January 31 – May all become compassionate and wise

Dear Friends,

Thank you for being part of this month of exploration.

I wish to extend my gratitude to the following. If you have appreciated this month of offerings, I encourage you to support the teachers.

• Jill Shepherd and DaRa Williams, for sharing their hearts of wisdom and making the talks from this retreat available.
  • More talks by Jill on Dharma Seed
  • Jill’s website
  • To offer a donation to Jill
  • More talks by DaRa on Dharma Seed
  • Go-Fund-Me for DaRa that was started last year, after her husband had a stroke
• Dharma Seed for hosting the talks
  • Donate to Dharma Seed
• Jeanne Corrigal for her mentorship and encouragement
  • To offer a donation to Jeanne

While many people have contributed towards this month’s emails, any errors are strictly my own. For whatever harm I may have done, in thought, word, or deed, by way of greed, hatred and delusion, intentionally or unintentionally, I humbly ask your forgiveness.

Now that January is done, there are several options to stay inspired:

• I’ll be co-facilitating an 8-week online course with Jeanne, starting next Monday, February 7. Details here:
  https://saskatooninsight.com/wp/events/2022-events/introduction-to-mindfulness-2022/
• I practice (online still) Wednesday evenings with the Saskatoon Insight Meditation Community. Everyone is welcome! Details here:
  https://saskatooninsight.com/
• I participate with the Buddhist Geeks Sangha, and usually facilitate at least one social meditation a month. Details here:
  https://www.buddhistgeeks.network/
• There are so many other options to keep practicing. Drop me a note if you want specific ideas.

At the end of a period of practice, there is a tradition called “dedication of merit” where any goodness cultivated by our wholesome actions are shared with all beings everywhere.

I first heard a melodic rendition of this practice when Eve Decker performed it for an Awakening Joy session one year. You can listen to her version here:
https://youtu.be/-X83ixo_GUg

The lyrics were penned by Rev Heng Sure following the 9/11 attacks, and they were set to the tune of Loreena McKennitt’s “Dark Night of the Soul.”

Rev Heng Sure described the creation of the song this way:

The song “Dedication of Merit” was born as an antidote to the grief and helplessness following 9/11 and the fall of the two towers. 250 Buddhists and Catholics had gathered at a Benedictine Convent in Indiana to investigate the Rule of St. Benedict from a Buddhist perspective.

Sister Mary Margaret Funk invited the Buddhists to provide a dedication of merit, a practice of sharing with the world all the goodness created by any wholesome action. Using the mind to broadcast goodness is an effective form of spiritual activism.

https://www.uri.org/what-we-do/resource-library/dedication-merit-song

You can read more about the song, and listen to other renditions here:
https://www.urbandharma.org/udharma9/merit.html

As Rev Heng Sure said, when “many hearts dedicate together, the effect can change the world in profound ways.”

May it be so,
Andrea