Meeting others

I feel like I've just got back from several months on Mars

I've only spent nine days away on my Buddhist Psychotherapy Training at The Buddhist House, but - oh my - what a nine days.

As someone else in the group commented, I feel like I've only let 1% of the learning from the past nine days soak into me so far. But it's been about so much more than the learning.

The theme of the 9 days was 'meeting others'. In our daily lives, how often do we really manage do this in an authentic way?

The people who've shared the past nine days with me have become special to me - every single one of them. Some of them have seen right inside me, and I've seen right inside them. Those kinds of connections don't fade once they've been made. Whether or not we refer to them, they will hang between us when we meet again, like golden threads.

This meeting others has been bloody hard work. There have been tears, anger, confusion, disappointments, pain. There has also been a LOT of laughter (some of it hysterical) and a LOT of joy. Oh, I can't avoid being soppy. There's been a lot of love.

In gassho to every single person who sat with us in our group, and to Jodo, Sharry, Moggy and Zen. In gassho to the cooks, the cleaner-uppers, the smilers on the stairs. In gassho to the sunlight on the sofa, and the golden Buddha in the shrine room. In gassho to Eamon's badly drawn ear, and to singing Taize. In gassho to all of us, and to all of you. Here's to the space continuing.