Be the Cause blog

Prabhat put together a very special Sacred Site Visit @ Agape Spiritual Center in LA…which took place this last Sunday, March 9th.

Here’s some info about Agape:

In 1986, Dr. Michael Bernard Beckwith founded the Agape International Spiritual Center, a trans-denominational spiritual community whose doors are open to all seekers in search of authentic spirituality, personal transformation and selfless service to humankind. In his own words, “My aspiration is that every individual who is touched by the vibration of Agape is inspired to cultivate a heart of love as wide as the world.” http://www.agapelive.com/

I arrived a little late for the meditation portion of the morning. The usher/bouncer at the door mentioned it was too late to enter the meditation sanctuary…no matter how much I begged. If you’re a newbie to Agape, you do get to avoid the lines to get in…but beware of seating…one of my friends and I were going to be escorted behind the stage and on video, and we decided against this and sat anonymously in the audience with all the regulars.

I thought I was safe there, but at one point of the service, all of us newbies were told to stand up and a song was sung to us. Normally, I would have thought this was way corny but there was such love radiating from my new Agape friends that it was really beautiful to say the least…

There were some moments of the service where I felt shy…cause so much love was expressed…brimming over!! My favorite parts of the service were when we sang: “This little heart of mine…I’m gonna let it shine” and when Rev. Michael Beckwith gave us all a talk. My jaw dropped watching him. He was a very entertaining speaker. He mentioned that the camera people have a heyday when he gets up on the stage because he never stays in one spot. He’s dancing, and jumping all over the place. He stated that maybe he should stay in one place and talk. And the audience roared with an astounding: NOOOO…! The man was so energized and right on target with his message that there wasn’t any way to stop smiling!

What I specifically liked about the service was…all people, all nations, and all ages were included. It felt very welcoming and heartful. It was like going to a family reunion with 500 plus friends…all gathering for peace, love, fun.

After the service, I was able to find Prabhat, Kristeen, Adnan, Jayson, someone’s friend named Mike, and Narayana and college friend. There was a booth with awesome vegetarian food.

This was a great way to celebrate life and spirit and all that’s good…on a Sunday.

I was driving on my way to work and saw this phrase surrounding someone’s license plate in front of me.

And it just reminded me of how I felt at the Thich Nhat Hanh walk…in LA. This was the third peace walk of this kind I’ve been to…the 2nd with Thich Nhat Hanh leading the hundreds that showed up at Macarthur Park on Saturday, September 29th, 2007.

Peace is every step website: http://www.peaceiseverystepla.org/

Why do I attend events like this…? I think to tap into a sacred part of myself and others. We’re so caught up in the madness: traffic, noise, disagreements, disappointments, the works…that walking in peace seems appealing to me…

The thing that is so hard to do…I’d like to learn more about=slowing down…

And in the past…I would have thought that walking sloooooowly was boring and something I’d avoid. But I realize that walking gently on the earth…is something precious. And with all the pain, hurtful words, actions that affect this earth…why not walk…in peace instead of in disregard or insignificance…?

The day was interesting…not fully like the first peace walk with Thich Nhat Hanh in October of 2005. Actually what happened was…I was so happy to see some friends that showed up to the walk from Be the Cause that I could hardly contain myself…

I was talking during the meditation in the beginning, I was talking a bit on the actual walking portion of event, and a friend and I were pulled to the side during part of the walk in our “peace is every step” hats and interviewed by a local tv station. Yikes..not sure how reverent I was…but I truly feel being in joy is the way as well…

So back to that phrase surrounding the license plate I saw….coming from a gal who used to sprint in many a race….life can be a marathon…in a good way. Walking in peace instead of in a rush…hmm…there’s something peaceful about that.

Basically, I’ve found out that there is a time to run and a time to walk. Thich Nhat Hanh would probably state…something about balance…

Here are some quotes by Thich Nhat H..otherwise known as “Thay.”

