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Mindfulness in MorningSun
In MorningSun, we are committed to bringing a spiritual dimension into our lives, our families, and to society. This deep desire is guided by the practice set forth in the Mindfulness Trainings and kept alive by practicing mindfulness in all activities throughout each day.
The aspiration of the Education Center is to offer its guests an experience of sustainable and simple living, harmonious community, and their own capacity to transform suffering and bring meaning into their lives. In order to do this, the resident staff community will provide a steady and continuous energy of practice as a fertile ground in which to grow the training and education programs.
Residents will cultivate this ground through personal practice and shared practice, as well as through the practice of the Mindfulness Trainings .
Personal practice refers to the ways individuals will nourish, maintain, and heal themselves in body and mind, including meditations, alone time, reflective and learning process, self-development and healing work.
Shared practice refers to the times of practicing meditation together (sitting, walking, and common meals) and training in skills of mindful community living. These skills include listening deeply, loving speech, developing the capacity to understand others, healthy relationships with family and friends, community meetings, and conflict resolution.
Our shared practice activities will include:
Daily sitting meditations, yoga, and walking meditation
Daily meals and singing
Daily work periods
Weekly togetherness days with regular teachings and discussion to support a continuous learning process
Weekly rest days
Seasonal festivals (on the solstices and equinoxes) express creativity, joy, and a connection with spiritual experience, each other, and the Earth.
Meetings, discussion and informal study groups, conflict resolution sessions, and all group process will also be organized as practice sessions. And although there will much to do, daily schedules will reflect the need for resident staff not to be overworked and will support their enjoyment of what they are doing.
| Regular practice of mindfulness strengthens the faculty of mindfulness. Regular practice shared with others will do so as well, but with exponentially greater results. |
Taking Root in a Fertile Ground
The style and form of shared practice in MorningSun, including the forms for group facilitation, will be based on the techniques and tradition taught by Thich Nhat Hanh and teachers in the Community of Mindful Living and the Plum Village Practice Center. After some time, when a solid practice has been established, it will be possible for MorningSun to learn and integrate techniques and insights from other traditions as well.
To be grounded in one tradition or style of practice allows us to reach through the many layers of our restless mind into the heart of our human experience. With a deep root to anchor us we can then explore the wisdom and insight of other traditions without wandering aimlessly or grasping in desperation, but rather learning from a place of freedom and with a heart that is already at peace.
| With mindfulness, formal meditative training and everyday life are not two separate things. All moments are moments of our life. All are worth living deeply. |
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