View full issue in PDF - The Mindfulness Bell

sangha PRACTICE
Tears fill my eyes as I hold the inviter and look at the bell. The
bell seems holy, a symbol of the peace and freedom I found in Plum
Village. I hear myself say out loud, “I’m not ready to invite the bell.”
I can’t invite the bell. I’m not calm or patient enough.
Carolyn suggests I take a few breaths. Carolyn, Eric, and Mary
gently encourage me and then accept me as I am, off balance, selfconscious,
a little embarrassed and grateful for their acceptance. Eric
and Mary practice inviting the bell some more and then Mary hands
me the inviter.
I take it, lay it down to bow, recite the gatha, pick up the inviter,
raise my arm and swing. No sound. Silence. I’ve completely missed
the bell. We laugh. I try again, from my heart, and this time I hear the
sound of the bell flowing out like waves washing dry land. I relax and
smile. I feel so happy.
Eric gives me a ride to the Sangha. The Dharma talk of Thay’s we
listen to and our Dharma discussion following both focus on the emptiness
of emptiness and on impermanence. Joseph suggests we sing.
No coming, no going.
No after, no before.
I hold you close to me.
I release you to be so free
Because I am in you and
you are in me.
Joseph’s voice, like the bell,
reaches a place deep inside that is
still and clear. In the silence after
singing I notice a little burst of energy
tingling up from my stomach to
my nose. I bow in and speak, telling
the Sangha about the bell training,
about not being ready to invite the
bell. “I see now that I separated
myself from the nun and put her
above me. I felt low and unworthy
and was unable to invite the bell, even when I tried. The second time
I took the inviter I remembered Carolyn’s words and let my heart do
the work. In that instant the nun was with me and I was with her. We
were inviting the bell together and the bell sang out!” Inviting the bell
is inviting everyone to be present, even myself, even the nuns in Plum
Village.
Susan Hadler, Transformational Light of the Heart,
lives in Washington, D.C. where she practices
with the Washington Mindfulness Community.
photo graphy by Emily Whittle
photo by Emily Whittle
Cherished Transformations
by Cheryl Beth Diamond
I first visited Deer Park Monastery when it was more of an idea
than a reality: clumps of buildings shot through with bullet holes,
shell casings and old motors in raggedy meadows. Yet there was also
the energy of the several hundred retreat attendees following Thay in
a mindful walk up the hill to express gratitude for a possibility and
to listen to his wise words in the oak grove below. There the gnarled
majestic old trees served as reminders of the ancestors back to the
days of Shakyamuni who gathered in the same way centuries ago
—and there we were!
Now, four years later at the fall Order of Interbeing retreat, I
stayed in a welcoming hut. I watched the sun come up and the stars
emerge —a blessing come true. I witnessed the skeleton of the new
Dharma hall, a graceful ship’s hull built to carry present and future
generations to distant shores.
The hummingbirds, kinglets, deer, and squirrels play gleefully
among the lovingly planted and cared for trees and flowers; the peaceful
ponds and walking paths invite misty morning strolls and evening
contemplation. The tearoom is home to warmth, conversation and
quiet moments, the kitchen miraculously turns out symphonies of
tastes, textures, and colors.
For me, during our weekend together, there was a wonderful opportunity
to spend relaxed time with monastic brothers and sisters, to
soak up their joy and graceful mindfulness. It was an opportunity to
understand better the road to the monastic life: the twists and turns, the
hopes and doubts, the consummation. There was also the opportunity
to visit with newly aspiring practitioners searching for their own path
in the O.I. and eager to hear about its many opportunities for learning,
relationship, and service.
Through transformation of land and Sangha the future of the
Dharma is assured, fostered by the oaks, the squirrels, human determination
and relationship and song.
Cheryl Beth Diamond, True Opening to Insight,
lives in Tucson, Arizona and practices with
the Singing Bird Sangha.
the Mindfulness Bell 41