Resources:
Invocation of the Buddha and Bodhisattvas
Om Namo Shakyamunaye Buddhaya 3x, (homage to the awakened one)
Om Namo Manjushriye Bodhisattvaya 3x (great understanding)
Om Namo Samanthabhadraya Bodhisattvaya 3x (great action)
Om Namo ‘valokiteshvaraya Bodhisattvaya 3x (great compassion)
Om Namo Maha Gaia Bodhisattvaya 3x (great Mother Earth)
Three Touchings of the Earth, p. 48 in Chanting from the Heart
Nap Ministry - Rest is Resistance by Tricia Hersey
Ross Gay - Video - Podcast with Glennon Doyle and Abby Wambach
Quotes:
- The animals in the forest, when they get wounded, deeply wounded, they know what to do. They find a place, a quiet place, and they lie down [for] many days. Not thinking about eating or anything else. There is wisdom in that. Because they know that resting is the only way by which they can heal themselves. (Thich Nhat Hanh, How to Rest)
- (The Sabbath is ) to spend a day reflecting on the blessings that we may have missed in the busyness of our week” and “to center ourselves back to our true nature, to return to the world bearing the best of who we are, so that our work has a fragrance of the sacred. (Wayne Muller, Sabbath)
- I'm not grinding ever. I trust the creator and my ancestors to always make space for my gifts and talents without needing to work myself into exhaustion. (Tricia Hersey, Rest is Resistance)
- “Those who live on the margins of society will always need to find refuge that is inclusive of protest and wellness, resisting and embracing.” (Zenju Earthlyn Manuel, Sanctuary)
- There is a realm of time where the goal is not to have but to be, not to own but to give, not to control but to share, not to subdue but to be in accord... on the Sabbath we try to become attuned to holiness in time... to turn from the results of creation to the mystery of creation (Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, The Sabbath)
- Lots of people will swear allegiance to the Sabbath and criticize those who do not keep all the Sabbath laws. But their inner experience is not one of spaciousness and delight. It is too easy to talk of prohibition, but the point is the space and time created to say yes to sacred spirituality, sensuality, sexuality, prayer, rest, song, delight. (Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi)
Questions for Reflection:
1) experiment with cultivating delight
2) explore what is importance for you to enter into sacred time, a sacred way of being?
3) how do you attune to rest, wonder, ease and gratitude?