As the days get shorter, and the fatigue of this particular year grows stronger, the tradition of turning inward is alive in our bones. I miss gathering together at Sangha House on Tuesday nights, walking in the front door and putting my shoes alongside everyone else's in the shoe rack, giving hugs and well wishes to all present, walking quietly and gently into the beautiful Meditation Hall, sitting alongside one another in meditation, and feeling the rhythms of each other's hearts as we practice. May this be so again, soon.

Each November, people in the United States of many backgrounds and beliefs gather together for Thanksgiving dinner and to reflect on what they are grateful for this year. The Thanksgiving season awakens our sense of gratitude for the many blessings in our lives. Thankfulness for the winter snow, warm homes, Dharma buddies, the Buddha’s teachings, and our discovery of the path of practice he offered. Blessings are abundant.

As a Buddhist community, we remind ourselves that gratitude is a daily practice, not something we do just on a certain day or season. Each and every moment offers an opportunity to bring to mind a person or situation for which we are grateful. And from that place of appreciation, we move into the world with an open heart, sharing lovingkindness and compassion with those we meet.

Each year, during this season of Thanksgiving I like to remind those in the IMFW community of the email gratitude group available to anyone who wishes to participate. Each day, or as often as you wish, you send to the Gratitude Group three things you are grateful for that day. Please see Ellen's article below to find out more information or to sign up..

In this world filled with boundless beauty as well as an ocean of tears, we need each other. Life is inevitably difficult and challenging to everybody in it, and as Buddhist practitioners we work at habituating our minds toward kindness. We are not asked to accept and endure the problematic circumstances of our lives. Rather, we are encouraged to improve our spiritual lives and worldly situation by addressing those circumstances with generosity, lovingkindness, and wisdom.

When we respond to the world in a loving way, we invite others to do the same. Generosity is the active manifestation of the path, as that which is given and gratefully received, ripples out beyond individual action into the collective good. The more our actions are motivated by generosity, lovingkindness and wisdom, the more we can relax and open to the world. The more we feel a part of the world and genuinely connected with others, the more gratitude and generosity grow.

So, yes, we are all indeed vulnerable. Yet, no matter what our struggle, we can walk through life with a compassionate, caring heart. Amidst the difficulties around us, we can all offer love, courage, generosity and gratitude.

Our hearts widen when we come together; may this be so in the coming weeks. Please join us for Tuesday evening at 6:00 to support one another as we deepen our practice of gratitude and generosity.

Dear Friends,

Considering what it is that I am grateful for, helps me to notice those things in my life. This includes things that I have taken for granted! The furnace turns itself on when it is below a certain temperature and off when it reaches a warmer one. I flip a switch and a light comes on! A daily gratitude practice is one that helps us look for and notice the gifts. IMFW offers a practice where we can share our daily gratitudes with each other by email. I appreciate all of the posts generated by this "Gratitude Group." "Oh, yes! I am grateful for that also," I often say when someone in the group has taken the time to appreciate something unnoticed in my life and I feel that gratitude also. Ellen explains below how to sign up to join the group. It is a daily practice that uplifts your state of mind.

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We continue to meet at 6pm on Tuesdays via Zoom. Tammy, Drew, or a guest teacher opens with a 20 minute meditation followed by a 40 minute Dharma talk. The invitation to the meeting is sent to your inbox weekly. It is a way to see dear faces and connect – even if it is remotely. It is so helpful in these trying times to have a way to center and ground yourself. Please join us.

Our mission is to share the Buddha’s teachings with all those who are interested, to provide support to deepen our meditation practice, and to bring wisdom and compassion into daily life.

Our thoughts turn to gratitude at the end of each year as we celebrate holidays and share love with family and friends. Even this year we can find things for which we are grateful! As Deb mentions in her Update above, some of us in the Sangha participate in an email Gratitude Group, whereby we send out a daily email observing three things we are grateful for each day. It has been a wonderful practice, allowing us to increase mindfulness of our blessings and also giving us the chance to know each other on a more personal level.

This is an invitation to anyone in the Sangha who would like to join the group. If you're interested, please send an email to ifw-gratitude+subscribe@googlegroups.com Once you have signed up you can send your gratitudes to ifw-gratitude@googlegroups.com and they will be delivered to all of the participants. You can unsubscribe at any time. There is no requirement that you participate every day. Some of us faithfully send daily emails and others of us only send occasional emails, but we all benefit from reading whatever emails are delivered to us each day.

If you have any questions or problems signing up, please contact me at eeengland@gmail.com. And please do consider joining. (If you're already a member of the group you don't need to do anything.)

Yesterday I went to Aldi for groceries. As I ran my cart back to the cart rack, I looked for someone to whom I could give my cart and to pay forward my quarter. Unfortunately no one was headed in that direction. When I got to the cart rack, I paused thinking I could leave my cart with the quarter, therefore allowing the next person a free shopping cart. But I chose to get my quarter back. Hmmm ... what was different from giving the cart to someone or leaving the quarter? I paused. It occurred to me that in leaving a quarter no one would notice my generosity. No one would notice that "I" was the giver. This thought caught me. I felt a pinch. I wondered how often my generosity focused on expectations of which I was unaware? How important is it for me to be recognized as a generous person?

I am reading the book Creating a Life of Integrity by Gail Andersen Stark. The book is a study of the paramis. Generosity was the topic of the first chapter. In the chapter Joseph Goldstein tells a story from the Buddha’s time, about a monk whose generosity was very undeveloped. To encourage the monk’s generosity the Buddha suggested the monk take a stone in one hand and practice giving it to the other hand. He told the monk to just pass the stone back and forth, practicing giving the stone to one hand, and then giving to the other hand. The Buddha told the monk to "train in what the movement of giving is like". The monk gradually got used to the idea of giving, of letting go, on the most basic level.

I was at the most basic level of generosity at Aldi. To take or leave a quarter? Not a big deal you might think as you read this. But, in that moment I became aware. All the other times I just ran my cart to the cart rack, grabbed my quarter and ran back to my car. This time the action was followed with a pause, which gave me enough space to pass the stone to the other hand. This time I could train in what giving or not giving felt like. Maybe like the monk, my cart experience will get me used to the idea of giving, of letting go on that most basic level.

This is a great time of year to practice generosity. I am sure the Covid-19 Christmas traditions will be different. But if gift giving remains a tradition, you will have ample opportunity to practice and become aware of generosity. As you practice giving to others, take time to notice what inspired you to be generous. Perhaps you will notice the feeling tones of pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral as you give and receive? Maybe greed, aversion or delusion might enter in? Maybe you will recognize expectations for the receiver of your gift or expectations for gifts received? Generosity is known to bring the giver delight. Take time to enjoy the practice of being generous. Start small, remember the Buddha had the monk learn generosity with just a small stone.

One small act of generosity would be to support IMFW during these challenging times.

Every act of generosity is worthwhile and valued.