[These thoughts were originally offered in an email by Dennis Bohn to the Rock Blossom Sangha, in Brooklyn, of the NY Area Community of Mindfulness ; the document is now maintained/edited by Joseph Reagle.]
Dear Sanga, Dear Thay,
When I am facilitating, I frequently ask myself "What is best for the sangha? What serves the people who are here today?" I offer these thoughts on facilitation in that spirit, and with that intention to serve the sangha. If there is any leak of unskillfulness from my store consciousness in this, please understand and forgive it. I would also invite you to share it with me.
A culture has evolved in our sangha to support facilitators, especially new facilitators. There is a culture of not micro-managing or intervening, or making suggestions that might derail the flow of the facilitator. For example, people will not say during the sangha gathering "You should invite the bell in this way and not in that way." If the facilitator asks for guidance, it is of course given. But we all are not going to butt in, thus supporting the new facilitator, and giving the space to learn and develop one's own flow. My personal guideline is not to intervene unless there is a matter of psychological or physical safety.
At a planning meeting recently, there was a sense of the community that it would be very useful for new facilitators to ask one of the more experienced facilitators to mentor or coach them. This is good for the development of the individual and good for the sangha, and I would urge new facilitators do follow through on this.
Thay has told us that the bell is the voice of the Buddha. We train ourselves to stop and listen and breathe when we hear the bell. Thay has said that inviting the bell correctly is very important. (He and Sr. Chan Kong still tell a story about going to Germany, and seeing a sangha inviting the bell incorrectly. Thay tells us that he knows how long someone has been practicing, simply by the way the bell is invited.)
Thay has given us a gatha to recite silently before inviting the bell.
Body, speech, and mind in perfect oneness,
I send my heart along with the sound of this bell.
May the hearers awaken from forgetfulness,
and transcend the path of anxiety and sorrow.
If you cannot remember this gatha, it is fine to simply say "Hello, Bell," or any other gatha that will nourish right intention.
It is vital to wake up the bell. Does the bell need to be awake!? Of course not! We need to be awake. To awaken the bell first, before a full sound is an act of compassion for ourselves and our sangha. It allows everyone to become prepared for a full sound of the bell, so there is no shock or negative reaction to the full sound.
When inviting the bell three times to begin a meditation, Thay has told us (again, and again and again :-) to breathe in and out three full breaths between the first and second, and the second and third sound of the bell. There is no need to hurry. Enjoy those breaths; help the sangha to enjoy those breaths.
During a ceremony, however, there is no need to allow so much time in between the sounds of the bell.
We often start by asking if there any newcomers and welcoming them. The facilitator may offer the level of meditation instruction that they think approriate. When we offer these instructions, we are perceived as an authority, we are seen as speaking for our tradition, for Thay himself.
I think it is important to give instructions that are consistent with our tradition, rather than something we heard in another tradition. As an example, it would probably not be skillful to give the instruction that one cannot shift positions during meditation, since this is the teaching of another tradition, and actually contradicts Thay's teachings. Thay gives his meditation instructions at each retreat, and in many of his books. It is good to be familiar with his instructions. If we choose to share some of our experience as part of our instructions, it is good to be quite clear that this is our personal experience.
Thay has written his meditation instruction in a number of places, including Peace is Every Step , pp 8-12, 16-18. He gives more detailed thoughts in Transformation and Healing in the 1st through 4rth exercises. The book Breathe, You Are Alive is Thay's commentary on the Sutra on Full Awareness of Breathing has a great deal to say about meditation as does his book The Miracle of Mindfulness .
Most people find that leading a guided meditation skillfully takes a bit of practice. Thay has given us guidance to this practice in the beginning of Blooming of the Lotus . I suggest that everyone who does guided meditations would serve the sangha well by reading that portion of the book. If I am doing a guided meditation that I have not previously done a number of times, I usually practice it, and practice with it a few times before leading it for the sangha.
The purpose [of walking meditation] is to be in the present moment, and aware of our breathing and our walking, to enjoy each step. - Thich Nhat Hanh, Peace is Every Step
In walking meditation, we walk in a circle, with our right shoulder toward the circle's center. As we breathe in, we take a step with our left foot, as we breathe out, we take a step with our right foot, and continue around the circle. If it is helpful, we can say a short gatha, "In, out" or "Here, Now". As we walk together, we can be mindful that we are walking as a sangha, and try to keep an equal distance between the person in front of us and behind us, not to go too fast and not too slow.
Our Dharma Sharing traditions are fairly well-established in the consciousness of the sangha. The facilitator has the option of sharing first to encourage sharing or to model the sharing, but it is no longer the norm. To summarize the guidelines: speaking from the heart is encouraged. It is best to speak from our experience. We listen to understand, and we do not comment directly on what someone else has shared. To keep the space safe we hold those things shared as confidential. An example articulation of Dharma Sharing guidelines follows:
Dharma sharing is an opportunity to practice mindful speech and deep listening. When we speak, we can speak of our joy, suffering, and practice. When we listen, we listen with our hearts to the speaker's truth, noting how judgment and reactivity might arise and letting it pass without attachment.
