Bare necessities, learning to breathe as one body

The Touching the Earth Sangha Retreat August 2012

Having just got back from a retreat with my local Touching The Earth Sangha, (based in Glastonbury & Mid Somerset) I felt I had to write about the experience because it was a powerful time for everyone there, and helped to deepen our practice, and commitment to each other.

This was our second organised retreat as a Sangha, and was based, once again, at the excellent East Down Centre situated on the northeast fringes of beautiful Dartmoor. It is a perfect place for a retreat, possessed with first class facilities, plus exceptional views across the wooded valleys, and a lovely walk down to a nearby lake.

Our Sangha is very strong and growing well. We currently meet on the second and last Monday in the month, and hold Days of Mindfulness every six weeks or so in a wonderful barn a few miles from Glastonbury. We have been in existence for over three years now, and look forward to a positive future.

There were seventeen participants on the retreat, including three year old, Tashi, a key member of the Sangha, who is much-loved by all. He is particularly skilful at stimulating our chuckle chakras! He also teaches us how to really be in the present moment, and to get in touch with our playful side. He particularly enjoyed being serenaded by the mass Sangha choir with a spirited rendition of ‘Bear Necessities’, a tune which I am now having trouble dispatching from my brain!

The rest of the schedule consisted of the customary practices of sitting & guided meditations, kinh hanh and outdoor walking meditation, deep relaxation, touching the earth, qi gong, and working meditation. We held Noble Silence from the end of the evening schedule until the following day’s lunchtime. We all relished this opportunity to dwell within, yet focusing mindfully on the task or activity at hand.

In the afternoon we had the chance to check in with each other for our afternoon Dharma discussions, and this became fertile ground for sharing deeply our inner worlds and opening ourselves up within a safe space. We all felt secure enough within the Sangha to really be genuine about how we were feeling, dealing with the stresses and strains of our life stories, and this resulted in an often profound sharing between people, and many commented that they had not felt safe enough in other groups to express how they truly felt. We all felt this was testament to the strength of our brotherhood and sisterhood in the Dharma. It was very moving at times, and I, personally, felt touched by people’s emotional honesty and willingness to trust the process, and to feel safe in the telling.

On the Saturday, in the evening we held a New Moon Celebration where poems were recited (either by Thay or self-penned), songs were sung, games were played and we also were taught how to make lotuses out of crepe paper, into which were placed candles and these were then slowly paraded outside in procession while we chanted ‘Namo ‘Valokiteshvara’ across the grass to a waiting fire. The lit lotuses, of various colours, were placed beautifully in a circle around the fire and we then deposited slips of paper into the fire representing anything we wished to let go off or cultivate within ourselves. It was a lovely way to end the day.

On the final morning we gathered together in the Dharma Hall for our final sharings, before finishing with another sumptuous meal lovingly prepared by our ‘Super Tenzo’  Rose. Then, reluctantly, we had to admit that the retreat was indeed rapidly drawing to a close, and we began to pack our bags accompanied by much hugging and determination to return again the following year. We all knew we had been part of a special event, and it only served to draw us even closer together as a Sangha. Roll on next year!

by Ark Redwood

THE ART OF MINDFUL GARDENING BY ARK REDWOOD

“As a gardener, we have to trust the land, knowing that all seeds of love and understanding, seeds of enlightenment and happiness are already there” from 'Cultivating the Mind of Love' by Thich Nhat Hanh, Parallax Press 1996

'Sowing the seeds of meditation' is the subtitle of a groundbreaking and inspiring new book by Ark  Redwood, Head Gardener for the last 11 years at one of Britains most sacred gardens – Chalice Well in Glastonbury - and co-facilitator of Touching the Earth Sangha in Somerset part of the UK Community of Interbeing founded by Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh.

 During that time Arks beaming and benign presence has been behind not only the development of a captivating naturalistic healing and meditation garden at the Well but also welcoming and inspiring more than 180 garden volunteers many of whom like me came to the Well in search of healing and sanctuary and left as friends and fellow gardeners.