Every day we do things, we are things that have to do with peace. If we are aware of our life…, our way of looking at things, we will know how to make peace right in the moment, we are alive.
-Thich Nhat Hanh

Keeping your body healthy is an expression of gratitude to the whole cosmos - the trees, the clouds, everything.
-Thich Nhat Hanh

Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy.
-Thich Nhat Hanh

Yesterday felt very peaceful and relaxing. This month’s sacred site arranged by a few sacred site gurus was located up in Marina Del Rey. On the drive up, some of us carpooled…we had our choice of four sets of directions, food in the trunk for the potluck…everything was very much harmonious. As we turned into the parking lot, I immediately felt myself unwind and feel a bit tranquil. We headed toward the ivy covered building and met our host…this yoga teacher with some very interesting stories, named Revity. We filled out liability forms and in the meantime, more sacred site be the cause attendees poured in. In the beginning of the workshop, we all introduced ourselves as we sat in a circle on multi-colored circular pillows. Some mentioned their history with Be the Cause, and many spoke of their yoga experience. Some attendees were taking a class for their first time, and others have taken yoga for more than four years. Revity then gave a very informational talk on the history of yoga and its benefits for health and longitude in this life. She spoke of God versus Deities and the similarities and dissimilarities. She pointed to beautiful pictures that graced the walls surrounding us and spoke of the historical and symbolic components that each image represented. Some images represented divine love, others represented warrior/warrioress energy, and some represented “removal of all obstacles” such as in the image of the Indian God, Ganesh. The pictures on the wall were some that I’ve seen before and others that I have not. The colors, textures, and cleanliness of this studio created a feeling of peace. Even while we did the yoga poses, a woman sang beautifully outside of the open door leading to the parking lot, and this also added an element of grace.

As in all sacred sites, there are some who are very knowledgeable of the subject at hand, and some who are not. I am interested in all religions, but there are many I’ve been to that I am very new to. This was one that I didn’t have as many questions on. Although I’ve been to many yoga classes and have heard most of what Revity spoke of, I was happy to hear it again and hear a different voice speak about all of this information. It was nice to hear about all the deities and all of the historical background. During the actual yoga class, we did Sivassana (relaxed pose-lying on back) a few times. Every time I thought the class was going to be short…just a short intro. No such luck. Our yoga instructor took us through many Sun Salutations and various other poses such as the tree pose, lunges, and stretches. This young woman had a light way about her, with a nice sense of humor, so I found the whole class interesting and enlightening. What was very useful was the breathing exercises she showed us. Even though breathing in yoga is a must and can’t really be done without it, sometimes I find myself not fully breathing. Without breathing fully in yoga, one can’t get through the poses adequately. There are times when a student has to hold a pose for quite awhile. The breathing helps to transcend the difficulty sometimes of holding this pose. I felt Revity let us stay in a pose for the perfect amount of time, and gingerly moved us along into another pose. She walked around the room and corrected posture by gently pulling a student’s shoulders back, or helping a student better lean into his or her practice.

After this wonderful class, we all clapped, said “Namaste” and decided to have our potluck in the front room that leads to the studio we were just in. There were many dishes to choose from including chocolate cake at the end for dessert. Fortunately, Revity was able to join us for the potluck and as we all sat together, she shared image filled stories of some remarkable traveling she’s done. The chocolate cake also had its place because there was a birthday in the house. We sang an early Happy Birthday to Mike and then joined together one last time for a group photo.

With some pamphlets and LA yoga mags in hand, the participants of this sacred site left for home with a renewed sense of energy and peacefulness abounding.

Namaste!
Thank yous to: Stacey, Jason, Bharti, Angela–am I leaving anyone out? for putting together this beautifully organized Sacred Site visit!! In gratitude…
Gianna

Occasionally in life there are those moments of unutterable fulfillment which cannot be completely explained by those symbols called words. Their meaning can only be articulated by the inaudible language of the heart. - Martin Luther King, Jr.

As such, our trip to the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas from Oct 29th to Oct 31st may not be explainable through words but only through the language of the heart. Although the distance was over 600 miles, we traversed a far greater distance in our understanding of one another.

The City of Ten Thousand Buddhas (CTTB), in Ukiah, is a Mecca of good cultivation. Over one hundred monks and nuns reside at this city and engage in meditation and chanting throughout the day. Throughout the expansive compound you can find wild peacocks roaming freely and street names such as Compassion Way and Proper Thought. Needless to say, our trip was filled with many magical experiences… the greatest of which, was the growth of compassion in our own hearts. Magical Moment Number 1: We offered to volunteer in the kitchen hall at the city even though we were there as tourists. After much persistence, they actually allowed us to help out… and it turned out that the kitchen was actually understaffed at that very moment.

