On Sunday just past at the end of our 8 am meditation at the Croquet Club Steve called us over to the door to look at a Frangipani blossom suspended invisibly from a spider’s thread below the handrail that runs next to the entry steps. It was, in his and then in our opinion that this was one of life’s small miracles …….. he reflected on the conditions that had come together in order for this to occur (see film clip of it below).
That then prompted me to recall the section from the (in my opinion) exquisitely observed scene from American Beauty where the two teenagers watch footage of a plastic bag dancing in the wind. Grant was gently gobsmacked by this connection as this scene has spoken powerfully and moving to him over the years……. (this clip also below courtesy of Grant)
So ………. this can then speak of the capacity of meditation to help us to stop and notice …… to stop and look at what’s happening within and around us. And given that 2015 is drawing to a close and 2016 about to begin what better time is there to do some reflection on the preciousness of life and our place in it.
Meditation as usual this NYE!
Coogee Croquet Club 7 - 8.30 pm
Then time to go and head over for the fire-works at 9 pm!
Then…….. is anyone interested in joining me for an 11 pm puja to see the new year in?
A puja is a simple Buddhist ceremony with verses, chanting and offerings that encourages us to express gratitude, audit ourselves in a loving way and then make commitment to the spiritual direction we wish to travel in ……
If I get even a handful of RSVP’s I’m keen to have a candle-lit NYE puja at the Croquet Club …. starting at 11 pm and concluding just into the new year at midnight. If we do this I’d encourage you to bring some aspirations for 2016 which we can offer to the shrine and then ceremonially burn at the conclusion of the puja …………
Pleas RSVP if you’d like to have an 11 am puja - if it will go ahead I’ll send out another email confirming on tomorrow afternoon
