Newsletter 7.1.2021 – Architecture of Potential
This newsletter was published on 07.01.2021. Follow the link to access it in full and view the links: https://mailchi.mp/westlondonbuddhistcentre.com/architecture-of-potential
Hello everybody,
The seasonal sentiment of ‘New Year, New You’ seems at odds with unfolding crises and discontent. 2020 may well have become last year but judging by the last seven days, 2021 is shaping up to be, well, very 2021. It’s hard to know how to feel or how to respond sometimes (see our social media for more on that) but nobody needs another news pundit, certainly not here! Besides, there’ll be those amongst us very motivated by the fresh start to learn something as beneficial as meditation:
Highlights
– Courses: Introduction to Buddhism, Introduction to Meditation, Gateways to Wisdom
– Friday 15 January: Slow Down Friday: Yin Yoga with Norman Blair
– FREE Meditation e-book: ‘Change Your Mind’
– Mindfulness courses will start again in the Spring
To dwell on last week’s ‘anatomy of connection’ theme for just another minute, a “ghost heart” is what remains when all the cells of a heart (once removed from the body) have been artificially stripped away leaving only inter-cellular matter, essentially making visible the ‘space between’. This space-made-visible can act as living scaffolding for fresh heart cells to be reintroduced, to take root, proliferate and even beat again as they did in their old form. This is astonishing. It not only reminds us of our physical connection but also teaches us not to dismiss the ‘space between’ anything as merely void. Perhaps we should ‘see’ the quality of space as the architecture of potential worth nurturing in and of itself.
In meditation we often notice just how much we like to fill space, like time and silence, but if we didn’t we’d come to see the delicate and ephemeral qualities of our heart-mind and begin to see what we want to cultivate rather than what we want to achieve. Instead of having goals, we might start build our practice around the scaffold of intention. If we all set a collective intention to cultivate beautiful qualities in the inner-reaches of our heart (whilst acknowledging the shadow aspects), just imagine what could take root in the ‘space between’ us…
Wishing you all a spacious start to the ‘new’ year.
Sophie (Publicity) and WLBC Team