During the dharma filled weekend, we also attended a Dharma lecture with Rev Heng Sure at the Berkeley Buddhist Monastery. Rev Heng Sure embarked on a life changing journey in the late 70s. He and a fellow monk conducted a “three steps and a bow” walk from Pasadena to the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas to create humility in their own life and to work through their own egos. What is even more remarkable then this 2 year and 9 month journey, is that Rev Heng Sure did it in silence. Magical Moment: One hour before we departed for our trip, we got an email stating that it was Rev Heng Sure’s birthday and that we would be attending the very lecture where his birthday was being celebrated.

We also visited Glide United Methodist Memorial Church and heard children read poetry about peace and racism. Magical Moment: As we stepped outside the Church we found a group of people conducting a happiness survey. They asked us to write “Life is good” on one of their forms. I guess you could say we were meant to be there.

Before heading back to Los Angeles we visited a Cafe by the name of “Cafe Gratitude” in downtown San Francisco. We all expressed nice things about Neerav and everyone shared a little bit about their lives. Magical Moment Number 10,000: everyone pulled a random thought from a pile of cards and each card seemed eerily specific to each person.

The sheer number of synchronistic moments makes we wonder if we have any control in our lives at all. It was as if all of Northern California was conspiring to ensure that every moment we experienced was manufactured as elegantly as possible. I would say that is the nature of the universe, but I know that some things cannot be explained through words.

This is what our tour guide had to say about our trip to the City of Ten Thousdand Buddhas (from the Charity Focus Blog: http://nipun.charityfocus.org/cf/arch/events/000294.html)
“Hello, Brant here. We just had a group of 20 come up for a day here, and they blew everyone away. We did not know if they could eat in the dinning hall, but they wanted to do as much as they could with the assembly. It was hard because the kitchen is so understaffed and overworked right now, but they agreed to take them even though they were already preparing for the big Guan Yin celebration tomarrow. Then something amazing happened. They ate lunch, and then one of them finished and walked back to the kitchen and asked if he could help. Pretty soon the entire group was in the back helping crack walnuts and preparing other food. I’ve never seen the kitchen staff so happy. They told them to come back any time. [...] I know people have complained that we have limited time at cttb to learn during the retreat, but this group was here for 7 hours and spend over an hour working selflessly and joyfully. [...] Sincerely, Brant”

Pictures from the event:
http://www.bethecause.org/sacred/?location=gallery&tab=oct2004

Some more magical experiences:
– Mark and Yoo-Mi’s incredible house!!!
– Mark and Yoo-Mi’s incredible hospitality and BTC strategy sessions around their conference table. By the way, Mark’s (and mine) favorite Charity Focus project is the Quote-a-Day. This is a daily source of inspiration, news and action sent directly to your inbox. If you want to sign up, visit: http://www.charityfocus.org/insp/clubs/sol/?pg=subscribe
– Charity Focuser’s + friends joining us for the trip up to Ukiah
– Our wonderful CTTB guides – Sarah, Brant and Minty
– The peacocks… As one of our groups was leaving, Ron stated that it would be nice to see a white peacock before we left. Behold, immediately a white peacock graced us with its presence.
– The donkey at the expansion site project. It was like it was waiting for us.
– The 1 billion year old rock
– The Meditation (which even Bharti sat through without whining) Though we sorely missed Alfred
– The Question and Answer session with Jose
– The Great Compassion Mantra in the Hall of the 10,000 (actually 11,000) Buddhas
– Cheryl and Sukh’s indefatigable energy and quests to perform Random Acts of Kindness
– Meeting the Reverend Heng Sure
– The Halloween Pumpkin Judging Contest at the Berkeley Monastery
– The Glide Memorial Service on Sunday morning and the Children’s Poetry Readings
– The Poetry book signing – especially getting autographs from the boy who did NOT contribute a poem
– Sukh taking the shirt off his back and giving it away on the Streets of San Francisco
– Costco Parking Lot rules! And Gianna….it’s D4, not B4!!
– The Café Gratitude. We are Grateful…..to John
– Three things about Neerav (the son-in-law that got away)
– The Clapping Parade at Fisherman’s Wharf
– Ganesh’s affable nature and unbelievable patience with three women and the Dropped through the door slot KEYS (ooops!)
– Our Knight Alvin and his steed (ok, dog) Murphy to the rescue!
– … and leaving Nipun and Guri’s apartment only to find 7 more BTCers in the hallway waiting to get in. So we all went back to Nipun and Guri’s for some Indian chai, inspiration, and of course 10,000 blessing from Mr and Mrs Universe

From the heart, thank you to all who organized the event, put up the pictures and documented the above magical experiences.

“Life is Good”

Sukh