Sesshin ended at noon on Sunday.
Jan & I stopped and gobbled a sandwich, then started a mad dash to Roxbury and the installation of the new senior minister and executive director of the Benevolent Fraternity of Unitarian Universalist Churches, the UU Urban Ministry, the, near as I can tell, oldest social service agency in the country. The new senior minister is an old Zen hand and a member of our sangha.
The installation preacher said how spiritual engagement and social justice go hand in hand. It would have been a stronger argument if he appeared to have some sense of what a real spiritual practice looks like. He seemed to think a spiritual retreat is bringing a book to the beach. Obviously never been to a sesshin.
But I appreciated the intention.
And I fervently believe in how those of us who walk the way of spiritual quest and those of us who strive to make this world a better place need each other in ways vastly deeper than can ever be said…
The great way is found on the pillow, in the reaching out, in the silence and in the action.
Thanks to Kevin, here’s a snap from the retreat, missing four participants who for various reasons had to leave before it was taken… Imagine Isabella, Jay, Karen & Harriet sitting there, as well…
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