Tara Brach - A 2018 Winter Solstice Ceremony (2018-12-19)

Episode Date: December 27, 2018

A 2018 Winter Solstice Ceremony (2018-12-19) - La Sarmiento and Alli Mosehauer perform dharma spoof songs for the 2018 IMCW Solstice Celebration, followed by a candle light ceremony with Tara and the Insight Meditation Community of Washington (IMCW) community.

I'd like to invite Las Sarmiento and whoever law is including with them. Wow, Ali, great to see you. And put in your good hands whatever is next. Hey, everybody. So for me, Solst is often and represents, you know, as we go deeper into the darkness and opportunity to actually go inward and discover more of who we are. But we live in a culture that tends to,

to distract us and pull us away from that. So this first song kind of helps to remind us how to come back. Dashing through this life, towards some unreal goal, tired filled with strife, nothing fills our bowl, wondering what it's for, this striving to succeed, life can be a bore, so this is what you need. Oh, mindful bells, mindful bells, reminders to be kind. Remembering to laugh and sing is what to keep in mind. Mindful bells, mindful bells, help us to wake up.

To love ourselves with all our hearts is sometimes a bit tough. Practicing is hard to sit with all that comes, watching without guard, Stories and where they're from Trusting in my truth Knowing that I'm wise Discerning what is underneath that ego-filled disguise Oh, mindful bells, mindful bells, rinders to be kind Remembering to laugh and sing is what to keep in mind

Mindful bells, mindful bells Help us to wake up To love ourselves, with all our hearts is sometimes a bit tough. Thank you. We practiced for like 15 minutes before this. So this practice really is about like settling our minds and oftentimes we're fighting all the thoughts that go through them. So this is a song to help us be okay with that.

Up in our minds we think lots of things. Some inspiring, some that sting. Believing the story. We know so well, the ones that cause suffering and make it hell. Oh, no, no, just let it go. Oh, no, no, just let it go. Up in our minds, we think lots of things, some inspiring and some that sting. It lives in our bodies, hearts and minds, through the practice of being kind.

Having compassion is pure and whole. Dispelling harm is part of the goal. No, no, just let it go. Oh, no, no, just let it go. Up in our minds, we think lots of things, some inspiring and some that sting. When we remember, we are just good. Get rid of the words can't and should. Accepting what is is the thing that's hard.

Life is not a hallmark card. Oh, no, no, just let it go. Oh, no, no, just let it go. up in our minds we think lots of things some inspiring and some that sting we did prepare an encore but it has a chord that's pretty tricky law calls it ebbden

the chord it's really e-flat diminished but what do I know about this so so much of this practice is about accepting what is and letting go So here's our version of that. Well, the holidays can be frightful, but the dorm is so delightful.

When there's no escaping, ho, ho, ho. Let it go, let it go, let it go. With the family there is no stopping, I'd rather die than keep on shopping. Don't those people know that I'm po? Let it go, let it go, let it go 2 a.m. and still no good nights Oh, I might throw them out in the storm But the Buddha says, do not bite

All your lifelong do no harm In hell we will not be frying My dears for Buddhists, there's no dying Don't let the holidays get you low Let it go Are you going to stay up here as we, okay, good, good, good. So we have part of our annual celebration as a candle ceremony, and I want to make sure, first of all, everybody has one.

So before we actually do the ceremony, we want to talk about the safety aspect of it. We've been asked by the church asked us not to burn them down this year. So I'm actually going to do a demo here to show you. the process. The basic rule is the person who's about to be lit is going to be the dipper. If you're already got a flame, you stay standing upright. So the dipper goes like that. If you understand the other way around, you start dripping wax and all that kind of stuff. So if your flame is already got a flame, you stay upright. Now, before we light any others, wait, wait, wait, we're going to, you can stay.

with up here with me. We're going to be standing up and we're going to be chanting. So if you want to rise to your collective feet, yeah. And you'll notice that as we do this, the lights will dim and you can begin to look around and notice what's happening. So we pause together and it's quite a beautiful way to sense that we're at the time of year where the days are short, the nights are long. There's more darkness. and that there's a goodness to that darkness, that in a way, in the midst of that darkness, we can really discover an inner light that's always shining.

So we honor this time of solstice as for that which is below the ground, that which needs its time in the darkness to unfold itself, and that our prayers and presence can bring alive that light, that inner light and spread it to all beings. So it's with that that we begin to chant together. And we're going to chant one of the mantras from the Buddhist tradition that's really probably chanted the most regularly, year-round, day-round, all the time in Buddhist Asia.

Omani Padme-hum. So I'm going to start it and then please join in with me. The meaning of the mantra is the jewel is in the lotus. and it's the jewel of compassion. It's the light of compassion. That as we wake up, as the lotus of our being unfolds, what's unfolding is this light and love of our heart. Omane, Padme, Homme. So I'll begin and then after we start chanting, feel free to harmonize with each other. Be creative with it and we'll begin to pass around this light. Omani, Padme,

Padming into silence. In the silence you might actually open your eyes and look around and see these different flames of light and the collective space, the warmth and radiance in this collective space. And we'll take some moments to feel our shared prayer. and I'd like in the quietness in this field of heart space to invite you to bring in those that you feel need prayers,

those in your life that you know that right now would benefit from the nourishment of love and light. I'd like to include one name of a member of our community, Travis Spencer, who is ill right now, And as one of the beings that's so much contributed to our program with teens and our board, it's dear friend, Sangha member, just to feel our collective prayer holding Travis and invite you to let your heart whisper the names of those that you'd like to feel held in this collective space. As we feel the light of our heart space hold these beings and then widening out to include

all the beings everywhere, all the creatures, human and non-human beings on planet Earth, the Earth herself feeling the Earth in our hearts and all beings everywhere. We offer our prayer that all beings everywhere may be filled with loving presence, held in loving presence. No loving presence as the very essence of being. that all beings everywhere might live their life from this love, might touch a great and natural peace, and know from the luminosity of their beings the joy of being alive,

that all beings everywhere might awaken and be free. We close our prayer with a song that pretty much everyone will know well. This little light of mine, I'm going to let it shine. This little light of mine, I'm going to let it shine, this little light of mine, I'm going to let it shine, this little light of mine. Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine, let it shine, let it shine. This little heart of mine, I'm going to let it shine, This little heart of mine, I'm going to let it shine. This little heart of mine. Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.

Joy, this little joy of mine, I'm going to let it shine, This little joy of my shine. This little joy of my shine. Let it shine. Let it shine. Let it shine. Blessings to La Nallie. Thank you so much for your beautiful music

and to each of you of happy blessed solstice and the holy days that are here and beyond. Namaste. Make a wish. When you blow these out and the lights go on, there will be delicious cookies coming around from volunteers and we'll see you in a few weeks. Many blessings. Thank you.