Oregon Rain
photography by Lisa Ernst
The raindrops are perfect
because they’re not.
They fall without ideas
of size and sound
how long or how much.
They just fall,
they touch what’s
exposed and open
and not under cover
like a heart without
a veil or a shield.
It rains in my heart
until we entwine
like lovers
who no longer know
where one ends and
the other begins.
A smile, a tear,
a heart drenched through.
One Dharma just completed our fourth Spring Renewal Residential Retreat at Bethany Hills. Each April I especially enjoy our time in this beautiful and natural setting where our hearts can open in tandem with the flowers and leaves after spring rains.
Ferns by the Pond at Bethany Hills
Altar Flowers by Frankie Fachilla
I appreciate all of nature’s seasons but spring is my favorite. In my twenties, during some of the darkest, loneliest years of my life, immersing myself in spring each year gave me a sense of possibility that my life could be more than the sadness and grief I lived with daily. As I witnessed newly leafed trees growing greener each day, purple wild iris opening along the water’s edge, and birds breaking into a melodious but raucous symphony every morning as the sun rose, I allowed my heart to open completely, to release my armor and touch the warmth and vulnerability of new life. This tenderness of heart nourished and fortified me through this otherwise long and lonely season of my life. Slowly, as the years passed and I reached my 30’s, the possibility of renewal that had once seemed so removed from the rest of my life blossomed at last. This awakening enabled me to live my life more fully, to move through my grief and find friends and love again. Thank you spring for sustaining and warming my heart when I had no other way to touch this moment with love and gratitude.
Double Web
These two lovely poems, speak to the retreat experience of opening heart and mind in this moment. Both were written by attendees at our spring retreat.
Water Meditation
Water extinguishes fire
Takes away the angry,
burning desire to eat
everything in its path.
Be water,
drown in this moment.
Watch the world and its stories
pass like waves.
They aren’t yours to grab.
Try to grab them and
they disappear like
scattered stars,
reforming later, still
constellations of emptiness.
Instead, let the waves
crash over you,
their powerful fingers
tear at you then recede
into foamy nothing.
Crash and recede, crash and recede.
Nothing to do
but feel the sun.
– Andrea Hewitt
Cattails by Pond
The retreat ended, rain stopped.
The geese have landed at the lake,
Sun shining thru clouds, I see clearly.
– Jeff Miller
Clear Skies Reflected in Pond
If you break open the cherry tree,
Where are the flowers?
But in the spring time, see how they bloom!
– Ikkyu
“Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.”
― Rumi
This is love: to fly toward a secret sky, to cause a hundred veils to fall each moment. First to let go of life. Finally, to take a step without feet.
– Rumi
The temple bell stops.
But the sound keeps coming
out of the flowers.
– Basho
Enlightenment is basically not a tree,
And the clear mirror is not a stand.
Fundamentally there is not a single thing –
Where can dust collect.
– Huineng, Sixth Zen Patriarch in China, 638-713
Saturday, January 31, 2015
9:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m., Nashville Friend’s House
Led by Lisa Ernst
Please join us for a day of contemplative writing and meditation practice. We will cultivate writing inspiration through meditation and exercises that help us open our hearts to the truth of what we most want to express. These practices will also help us to communicate more eloquently from our authentic voice, both in written and verbal form. In addition, we will have an opportunity to share our writing in an atmosphere of compassionate support.
This workshop is suitable to beginning and experienced writers and meditators. Cost is $75 – $100, sliding scale. Please pay at the highest level you can afford so we can accommodate those who need reduced fee, scholarship spots. For a scholarship spot, please inquire to the email below. You can pay by Paypal here using the donate button. If paying by check, please make it out to One Dharma Nashville and send to 12 South Dharma Center, c/o One Dharma Nashville, 2301 12th Avenue South, Suite 202, Nashville, TN 37204. Please include your email address.
Lisa has been meditating for 25 years in both the Zen and Vipassana traditions. She is the founder and guiding teacher of One Dharma Nashville. In addition to regularly teaching meditation classes and retreats, Lisa has written numerous articles for magazines, newspapers and newsletters. She was the technical editor for the current edition of Meditation for Dummies. Her blog include essays and poetry: www.thelotusbloomsinthemud.com. For questions, email onedharmaretreat@gmail.com
Something there is, prior to heaven and earth,
Without form, without sound, all alone by itself.
It has the power to control all the changing things;
Yet it changes not in the course of the four seasons.
– Fu Ta-shih
Our 2015 calendars have arrived and are available for pickup at our Monday meetings or they can be shipped for $5 extra. These calendars were created by Shelley Davis-Wise and the photos were all taken at our 2014 Mindful Photography Workshop. The calendars cost $20 each, make nice holiday gifts and are a great way to support One Dharma. Here are a few sample images:
To purchase your calendars, you can pay by cash, check or paypal here through our donation page. Be sure to include $5 if you prefer to have the calendars shipped. For questions, email onedharmainfo@gmail.com.
The Lotus Blooms in The Mud 