prepare to release

Shimenawa-ornament to welcome the New Year

Kadomatsu-traditional arrangement to welcome ancestral spirits

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. 

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.

* Our True Heritage by Thich Nhat Hanh