Dear Southsea Sangha community,
We wanted to give you an update to our response to the COVID-19 situation, to address any questions or concerns you may have.
Our Community Council, which includes all volunteers who help run the sangha held an emergency council Friday evening.
In response to our sense of collective and social responsibility to slow the peak of the Covid-19 spread, The Council have decided, Southsea Sangha will move all community meditation events online. This is done with the intention of continuing and extending what community practice has to offer to everyone in need right now.
Thanks to our friends at Sangha.Live, we will be holding our Sunday groups via the platform crowdcast.
To keep meditating and practicing with others in your community is very simple.
How to Join
It’s simple, just click to Join
We’re closely monitoring recommendations from the NHS about the COVID-19 situation so we can make sure our Sangha is supporting people within our community and the broader community of people being effected, in the most skilful and compassionate way we know. This move to an online sangha is for 30 days at which point we will review and share the decision.
Join others as we come to together, taking refuge in each other and the practices which can take care of our many responses to this situation and the unfolding unknown.
FREELY OFFERED COMMUNITY PRACTICE.
From Daniel:
Well, this is certainly a time to meditate! Let’s sit down, breathe, and be grateful for the love in our lives.
Together we can choose to calm our fears and steady our hearts as we face the ever-unfolding unknown. Everything is uncertain all the time, however, right now, it’s hard to ignore. Hard to bypass no matter how good we know we can be at doing so!
What we do know is that our practice of mindfulness, compassion and lovingkindness is a safe and reliable refuge – it helps! This virus situation is revealing many things to us. For those who are self isolating, be it on a cruise liner or at home, they are realising several things;
….slowing down and working less, relieving the pressure of our constructed lives is actually quite liberating… or …being with one’s self, for long periods of time, even with Netflix, is actually quite the challenge! Luckily we all have an answer to such discomforts, the dharma and the practices within it!
Our relationships with ourselves, our natural world and the systems which devour us, are being brought into full focus. Slowing down is an act of rebelliousness and kindness, to others and ourselves. Washing our hands for 20 seconds, is an act of mindfulness, care for others and an opportunity to repeat the loving kindness wishes while we do so..which is about 20 seconds!
The levels of nitrous oxide in China has drastically fallen, inequalities around sick pay are revealed, empty planes flying reveal the inefficient capitalist policies and practices and our interconnectedness is now more obvious than ever.
By staying present with what’s happening right here, right now, we can be present and loving with ourselves, each other, and be a resource for our world.
With warmth,
Daniel
Community Dharma Leader