20251207 Don't Just Do Something, Sit There!
The Buddhist teacher, Ajahn Jotipālo writes: Ajahn Sucitto once said that we often think of patience as waiting for change. I will endure this situation, gritting my teeth, until it changes. Certainly, we might want a painful situation to change, but with true patience, according to Ajahn Sucitto, it’s more like thinking, I will be with this situation, period. In other words, there’s no expectation that the situation will change or get better. By learning to turn toward our suffering and simply be with it, we are staying at the level of feeling. We are not getting into the story, the proliferation, or creating a self around it. If someone says something to us and we become angry or feel uncomfortable, instead of going outward, as we typically do with mettā, we can go inward. (https://www.abhayagiri.org/reflections/692-turning-inward-with-patience) This Sunday, we pause to honor Bodhi Day, the Annual Day on which many Buddhists reflect on the Buddha’s gaining enlightenment. We will explore one of the essential dynamics of this process, which is our relationship to all that tries and challenges us as we seek to be our best selves in a world that is often bruised and hurting. Join us for this special service. The Unitarian Universalist Church of Worcester (UUCW) is located in Worcester, the heart of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Our services are live-streamed on ... at 10 am every Sunday and stored on our website www.uucworcester.org for future viewing. The music you hear is from "Song Without Words," written and performed by our Music Director, Matt Johnsen.
