Spirit Rock Capital Campaign Gratitude Booklet 2017

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together we pause in gratitude

dear spirit rock community, Generations from now, practitioners will gather at Spirit Rock and offer gratitude and blessings to each of you.

Together this community created a place for practice and a home for the cultivation of wisdom and compassion—a new Community Meditation Center, Teacher/Staff Village and Administrative Offices. These magnificent buildings honor and support teachings of the Dharma— the deepest truth of life. Together, this community created a space to seek refuge from the turbulent forces of greed, hatred and delusion so prevalent in the world today.

The Buddha encouraged turning our hearts toward the highest blessings, and reflecting on our goodness. This booklet is a simple reminder to pause amidst the momentum of daily life and to remember the generosity you offered.

“Safely connected to my life, and reassured of my essential goodness, I feel at ease, at home, really in the most sublime of homes.” —Sylvia

Your involvement in Spirit Rock provides a living example of kindness that will continue to resonate for generations. Thanks to you, our capacity to offer teachings of insight to all who seek these qualities in their daily lives has expanded and increased. It’s truly delightful that you have chosen to be part of a group of people instrumental in bringing the original vision for this land to fruition.

“Our task is to preserve the practices of mindfulness, loving-kindness, compassion, ethics, and virtuous conduct. We want to foster the deepest teachings and practices we can to bring awakening to all who practice with us. That’s what will sustain a healthy center and a healthy dharma stream, and bring benefit to the world.” —Jack

The Founders, Teachers, Board, and Staff at Spirit Rock wish to offer our deep bows to you—thank you for joining this incredible communitywide effort of sharing equally in the building of Spirit Rock.

May we all find great joy in what we have created together, and may it remain for us and for generations to come, an extraordinary spiritual home.

With deep respect, gratitude, and love, All of Us at Spirit Rock

coming home

“ When we have no real home we’re like aimless travelers out on the road, going here and there, stopping for a while and then setting off again. Until we return to our real homes we feel uneasy, just like a villager who’s left their village.

Only when we get home can we really relax and be at peace.”

—ajahn chah

spirit rock then & now

Almost 30 years have passed since the purchase of 412 acres that was to become Spirit Rock Meditation Center. When it first opened, day-long retreats took place in a large tent containing 200 red chairs donated by a Chinese restaurant, and Monday night meetings at the local church quickly overflowed. In response, Jack and Sylvia rented six trailers and placed them side by side on the land. When those could no longer hold us, we embarked on a journey to build a new Community Meditation Center. Now, our new Center seats 400, hosts a variety of offerings, and rests harmoniously in West Marin open space. monday: The Center fills with practitioners, new and seasoned alike, eager to experience a guided meditation and dharma talk with founder Jack Kornfield. tuesday: A joyful celebration honoring dedicated Spirit Rock volunteers ensues, the sounds of an ancient Japanese woodwind bamboo flute fill the air.

a week in the life of the new community meditation center

wednesday: Community members sit in equanimity with founder Sylvia Boorstein, pausing amidst their busy daily lives to practice mindfulness meditation and metta. thursday: The Women’s Circle practices together, providing love and support. In another room, yoga practitioners align the physical body and explore dharma in a beautiful light-filled space with views of golden hillsides. friday: Community leaders and corporate professionals gather with teacher Pamela Weiss to explore the ancient Buddhist archetype of the Bodhisattva as a new model for leadership in our time. saturday & sunday: Two different groups explore and experience heart-opening meditation, cultivating wisdom and compassion in separate, simultaneous workshops with Spirit Rock teachers Spring Washam and Mark Coleman.

the joy of giving

“To be generous in giving, to be moral in conduct...and to be blameless in action– this is the highest blessing.”

—The Buddha

blessings from the sangha in spring of 2015, we asked our sangha to share well-wishes for the new community meditation center. we received thousands of blessings from around the world.

“Blessings on this land and the protectors of this land. Blessings on each one who has supported the development of this vision into manifest form. May all who set foot in these buildings deepen in the Dharma and be a source of light in the world.”

—Ayya Anandabodhi “May the Spirit of Unity pervade as the foundation of all action here in this building.

May all seeking hearts find rest and solace here. May the Spirit of Truth guide and abide in this place. And may all hearts be broken, dispersing the fragrance of love.”

—Pegge Ashcroft “Let each toil be a labor of love, let each day be a blessing of love, let each smile bring the light of love, let each soul embrace the darkness of love, let each heart be forever opened with love, let every visitor be a beacon of love.”

—Nicole Fagone “ Deep bows, love, and gratitude to all who have been here, are here, and will be here. May this place continue always to alleviate the suffering of all beings. I am profoundly grateful for this place. May all beings, everywhere, be awakened and free.”

—Maria Achtemichuk-King “May this structure shelter the hearts of all who enter so they may awaken to the Truth of Love.”

—Todd Pickering

because of you, this arises

sylvia boorstein’s metta meditation

Think of a blessing for yourself. The metta practice, lovingkindness practice, always begins with a blessing for yourself: “May I feel safe. May I feel content. May I feel strong. May I live with ease.”

As you say these words, feel the echo of their sentiment in your mind and body.

Think of someone that you love tremendously—a parent, a partner, a child, a sibling, a beloved teacher—someone you love enormously. Thinking of them, and feeling your love for them, brings buoyancy into your mind.

Perhaps you’ve thought of more than one person. Imagine who you’ve chosen to be right in front of you. Imagine that they can feel it as you bless them in your mind: “May you feel safe. May you feel content. May you feel strong. May you live with ease.”

Think about people in your close world, colleagues and friends, and feel that they feel your blessing:

Please close your eyes and take two long deep breaths, in and out. Feel yourself sitting at ease in your mind, in your body, in this moment, in this world.

“May you feel safe. May you feel content. May you feel strong. May you live with ease.”

Let your body stay relaxed and easy. Smile. Blessing is a relief to the mind.

Think about familiar strangers in your life, dentists and hairdressers, supermarket clerks whom you recognize but rarely think about them out of context. Imagine a group of familiar strangers and wish for them: “May you feel safe. May you feel content. May you feel strong. May you live with ease.”

Letting your mind think far and wide, imagine all the familiar strangers in the world, everyone else that we don’t know who are our contemporaries, sharing life in this world with us. Wish for all those people, all beings near and far: “May you feel safe. May you feel content. May you feel strong. May you live with ease.”

Feel the pleasure of resting with your heart as wide as the world, the two-way blessing of universal kindness.

“Generosity (dana) is rooted in lovingkindness (metta).

Metta sees the need and dana fulfills it.

When given rightly, a gift brings joy to the giver as well as to the receiver.”

–Guy Armstrong

Spirit Rock

a n insight meditation center