The Dewdrop Digest

Clouds in Water Zen Center
The Dewdrop Digest
Connecting Children, Youth and Sangha
Sunday, December 12, 2004

Today is the last day of Fall Quarter Children's and Youth Practice. We hope to see all of you again beginning Sunday, January 9 when we will delve more deeply into the Peacemaking and Interbeing. Why not register today?

Mindfulness during the season of many festivals of Light
Many different Festivals of Light are being celebrated during this time of year. And perhaps one Buddhist practice is simply to be aware. For many of us, we transitioned from a fun summer, to a very "do"-centered early fall, and now we find ourselves entering into the darkest and coldest time of the year. As the temperatures drop and the day shortens, many of us naturally retreat indoors. Nowadays, we flip on the lights and the TV and may not notice just how incredibly different our days are. But if we slow down, turn down the lights, and light some candles, maybe go for a chilly evening walk in the dark, we can imagine what was like before electricity extended our days. It would have been a time of a slower pace, of quiet indoor activities, of spinning the flax and repairing the fishing net. Even today, if we slow down and listen, we may be able to see, feel and hear Mother Earth's invitation, "Go to sleep you grasses, flowers, trees and bushes. Snuggle into your warm nest you squirrels and bears, and sleep and sleep."

Buddha's Enlightenment Lesson:
After sitting under the Bodhi way for seven days, Buddha spent the rest of his life showing us the way to make our hearts warm and shining, to awaken to our connectedness to all things, to be enlightened.

Today, students will then hear the story of Buddha's enlightenment, and then hear the Thich Nhat Hanh story of how Buddha taught a group of children how about the preciousness of NOW by eating a tangerine mindfully. They will do the Tangerine Meditation together (with a luscious clementine!) and then decorate a candle in the spirit all our Buddhist Festival of Light.

During the ceremony today, the students will be invited to offer their candles to Buddha. As we make our candles, we will hold in our heart our intentions for expressing one or more qualities of spiritual heroism such as kindness, courage and determination. Please take them home to use in your family Rohatsu observation.

An American Buddhist Home Practice for Rohatsu (revised November 2002)
Here are some ideas for home practice to mark the week that Buddha sat under the bodhi tree until he awoke to all the love and understanding within him.

We set up our Rohatsu scene under our ficus tree. The children choose dolls (or make little figures) that will be Buddha, Svasti (the buffalo boy) and Sujata (the milkmaid). Each day during Rohatsu, Svasti brings fresh grass (or a substitute) to place under Buddha. Sujata offers milk in a tiny bowl and rice on a teeny plate. We gassho before and after the offering. On the morning on Buddha's enlightenment (usuallly marked December 8), we will light a candle and eat tangerines mindfully.

Over the past three years, hearing the story and repeatedly interacting with the physical elements has been a significant experience for my children and I. Thich Nhat Han's "Old Path White Clouds" tells the story beautifully, and we will read from it each day. This book is well worth owning!

We encourage each other to each take up a practice that echoes Buddha's courage and determination to help others. We will challenge ourselves to act with compassion. We might start with little action per day—resisting a temptation to say a nasty thing, sharing a toy, helping around the house, etc. Other ideas: food to a food shelf, toys or outwear to a shelter, feeding the birds, clearing leaves out of the gutter (which pollute), helping a neighbor with fall chores. At the end of each day, we talk about our compassionate acts. If there were hurtful acts, sometimes we re-image them (tell the story the way we would like it to happen next time, and visualize it happening that way)

QUESTION, PROBLEM, SUGGESTION? Contact Children's Practice Coordinator Katharine Krueger.

posted by webmaster on 12/12/2004 03:40:00 PM | link