A unique blend of mindfulness meditation, zen wisdom and horticultural insight 'The Art of Mindful Gardening is a journey through the cycle of the seasons offering the observations and insights of a seasoned plantsman and a serious practitioner of mindfulness.  Quotations and meditations from Thich Nhat Hanh and other gardeners and mindfulness teachers illuminate many parts of the text.

 In his introduction Ark says 'gardening is a pastime that can give us a wealth of possibilities for mindfulness training' and in this book he is as good as his word in a text full of mindful attention, the love of language and horticulture, a sense of childlike wonder, and a writers gifts of self-expression:

 “ Every springtime I am thrilled when I see the tiny seed leaves first appearing on the surface of the seed tray. There is something magical about germination, and I cannot see how anyone can fail to be delighted to welcome the manifestation of new life. I experience a tide of tenderness washing over me whenever I see those little green specks on the surface of the compost, and I make a silent vow to guide the infant seedlings to maturity, as if they were my own children. No wonder it's called a 'nursery'!...a fresh green being arises out of the pregnant earth, and a new note is sounded in the symphony of life”

There's plenty of practical wisdom wrapped up in the book too as in Spring he guides us through the 5 Ds of Pruning to a Pruning Meditation which begins with centring the breath and seeing and feeling the presence of the shrub to be pruned. In May after exploring this fertile time of growing we are soon being instructed on the 'Magic of Compost' by a Master composter. 'A well-made compost heap is truly alchemy in action...filled with life yet formed from death'

 Arks ruminates on the presence and role of mysterious devas or plant 'elementals' in the garden and the miraculous appearance of the 'Perfect Plant' which turns out to be a 'useless weed' – a prickly sowthistle. There's guidance on why no dig horticulture promotes a healthy living soil followed by advice on taking time to 'stand and stare' and connect work in the garden with the seasonal cycles of nature.

In Summer when we are most busy we are guided to the practice of 'walking meditation' so we can breathe and stay in the present moment. And there's a wider contemplation of 'Suffering and the web of life' in which we are reminded to lay down our weapons and cease our wars against slugs and pests and diseases and focus instead on cultivating our own vibrations of love and attention to our plants to build up their health and immunity.

 He extols the virtues of the traditional cottage garden and the fact that flowers play a huge part in our folklore and history: “They link us with the ancestors and offer us their gift of healing” and observes through Thich Nhat Hanhs words that just like flowers 'we manifest, then disappear. It is a game of hide and seek' and there is No-Self in nature and no separation between gardener and garden – only the truth of Interbeing.

From Summer Deadheading as a spiritual practice of attention to water consciousness ('water less frequently but more thoroughly') from the value of Copper Tools to the Garden as Sangha we move to Autumn and accepting impermanence. Arks delight in playing games with the wind illuminating the classic zen task of mindfully raking the falling leaves 'as the ground becomes peppered with kaleidoscopic glitter'.

Soon we are contemplating why trees shed their leaves, planting bulbs adventurously, and embracing the way of mulch to build soil structure and tilth, suppress weeds and retain moisture and insulate the soil from frost.

 Ark celebrates the joy of harvest-time and offers us an 'ancestral meditation on abundance' before meditating on Frost and plant hardiness, advice on planting bare root trees and how  to connect to our own roots as we go down into the dark chill and the 'death' of winter.

 Its time for the garden to rest and the gardener to be patient and stop to contemplate the still point of the year and clean tools and tool shed though characteristically Ark warns against extreme tidiness – “Gaia abhors uniformity and homogeneity”. With the return of the light and new resolutions in the New Year we turn full circle and begin to prepare the ground again as the snowdrop heralds Spring.

This book is dedicated not just to Arks partner Colette Barnard and to colleagues at Chalice Well Gardens, the World Peace Garden in Glastonbury but also 'Dharma brothers and sisters' in Touching the Earth Sangha and the UK Community of Interbeing inspired by Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh 'to whom I bow in gratitude'.

 It is destined to be a gardening if not a spiritual classic and Leaping Hare Press have done a beautiful job with its hardback arts and crafts cover and spacious design to complement an inspirational text making it a pleasure to read in every sense.

Anthony Ward