Dearest Sangha,
Wishing you so well as this week nears its close. I had the good fortune of spending the past week on retreat in the Arizona desert. Held by the breathtakingly beautiful mountains of the Cochise Stronghold, it was easy to feel integrated into the earth - as if we meditators were just another boulder rooted in the landscape. What a joy!
Then the retreat ends. The phone turns back on. Ding! Buzz! Bloop! The unnerving news, the unending tasks, the infinite distractions in ten second tik toks threaten to steal all peace and fill the mind with judgmental chatter.
But what if all that could be included in our practice? What if we didn't have to disappear into nature to feel whole, but could access our innate and integrated wholeness just as we already are? This Sunday, we'll explore these ideas through the instructions the Buddha gave his son Rahula. Roughly: "Meditate like the earth, water, fire, wind and space, all of which accept the clean or unclean - even feces, urine, saliva, pus or blood - without feeling horrified, humiliated or disgusted." Cultivating this quality not only helps us develop equanimity in the face of all the dings, buzzes and bloops, but also connects us with our vast more-than-human nature.
I hope you're able to join us for meditation practice, a little dharma, and community connection.
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In-person: 7pm to 8:30pm @ Yoga District — 1910 14th Street NW, 3rd Floor
- Please arrive 5-10 minutes early and register in advance here; it's the last Sunday class and listed under: "FREE (14th St.) Insight Meditation @ 1910 14th St"
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Online via Zoom: Join here
With metta,
Shawn
PS Looking for more ways to connect with the earth this weekend? Join me at the US Botanic Gardens this Saturday morning to learn all about eating acorns - an easily foraged food that connects us to Indigenous lifeways. Then Sunday afternoon, we'll honor the humble toilet - which also accepts the unclean items above with equanimity - as I host the 5th annual World Toilet Day Comedy Fundraising Craptacular. Enjoy brunch, hilarious stand-ups and musical comedy, a sweet-a$$ raffle, and help raise money for the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation.
Body-positive movement classes, meditation, group facilitation and more! ShawnShafner.com
The POOP Project
Homepage! 💩❤🌈
Get my 📕, Know Your Sh!t, at Barnes & Noble or order online! Published by Cider Mill Press, distributed by Harper Collins.
https://www.downtowndharmadc.org/
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