Dear Friends,
The first days of fall are finally here. We welcome cooler temperatures! Children have returned to school, summer vacations are perhaps fond recollections, and Halloween merchandise has already begun to appear in stores. This summer and into the fall season, yet again, California faces the continued tragic consequences of drought and extreme weather, including wildfires. As if this were not challenging enough, this year especially, many of us have been impacted by the steep increase in the cost of living, most keenly experienced by those with limited means. Meanwhile, societal support systems are inadequate at best and eroding in real time. In light of these difficulties and plenty of other significant concerns, the refuge of community is a clear and ever-present need. At Long Beach Meditation (LBM), we strive to maintain and refine a welcoming and peaceful place for the practice of meditation. It is through meditation practice that our capacity to respond appropriately to our families and communities grows and deepens.
Recently, the LBM Board and our teachers collaborated to improve and refine our Mission Statement. Please take a moment to read the statement, a concentrated reflection of our shared intentions, on the LBM website’s About page. Your feedback and comments are always welcomed. Inclusion is at the very core of who we are as a community and an organization. To be truly inclusive is to go beyond all distinctions and differences. As we navigate this perplexing and challenging human life, it serves us well to see and acknowledge that we are all of the same mysterious root. This fundamental awareness is our shared birthright, the common ground of being, the very source of beauty, diversity, uniqueness, and, yes, difference.
Looking ahead, I am committed to working to strengthen our community connections. Our Sangha is local, national, and even international! Meeting locally, at Bay Shore Church in Long Beach, stalwarts welcome new faces each and every week. Through the incorporation of our online meeting space, we connect with members and supporters from across the U.S., Canada, and beyond. We are committed to improving our meetings and classes in both the in-person and online spheres, investing in new technology as we embrace the reality that the post-pandemic world presents. Seeking to understand and match the current, always-changing reality is the living practice of Dharma practitioners. Over thousands of years and hundreds of generations, countless people have realized this marvelous way to study and appreciate the self, through the radical practice of sitting down and becoming still in body and mind. Zen Master Dogen was once asked, “There are many gates for buddha-dharma. Why do you recommend meditation exclusively?” Dogen Zenji replied, “Because this is the front gate for buddha-dharma.”
At LBM we look forward to all that we can achieve and offer together. A human life is such a rare occurrence in the vastness of space and time. In Buddhism it has been said that to be born a human is as rare an occurrence as a sea turtle rising once every hundred years from the ocean depths to poke their head through a knothole in a piece of driftwood! To encounter the Dharma is rarer still! We are each a rare and valuable happening, a living process, not separate from and always connected with one another and our world. To realize and actualize these connections, for the benefit of all, is our great work and calling. Let us dive fully into the teachings available to us and make the most of this precious gift.
I extend my sincere gratitude to each of you. As always, I welcome your reaching out to me directly at jokai@longbeachmeditation.org. Thank you for your presence and support.
I look forward to continuing our journey together.
Bows,
Jokai