A piece of peace

Lately I have felt a huge need to find a piece of peace for my week - I am not very good at relaxing and stress can tend to build up over time until suddenly I need to sleep for 2 days to recover (this is what I used to do but clearly not an option with a baby!)

So, this week I found (or re-discovered thanks to my sister) Tara Institute.. sounds scary and clinical but its not at all. Its the Victorian Institute for Buddhist philosophy and meditation. My mum used to take my sister and I there for meditation sessions when I was a kid and in to my teens.

So now my Wednesday evening is going to be spent at Tara with my sister. Listening to Geshe Doga who is a Buddhist Monk who escaped from Tibet many moons ago - each week he talks about a different topic - Love, Relationships, Kindness, Finding happiness and then we are guided in to a short meditation.

Looking around the room this week, I was astonished at the vast mix of people who attend... young, old, very old, hippy, conservative and everything in between.

I love that the website for Tara says:

Whatever your religious affiliation you are welcome to attend any teachings or events. We encourage you to maintain your own religious customs whilst borrowing any Buddhist practices and teachings that prove meaningful to you.

That is truly what life, learning and spirituality is about - 'borrowing' the things that mean something to YOU as an individual and creating your own sense of self. Your own happiness. I shy away from religions and systems that are dogmatic and have 'rules' that I have to follow....
Here is a little piece of Wisdom from Lama Zopa Rinpoche:

... to practice kindness everyday towards sentient beings, constantly as much as possible, from the heart – so this is Dharma.

I am looking forward to learning more about Buddhism this year.