Today I’ve had a quiet Sunday at home, a much-needed break from all the activity of leading you in this retreat all week. I felt lazy like my cat, sleeping curled up under a bush, half in the sun, half in the shade all afternoon.
Yesterday, to give closure to our Heart of Life Retreat, we sat together at Centre Wild Flower in Paris. We each spoke in the talking/listening circle. We worked together and we lunched together, sharing food that each of us had brought to the table. We chanted the four vows together and bowed three times together. We then each went our separate ways into the late afternoon sun.
Now I’m writing here to thank you for your participation in this Zen experiment of ours, a retreat like no other. I couldn’t do it with out you. You are all pioneers, trail-blazers exploring this new frontier of Zen in the 21st century. This frontier is your life!
And I’m also writing to ask you to help us continue to explore this Zen frontier together – with retreats, daily meditation sessions, the Wild Flower Center in Paris. I can’t do it without you. Please consider making a donation to support this precious trail we are blazing for the benefit of everyone everywhere: https://www.leetchi.com/c/wild-flower-center
Here we are again and again and again. the week has come and gone and another begins and finally a few moments to pause and reflect.
I will be echoing the others by thanking you, Amy; we couldn’t have done it without you, either.
It was for me a very challenging and difficult week of practice at times but I am glad I did « stay in » until the end.
Quoting Fernando Pessoa’s (Ricardo Reis) poem, in full:
« To be great, be whole: nothing
Of yourself exaggerate or exclude.
Be all in all things. Put what you are
Into the least you do.
So, in every lake the whole moon
Shines and, soaring, lives. »
Sending you all my love xx
Dear Amy Roshi, I’ve said it before and will say it again. It was once again a wonderful, magical, unique and beautiful experience that I truly value. I can still feel the echoes from last week… Thank you. I’ll do my best to help. Best wishes. Filipa
I also want to thank you! Amy of course for creating and holding space for us all with such grace, all of you it’s been a privilege to read from and share this retreat with, all those who have been part of ‘my angle’ on the retreat, knowingly or not, and everything that has lead me, us, here, to this wonderful and precious experience, our lives! Sincerely, Adrien
Thank you, lovely Amy, for your pioneering work in bringing to our awareness so well that we are all the collective wildflowers simply of our shared humanity. It has been a treat and a privilege to read other people’s contributions which are all, basically, my own experiences. I would love to contribute to your work, and will look to see what I can give to you, and I and my family thank you, and everyone touching hearts together in our lives here on this continuing retreat, and for what Thich That Hanh calls flower watering. Here, the sun shines on the starlings feeding from the bird food in my tree, as they also feed the pigeons and sparrows below as the food falls to the ground … Compassionate wildflowers of the air, so simple!