#9 Florida! A SUNSHINE STATE

 I zoomed in to the Blue Lotus Buddhist Meditation Center of Venice, Florida, for a meditation and discussion.   The center is an offshoot of the Woodstock, Illinois center of the same name, founded by Bhante Sujatha.  He is known as the 'lovingkindness monk', which is a great title.  On his page, I love the 'Where's Bhante?'  feature.  The Illinois center looks huge, while for this zoom to the Florida center, I was one of five people.  

It's always fun to introduce myself and get to know people who are practicing.  The more I do, the less boundaries I feel around myself.   The dominant demographic are wise women in their 50's and maybe a few men in the same age group.  So it was with this meditation and discussion.  I guess it's the right time to reflect on life and meet life on life's terms. 

The night was led by Bhikkuni Vimala of the Illinois center.   I like that her biography includes her 'living the 12-step program', and her eclectic practice before becoming a monk.  Conversely to the attendee demographic; she is the only female monk of a dozen pictured together on the Illinois site.   She is very sweet and worth practicing with anytime. 

Bhikkuni Vimala led us through some body mindfulness, and then quiet sitting.  I was pulled to the instruction to note the power of craving in a thought and to explore the practice of 'not feeding' it, and then 'if it doesn't get what it wants, it goes on it's way.'  I found that to be quite true, and then a little seed of wisdom is left in the spot it vacated.    

Meditation was followed by a discussion which, not surprisingly, centered on COVID stress.  We had all run into someone overcome by the difficulties; for me it was coming through the New Hampshire tolls this week, visiting Jeanne while she worked there.  The toll taker said something through her mask and I said "What?" and she said, frustrated, "I SAID HELLO EVERYONE SAYS IT".   I realized after that that I was dealing with my own issues about 'being a polite person.'.   To some people, I'm not.  That is as real as my perception.  

From the Blue Lotus site: 

From birth to death humans go through many changes in life. However, these milestones not always bring happiness. Each day people strive to be happy rather than being happy with what they already have.

Desire is what drives us to get what we want, although this drive doesn't guarantee happiness. Happiness depends on choices each individual makes.