In order to keep the sharing safe, we abstain from cross-talk: we do not comment on or reference others' shares, nor give advice. As we encourage spontaneous sharing, it is fine to speak to a topic that resonates with you, but we do so without calling out others for criticism or approval. Consequently, when we ask a question, we should not be attached to receiving a direct and immediate answer. However, in asking a question we do open ourselves up to insight that might arise on that day, or the next year. What is shared is confidential and if you wish to speak with someone who shared, ask for permission first, which might be declined.
When we wish to speak, we bow to signal our intention until the community has recognized the bow with their own. It is nice to give your name before sharing as it helps us come to know one another. Feel free to pause and collect your thoughts during your share; bow again to signal when you are done.
The facilitator might invite the bell to sound at anytime to remind us to return to our breath and continue our sharing with mindfulness and compassion.
There has very rarely been an episode of cross talk veering into psychologically dangerous territory, but it has happened, and will happen again. What to do? I personally find it very difficult to interrupt a person's share. Sometimes it is simply necessary for the safety of the group. Parenthetically, I have seen even the most experienced facilitators that I know fail to maintain the safety of sharing by interrupting cross-talk criticizing another person's share, so I know that this is hard for others as well. It is really important. I have given this point a good deal of thought, and this is what I feel best for myself. You might find your efforts are best when they are different.
One of the key points in being able to intervene when necessary is to really be present for the Dharma Sharing. To follow one's breath and to listen deeply. I think there are clues when someone is veering into that dangerous area, and listening helps us be prepared to know when it is best to intervene. Then, when the decision has been made that things are dangerous psychologically, a wake up sound of the bell is good. I would then apologize for interrupting and ask the sangha to follow their breath while we listen to a full sound of the bell. Then a reminder of the importance of not directly speaking to what another has shared to preserve safety. Finally, I would suggest inviting the person to continue their share, keeping the focus on themselves.
I am going to summarize what I remember from a number of meetings that have been held on scheduling and facilitation. At planning meetings, there was a clear intention to provide structure, while allowing the facilitator to express him or herself. All of these decisions could be revisited by the community, if deemed necessary.
The general format of our evenings would be a sitting of approximately 20 minutes, walking meditation of approximately 10 minutes and a sitting meditation of approximately 20 minutes. There would follow a reading and a dharma discussion. The facilitator would be the first to share in the dharma discussion. At the end there would be announcements a final brief sit and standing to take refuge to end the evening.
We did allow for these guidelines to be suspended for ceremonies, such as the Tea Ceremony, a full Mindfulness Trainings Recitation, and of course the Mindfulness Trainings Transmission Ceremony.
In the schedule of weeks, the first Sunday was to have a guided meditation, and the reading to be from one of Thay's Sutra Commentaries. The second Sunday was to alternate with a recitation of the Five and Fourteen Mindfulness Trainings, with no guided meditation. On the third Sunday, there was to be a guided meditation, with a reading from one of Thay's books that is not a sutra commentary. On the fourth Sunday, the reading would be the facilitator's choice, and if there is a fifth Sunday, we would hold a Tea Ceremony. There was recently another decision that we would try to have more metta meditation, including possibly a brief metta meditation during our final sit. There also was an intention to recite the Heart Sutra more frequently than we have been.
This next portion, I offer only because many people have asked about allocating time and when the bells should be invited, and have a lot of anxiety about that.
Welcome (~4m)
Welcome the community and ask if anyone would like meditation instructions. If so,one might briefly explain that the basis of the practice is mindful attention to the breath. We practice mindful breathing in order to invite our awareness into the here and the now. If the mind wanders, we kindly invited our mind back to our breath. It may be helpful to experience the breath at the nose or belly while being mindful of the full inhalation and exhalation. "Gathas" also help focus the mind, such as: "Breathing in, I know I am breathing in. Breating out, I know that I am breathing out."
First meditation (~20m)
Invite sangha to stretch and massage
Walking meditation (~10m)
Second meditation (~20m)
Dharma Reading (~10m)
Dharma Discussion (~35m)
It may be useful to remind the community that this is an opportunity for compassionate listening and loving speech. For those that wish to speak, they may do so by (gasho) bowing.
Announcements (~10m)
Conclusion of sitting (~5m)
"Listen, listen. This wonderful sound brings me back to my true home."
"Body speech and mind in perfect oneness, I send my heart along with the sound of the bell. May the hearers awaken from forgetfulness and transcend the path of anxiety and sorrow."
Hanh, T. N. Peace Is Every Step : The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life. Random House. Thich Nhat
Hanh, T. N. Transformation & Healing: The Sutra On the Four Establishments of Mindfulness . Parallax Press.
Hanh, T. N., Annabel Laity, A. The Blooming of Lotus: Guided Meditation for Achieving the Miracle of Mindfulness . SCB Distributors.
Hanh, T. N. Breathe! You Are Alive: Sutra On the Full Awareness of Breathing . Parallax Press.
Hanh, T. N., Ho, M., and Mai, V.-D. Miracle of Mindfulness an Introduction . Houghton Mifflin Co.