Spaciousness and Connection

By Myoshin Diane Benjamin

Dear Friends,

In a few days, I will be leaving for Hokyoji Zen Practice Center to spend a week in sesshin. I know that I will feel deeply refreshed by the teaching, the land, and the community of practitioners. However, I sometimes struggle to find that same kind of refreshment during the majority of my life when I am not in a meditation retreat! I want to share a couple of simple practices that help me release and relax, even in the midst of a busy life.

The first practice is to look up. Find a bit of sky and just be present with it for a few seconds. You can do this almost anywhere. (If you’re in a room without windows, you can even close your eyes and just remember that the sky is there.) When I look at the sky, I let myself expand into its spaciousness and it makes a little more room around whatever difficulty I’m experiencing.

Another practice I’ve been doing is to look in. Find another being of any variety – human, animal, plant – and take a few moments to really see them for who and what they are. I remind myself that this is a being who is alive on earth with me, right now, in all of their wonder and mystery. When I look at beings in this way, I feel less alone.

Wishing you spaciousness and connection,
Myoshin

Myoshin Diane Benjamin (she/her) is a lay dharma teacher, a path that reflects her deep interest and engagement in the ways that Buddhist practice both permeates everyday work and family life, and supports engagement in social change. Myoshin began practicing Buddhism in 1996 and received dharma transmission in 2022 from Sosan Flynn. She taught for over a decade in the children’s program at Clouds in Water, and has practiced at Hokyoji and Ryumonji monasteries and attended numerous retreats with Thich Nhat Hanh and his community. She has worked for many years in the nonprofit and philanthropic sectors, and is also a musician. Additionally, she is fully certified to teach the Realization Process.