mastodon 4.7.2A community of meditation practitioners dedicated to the Dharma, social justice, and uplifting LGBTQ+ and BIPOC voices. We gather on the 1st and 3rd Sundays of each month for practice and study in downtown Washington D.C.
Profile pic: logo with lotus and stars in a circle that could be the moon. It reads District Dharma Collective, Sit Down, Rise Up
Header: D.C. row houses at sunset
By slowing down, choosing to rest back into the uncertainty rather than fighting it, I was able to touch into a sense of space, precisely in moments when it felt like there was no way to keep going and I would be totally overwhelmed.
If we can breathe in and out, putting our mind completely on our breathing, or feel our bodies and put all of our attention on the sensations in the body, we can create that space. We slow things down and let our nervous system recalibrate and center.
The external situation may not change, but we’ve changed in relation to our external situation.
If we can stop, we have the chance to touch into something deeper than overwhelm. This practice of pausing, or stopping, helps the seed of our question to mature and ripen into the guidance and direction we need.
Kaira Jewel Lingo, We Were Made for These Times: Ten Lessons for Moving Through Change, Loss, and Disruption
We must remove the landmines in our hearts which prevent us from making peace. The landmines in the heart are greed, hatred and delusion. We can overcome greed with the weapon of generosity; we can overcome hatred with the weapon of loving kindness; we can overcome delusion with the weapon of wisdom. Peace-making starts with us.
—Maha Ghosananda, also known as "The Buddha of the Battlefields"