Mevasseret
Makom leLev Sangha
Meeting Location: 34 Arbel St. Mevasseret
Time: Tuesdays, 20:00
Contacts: Maya Karni
Tel: 052-8570364 | Email: makom.laruach@gmail.com
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Our Sangha in Mevaseret Zion – “Home of the Heart”, by Maya Karni
The “Home of the Heart” Sanga: We have been meeting for several years, practicing, reading texts by Thich Nhat Hanh, sharing, and getting excited together. From time to time we practice a shared meal, a tea ceremony, or the Beginning Anew practice. We water each other’s seeds, listen to Dharma talks, play a concert of meditation bowls, and above all – stay together and practice together.
When we practice “breathing in, I have arrived, breathing out, I am home” we really have the sense that we are home, at the home of the heart. A space of quiet, of compassion and acceptance. Through the years, many people joined. Some of them stayed and became part of the Sangha, others came and went, but the Sangha remains stable.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, we practiced together over Zoom and shared our apprehensions and our strengths. This was a different experience, but our long familiarity made the practice over the Zoom feel like a home and a family. The practice was our anchor in the very uncertain period we happened to meet. We felt the importance of taking refuge in the Sangha and in the Dharma.
During our years together as Sangha members, we have experienced ups and downs, loss, separation, difficulties, alongside celebrations, births, weddings, successes, whole lives together. Together we embrace the pain and the joy.
We were together when Thay died, we embraced the pain and the excitement of being his disciples. We feel he is inside us, exactly like in the poem “No Coming, No Going.” Each one of us created a special small corner for the memory of Thay – appreciation for the deep meaning of our teacher in our journey.
The practice and the sharing make us stable, and the connection between us strengthens us. We have become a river – a “Sangha River”. Each and every one of us is a petal in the flower of the Sangha.We are now reading the book “Anger”. The reading lets us meet ourselves, our angers, and gives us the opportunity to breath, to embrace the anger and to find a beneficial way to conduct constructive communication. In our discussion, we try to understand the essence of compassion, and of mindful listening, both to our own suffering and the suffering of the other person. We are looking to find within a way of handling our anger. Breathing, embracing, looking deeply, alongside nurturing compassion, love, and joy within us.
We can feel that the texts we are reading come from within the heart of life, and that the path is presented simply and clearly. Not everyone always agrees with the proposed path, but we all respect and cherish it. We are full of appreciation and excitement. We come to the Sangha whether we are tired or fresh, glad or sad, and we always come out strengthened from the Sangha.
We thank Thay for his great contribution to our practice and for the path he forged for us.
Members of the Sangha write:
Michal:
Quiet, harmony, wisdom, nature, and Thich Nhat Hanh.
Laticia:
Our Sangha in Mevaseret Zion is a gift from God. These are hours of serenity, of coming home into the soul, hours of love and brotherhood, with a connection to aesthetics and to enrichment through reading text by Thay.
Nira:
The togetherness makes me stop, come back home, meet, hug, practice, listen, deepen the path, share in mindfulness, respect, compassion, and love. I greatly appreciate the wonderful group.
Dalit:
The Sangha is for me a compassionate and supportive refuge, which forces me to stop the race and breathe. The space is beautiful, in the right place and time. The guidance is like a container and lets us practice intelligently, deeply and with deep mindfulness.
Thanks for the right to be with such a Sangha.