Sabbath for Uncertainty

Today is my Sabbath, and I'm preparing myself for the uncertainty of the coming week. It will be extraordinary; we have never faced this kind of major surgery, nor the unknowns of cancer, and we are finding our balance in chaos.

During this time of the waning moon, the moon's energy changes, and we move gradually into the yin phase - slow down, go within, and focus on inner work. I back off a bit on actively pursuing my goals, and allow the ease of being a loving, thoughtful person to carry me towards my dreams.

The waning gibbous moon is a time to practice the work of intentional Being, rather than Doing. When I slow down I can see what my hard work has produced in the world and in myself, and I have the leisure to notice, absorb, expand, and just BE.

Sabbath Agenda:

1. Simple sabbath plans

2. Read "Comfortable with Uncertainty"
3. Love meditation

4. Monthly receptivity practices

1. Simple sabbath plans:

Keeping a sabbath day is a personal thing. For me, it's a day with a slow pace. I don't pack it as full. I schedule some work, but it has a flavor of rest to it - it's work I find fulfilling, or uplifting. Simple is a great word to describe my ideal activities for the Sabbath: Simple tasks, simple foods, and an undemanding schedule.

Keeping a sabbath starts with a little simple discipline: I prepare for my sabbath by finishing business on the day before; getting all possible deadlines finished, shopping, and "un-fun" chores. I practice the discipline of saying no to requests that seem like work, and yes to sabbath-like activities.

My perfect sabbath is a celebration, a holiday. I keep it holy with my attitude: I try not to rush, complain, or worry. I open myself to the Spirit of Love, and schedule activities that celebrate the season or the act of creativity or the joy of community or are satisfyingly peaceful in nature.

Today, I plan some reading and writing in the morning, a zoom Meeting for worship, painting butterflies, gardening, and a nap.

2. Read "Comfortable with Uncertainty":

I'm looking again at "Comfortable with Uncertainty: 108 Teachings on Cultivating Fearlessness and Compassion", by Pema Chödrön (2002). The last time my world fell apart this book caught me and saved me.

The theme throughout this book is training in tenderness for life, called bodhichitta. "We train in the bodhichitta practices in order to become so open that we can take the pain of the world in, let it touch our hearts, and turn it into compassion."

Chapter 5 is Loving-Kindness. "For an aspiring bodhisattva, the essential practice is to cultivate maitri, or loving-kindness. ... In cultivating loving-kindness, we learn first to be honest, loving, and compassionate towards ourselves. ... we begin to cultivate a clear-seeing kindness."

No matter how I feel, I can aspire to be happy, and sow seeds for my future well-being.

3. Love meditation:

Last month I began this I set of practices that brings me to love and receptivity every month after the full moon, in the quiet-energy yin time of the waning moon.

The Buddhist term bodhicitta means "completely open heart and mind". Developing bodhicitta is a journey: You move toward a flexible way of thinking and feeling, releasing fear and a need for security, and embracing the possibility of love.

During the waning moon, I practice this Love Meditation to help open a door to bodhichitta. This week, I feel it will carry me through.

1. 1 minute - Relax your body, and focus on the tender emotion of generous love. Allow a smile to settle on your face and in your heart.
2. 1 minute - Visualize love as soft, tingly, warm, pink light, and see it move from your heart to every part of your body so that every cell is glowing and vibrating.
3. 1 minute - Now see the pink light of love radiating to fill the whole room, then the whole city, and the whole planet earth.
4. 1 minute - See that all people, plants, and animals feel warm and happy.
5. 1 minute - Send an extra dose of love light to those people you want to have a better connection to.

4. Monthly receptivity practice:

My plan is to take this one-day-at-a-time each month:

Day 1: Practice a love meditation, and open to receive blessings - send a prayer to the universe asking to be showered with love, kindness, health, and happiness.

Day 2: Practice a love meditation, and end by feeling and expressing gratitude - send a prayer to the universe of thanksgiving for all I have in my life. When I remember to feel grateful for my blessings, my days take on a different tone: I have more vigor, optimism, compassion, and peace. By noticing how I am blessed, my impatience decreases and I realize how satisfied and fulfilled I really am.

Day 3: Practice a love meditation, and then journal about generosity with time and attention - start with ideas for being generous with myself, then my family, my neighborhood, community, and the earth. I might decide to give money or a gift, or simple acts of helping and sharing my time. (Even though my world has been narrowed by crisis, I can still find small ways to be outwardly generous.)