Wednesday

The Green Man

The following poem was read at a meditation session recently.

 

The Green Man 

by Joe Zarantonello


The Green Man built a tree house in the center of my heart,
No one asked him to. He just showed up one day.
He never asked me.  He never called to inquire
about available space.  The Green Man just appeared
one day, swinging and laughing
in a glowing tree of emeralds in the heart of my chest.
I forgot all about him, and then when pain or suffering arises,
I can hear him laughing and swinging from the branches,
and somehow that changes everything.
More and more, I open my heart to the pain
and suffering of the moment, and just breathe it all in.
On the out breath, a green luminosity
vibrates out into the world from every cell in my body.
The green of the newly unfurled leaf on the first day of spring.  

"The Green Man" by Joe Zarantonello from Green Bamboo.  (c) Nirvana Press (2005)

Monday

Cedar Cabin Sangha/Mindfulness Meditation News



Wednesday night meditation continues, 7:30-9:00pm in the lower room at Hospicare. We have been asked to remind our meditators to enter through the upstairs/main entrance. This is for the security of the staff and residents in the care facility. A sangha member will be on "door duty" from roughly 7:20-7:40 to welcome you. Please do your best to arrive in that time. If conditions are such that you must arrive later, you may need to ring the door buzzer and a staff person will buzz you in. *Please do not knock on the lower door for entrance.* This can be disturbing to staff who may be working late.

We had our final discussion of "Mindfulness as Medicine" a little over two weeks ago. Those who have read this book have found it both interesting and supportive. Our discussion was deep and real. The sangha care-taking group would like to continue our (more or less) monthly discussions, with a return to discussion of the Five Mindfulness Trainings. For discussion of the First Mindfulness Training, we are looking at Saturday afternoons in late February to mid-March. Those dates are Feb. 24, March 3 or 10. Interest and availability seems to be leaning to Saturday March 10 - but please let me/us know if you want to join this discussion and if one of the other Saturdays is better for you. We will go with the date which is best for most.

The Five Mindfulness Trainings discussion will be preceded by a Sangha care-taking group meeting and a vegetarian pot-luck lunch. All those who are interested in caring for our sangha are welcome to join us. Again, let us know whether Feb. 24, March 3 or March 10 is possible (and which date best) for you if you are interested in joining us.

Lastly, in addition to our Wednesday evening group and once a month Saturday afternoon discussions, there are two other practice groups which may be of interest to you. Engaged Mindfulness Ithaca meets once a month, on the 3rd Sunday - most recently at 1pm at "Just Be Cause" near the Ithaca Inlet. This group is open to everyone. A WakeUp! group is starting, for people ages 18-35 held on Saturday morning at the St. Paul's Methodist Church.