Gratitude is Heaven Sangha

Sadly, due to the new corona virus restrictions, we're unable to welcome new meditators at this time. If you've meditated with us before, please come. If you're new to our group, please check back. We hope to return to an open door policy ASAP.

Wisdom is what comes in and reminds you that you don’t actually know anything. ~ Adyashanti The Enlightenment Impulse https://bit.ly/2KNjsPx

Whatever forces of the universe that have brought our sangha together in this time of global, national and personal tragedy constitute a Grace beyond comprehension.

Gratitude is Heaven Sangha returns to the Tree House this Sunday, Oct. 18! If you have meditated with us before, please come. If you are new to our sangha: space is limited due to the need for social distancing, so please send us a message via FB or "buy" one of our free tickets on Eventbrite if you'd like to attend. We look forward to returning to an open door policy once the pandemic is over.

Buddhism appears to be a religion, as a concession to human mentality. But Buddhism is not a religion. Buddhism is the dismantling of all religions. Buddhism i...s not a philosophy; it’s the dismantling of all philosophies. It’s not a psychology, it’s not a system of ethics, it’s not a way to relax. It’s the dismantling of all human agendas and ambitions and attitudes. And when we dismantle everything, when we remove the husk, then we find something inside that is incredibly living, bursting with life, and burgeoning with love, and blooming with beauty. And that’s us, it’s our life. - Reggie Ray, Dathün 2008-09

When i was young, i thought meditation was the hard work i needed to do to get enlightenment. Now meditation itself is my greatest joy.

METTA MEDITATION Metta means loving kindness. To love is, first of all, to accept ourselves as we are. When we practice metta love, or meditation, we see the co...nditions that have caused us to be the way we are. This makes it easy for us to accept ourselves - our suffering and our happiness. When we practice stopping and breathing, we observe how much peace, happiness, and lightness we already have, and how much anger, irritation, fear, anxiety, and worry are there in us. As we become aware of our feelings, our self-understanding deepens. We see how our fears and lack of peace contribute to our unhappiness, and we see the value of loving ourselves and cultivating a heart of compassion. Sit still, calm your body and your breathing, and recite the meditation to yourself. Sitting still, you’re not too preoccupied with other matters, so you can look deeply at yourself as you are, cultivate your love for yourself, and determine the best ways to express this love in the world. May I be peaceful, happy, and light in body and spirit. May I be safe and free from injury. May I be free from anger, afflictions, fear, and anxiety. Begin practicing this love meditation on yourself, using the pronoun I. Until you’re able to love and care for yourself, you can’t be of much help to others. Then practice on others by replacing I with he, she, or they, first on someone you like, then on someone neutral to you, then on someone you love, and finally on someone the mere thought of whom makes you suffer. - Thich Nhat Hanh, in Making Space. Artwork: Carole Henaff #Love #ThichNhatHanhGems

Sitting in stillness is all about going to the root of being. This root is also the root of movement, energy, and emptiness. The mind may be busy, but you can ...open to the silence from which thought arises. Focus on the background rather than on the foreground of experience. The more you relax the easier it is. Utilize the stillness within the subtle body to unite with the stillness of awareness. From that stillness all movement arises without disturbing the inherent stillness at the center of things. ~ Adyashanti The Way of Liberation http://bit.ly/2FwKVkG

Ultimately all we need to do is be still and stop interfering with everything. ~ Adyashanti Silent Retreat Vol. 58 ~ Q&A https://bit.ly/31wbjF1

The most direct means to self-realization is to be still. ~ Adyashanti Nourishing the Seeds of Wisdom https://bit.ly/2WIxglx

"You must be nothing but an ear that hears what the universe of the world is constantly saying within you."--Rabbi Dov Baer of Mezritch

If prayer is talking to god, then meditation is listening.

"Like prayer, meditation in its deepest sense is an act of faith, trust and letting go of control." ~ Adyashanti The Most Important Thing ... https://bit.ly/3hgOAnQ See more

JACK KEROUAC's LETTER TO HIS EX-WIFE "I have lots of things to teach you now, in case we ever meet, concerning the message that was transmitted to me... under a pine tree in North Carolina on a cold winter moonlit night. It said that Nothing Ever Happened, so don’t worry. It’s all like a dream. Everything is ecstasy, inside. We just don’t know it because of our thinking-minds. But in our true blissful essence of mind is known that everything is alright forever and forever and forever. Close your eyes, let your hands and nerve-ends drop, stop breathing for 3 seconds, listen to the silence inside the illusion of the world, and you will remember the lesson you forgot, which was taught in immense milky ways of cloudy innumerable worlds long ago and not even at all. It is all one vast awakened thing. I call it the golden eternity. It is perfect. We were never really born, we will never really die. It has nothing to do with the imaginary idea of a personal self, other selves, many selves everywhere, or one universal self. Self is only an idea, a mortal idea. That which passes through everything, is one thing. It’s a dream already ended. There’s nothing from staring at mountains months on end. They never show any expression, they are like empty space. Do you think the emptiness of space will ever crumble away. Mountains will crumble, but the emptiness of space, which is the one universal essence of mind, the one vast awakenerhood, empty and awake, will never crumble away because it was never born. The world you see is just a movie in your mind. Rocks dont see it. Bless and sit down. Forgive and forget. Practice kindness all day to everybody and you will realize you’re already in heaven now. That’s the story. That’s the message. Nobody understands it, nobody listens, they’re all running around like chickens with heads cut off. I will try to teach it but it will be in vain, s’why I’ll end up in a shack praying and being cool and singing by my woodstove making pancakes." Jack Kerouac . . . Image: Face of the Buddha, Jack Kerouac

While the Tree House remains closed, we continue to meet at a private outdoor location. While this is probably not the right setting for first time meditators, if you have some prior experience and would like to join us, please send us a message or "buy" one of our free tickets on eventbrite. We will be in touch with the details. https://www.eventbrite.com/e/meditation-tickets-84547175879

"Supreme primordial wisdom resides in the body."--Longchenpa