#43 TEXAS

As big as Texas is, it was a bit of a challenge to find a practice session; lots of East Asian practice without links to zoom; and even with that, a lot of broken or expired links.  Alive and well is Dawn Mountain, a Buddhist educational organization in Houston, so I joined their Sunday morning livestream with a few other practitioners. 

Today's practice was led by Raoni Duran, a very capable lay leader.  We began with instructions for meditation which included noticing breath, and how breath comes into the body, 'stays inside for a while,' and then exits.  I found that little instruction very poignant.  Noticing the body being held up by the ground, Raoni added 'The ground is always there.'    I particularly was drawn to the inquiry, 'How does it feel to place your attention on the breath or the body....how does the attention stay with an object for seconds or minutes if you are lucky?,  is it your effort, or is something else taking place?'  

We added contemplation of sound, including whatever was in the room (s) or could otherwise be heard, and even the stream of our thoughts.. 'We wander but we remember what we are doing.... we can touch our state of mind...'     

We concluded with some silent meditation and chanting of OM and HUM.  

Dawn Mountain teachers are both American Lamas (three years of retreat in Tibetan tradition), in this case, of Nyingma lineage.  They are affiliated with Dzogchen teachers and provide a unique ongoing training.   I was heartened by their accessible practice today.  It is much easier for me to engage in Tibetan practice as a lay person when the lesson comes from another American who did a three year retreat and is an expert translator of Tibetan. 

At the tail end of the Thanksgiving holiday, I am so grateful for the time spent with family and the opportunity to quiet down, while at the same time having the space and support to hold the evening song of imperfection, traffic jams, and my own muddled mutterings of mind.