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| Shimenawa-ornament to welcome the New Year |
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| Kadomatsu-traditional arrangement to welcome ancestral spirits |
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| Kasane-stacked mochi, rice cakes for the family altar |
Dear Friends, near and far,
As we prepare to release another year, we also prepare to greet the Lunar Year of the Tiger. I want to let you know, you are part of a circle that I rely on and appreciate deeply. Like some of you, I prefer some down time near the end of the year. My heart and mind yearn and long for it. As I get older, I recognize that yearning for stillness, solitude is kind of sacred medicine from my blood and spirit ancestors. feeling the need to recalibrate my body, to listen to what the past twelve months have taught me through witnessing, observing, living, i believe we have the power to offer the wisdom of stillness and slowing down to ourselves.
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| The temple bell welcomes Joya E, New Year, 108 times |
This year, i treated myself to a self-styled, householder rains retreat, (a tradition in India during the time of the Buddha for disciples to study, contemplate, in one place, usually during the monsoon season). ~with intention, i set time to be in silence for part of the morning and evening for three months. most days, I begin waking up to sitting meditation, followed by writing a delight for 15-20 minutes; thanks to Ross Gay's Book of Delights. i've been reserving time to read a poem each day for it uplifts spirit, offering a sense of spaciousness.
Recognizing that joy and delight need to be fed and nurtured, too. I'm filling up my well of being and goodness. the morning ritual begins~fill and heat the tea kettle, prepare, measure, and inhale the sweet grassiness of Sencha tea leaves, feed Axie, our four legged sibling,
light a candle and incense and offer a bell or chant~ practicing being fully present. looking out the window, i smile at dewdrops on the trees, early sunlight alighting sky, solitude of a fog blanketed morning.
waking up to greet a new day with enough time to offer gratitude to fresh possibility. we should enjoy our happiness and offer it to everyone. cherish this very moment. *
it's been another year of joys and sorrows, loss and welcome of new and old conditions, of earth communicating her suffering through wildfires, tornados, floods. and sentient beings impacted by war, occupation, migration. those separated from loved ones, some without a country, a nation, a place to call home. i settle in stillness acknowledging the weight and heft of the year and know that stillness is a friend to help reconcile the sorrows and joys, birth and death.
i return to wanting you to know that I cherish your friendship and kinship, how and when you show up and care. your presence is felt, seen and heard from a place deep inside.
i created a wreath to honor the lives of those who have transitioned this year, including my mother, Bette Misao, the matriarch of our family and those known and unknown, well known and not well known. the flowers remind me of the beauty, all phases of living and that nothing is permanent. (I'm inviting those who wish to add names of folks who have transitioned in the comments section and i'll include them in a morning lovingkindness meditation.)
my wish for you: to take a few moments to p a u s e in stillness, give yourself a gift of acknowledging our beautiful planet. we get to live here, now, in this time of flow and imperfection, to wake up each day, with all the magnificent and minuscule conditions, and we get to be, here together. touching the earth in gratitude for this life, just as it is.
perhaps you haven't experienced loss of family or friend to the pandemic, many have not been so lucky. holidays can be especially difficult when a loved one is no longer present. please take good care of yourself with a little more patience. offer goodness from your heart toward neighbor, relation, community who might be struggling. with the heart and spirit of a grandmother's love, robai-shin, see from a wider view, a heart that has witnessed much suffering in her lifetime, and still offers wholehearted care, support and love.
i'm releasing 2021 by sharing two ways to nurture hope: an image of a special soup, ozoni, i grew up enjoying on New Year's morning and preparing for 2022 with a favorite poem by Indigenous poet, author, cultural hero, Joy Harjo.
may they buoy and warm your spirit and help you remember, reveal what might be hidden or forgotten.
breathe and slow down to welcome the energy of the Lunar Year of the Tiger.
hands together, in gassho, 🌕🎋judy
Prepare
The first earth gift of breathing
Opened your body, these lungs, this heart
Gave birth to the ability to interact
With dreaming
You are a story fed by generations
You carry songs of grief, triumph
Thankfulness and joy
Feel their power as they ascend
Within you
As you walk, run swiftly, even fly
Into infinite possibility
Let go that which burdens you
Let go any acts of unkindness or brutality
From or against you
Let go that which has burdened your family
Your community, your nation
Or disturbed your soul
Let go one breath into another
Pray thankfulness for this Earth we are
For this becoming we are
For this sunlight touching skin we are
For the cooling of the dark we are
Listen now as Earth sheds her skin
Listen as the generations move
One against the other to make power
We are bringing in a new story
We will be accompanied by ancient songs
And will celebrate together
Breathe this new dawn
Assist it as it opens its mouth
To breathe.
