Dear Friends of CommuniChi, this fall, I will begin a 20 week/20 hours per week CPE (chaplaincy professional education) internship at Harborview Medical Center (HMC). I have no plans to quit acupuncture, though I would be remiss if I did not walk my talk and do my best to constantly reassess life’s commitments and make adjustments to stay in balance. Last fall, I began taking classes in Maitripa College’s Master’s of Divinity degree program in Portland. As of late August, I am incredibly fortunate to begin practicing and learning the art of spiritual care from the care team at HMC. I look forward to expanding my boundaries, leaning into growing edges, knowing that this will enable me to better show up for you, and all beings, with a heart as wide as the oceans and presence like the blue sky on a cloudless day. Thank you for your continued patronage and allowing me to be part of your health and spiritual journey.
What makes a life meaningful? It’s no secret that I love nature, I love to paddle – last week in a race around Squaxin Island, a dolphin surfaced directly in front of my surf ski. I like to think that they were surfacing to greet me. Why else pop up right next to me out on the open ocean? I love good food, friends, the occasional movie. Nonetheless, I think there is great meaning in contemplating death. When the moment of death arrives – and it does for all of us sooner or later, will I be satisfied with how I lived my life? Will I be able to let go peacefully and accept whatever comes next?
The Buddhist teachings tell us there is a level of peace that can’t be realized through material possessions, having many friends, or even good health. When it’s time to go on, we have to let go of all of those things and move on with, riding the current of our mind.
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With the thought of attaining enlightenment for the welfare of all sentient beings who are more precious than a wish fulfilling jewel, I will constantly practice holding them dear.
(from the Eight Verses of Mind Training, by Geshe Langri Tangpa, Tibetan saint and an incarnation of Amitabha Buddha according to lore)
The Eight Verses text is part of the lojong or mind training genre of teachings in Tibetan Buddhism and is one of His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s favorite texts to expound upon during public teachings. I’ve listened to teachings by His Holiness the Dalai Lama on this text many times and also received teachings on this from Kyabje Jhado Rinpoche and Venerable Thubten Chodron. Whenever my mind feels heavy with the suffering and brutality of capitalism, colonialism, racism or the pervasive suffering of being seemingly trapped in the never ending cycles of unenlightened existence, reflecting on this verse brings light and peace to my mind. What would it look like if we lived our lives around the maxim of cherishing others rather than prioritizing our own individual happiness first?
May you be happy and peaceful. With gratitude to all my teachers, clients, family, friends. It is only through the mirror of relationship that I grow and learn.