessness and the joy of life
to living beings around us.
We see that we are not alone.
The love and the joy of great beings who are present in this world
are supporting us,
not allowing us to drown in despair,
and showing us the way of understanding, compassion,
and right action.
dogwood blossom sangha 