Buddha's Birthday Bash with the Boulder Coalition for Bodhisattva Activity (BCBA)

Click on a thumbnail to enlarge a picture!

Click on a thumbnail to enlarge a picture!

Reverend O'Dowd, as a recipient of the 2009 Outstanding Women in Buddhism Awards(OWBA), served as Master of Ceremonies for the 2010 Awards event. Among the 2010 awardees was Rev. Ruri Sato, a Jodo Shinshu priest from Japan.  She lead everyone at the awards ceremony in singing Motainai.

Reverend O’Dowd conducted three workshops on mindfulness and gratitude for an international audience with the help of a Thai and a Chinese translator. Participants at these workshops shared how they enjoyed learning new skills and living a life of gratitude. The networking opportunities were an experience in being held by wisdom and compassion. 

Translators were not needed for the smiles and the soft touch of sincere caring to be understood. Everyone expressed gratitude for the opportunity for so many new experiences and to share the Dharma.  Growing in heart and mind   took the form of talks, dialogues, songs, burning incense, walking and workshops.  Participants, organizers, staff and volunteers learned together and through one another.  Staff and volunteers shared how grateful they were for the for the graciousness shared and the wonderful food prepared by so many.  Because of the sharing and connecting at this awards event across cultures and times, compassion in the world was spread even further.

Namo Amida Butsu

Gratitude Workshop in Thailand Shares How to Touch the World
-- Rev. Carol O’Dowd, Spring 2010

We sat together on grass mats being cooled by oscillating fans in the open air of Hua Hin, Thailand. We were readjusting after a full day of ceremonies for the 2010 Outstanding Women in Buddhism Awards (OBWA). We had listened to stories of the many  Buddhist leaders who had been honored.  It was a quick dinner after all the activities at the We-Train Center in Bangkok before we boarded the bus for a three hour bus ride. We rode to the Khadiravana Center, Thailand’s first Tibetan Dharma center managed by the Thousand Stars Foundation for workshops and meditation. 

At my workshop on gratitude, the 2010 OBWA recipients were joined by staff and others from the Center and surrounding Hua Hin. With sweat dripping onto my notes, I bowed to the Thai and Chinese translators supporting dialogue among Buddhist leaders and laity from Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Japan, and Taiwan.  We began the workshop contemplating, “What made it possible for you to be here today?” I was struck by the global connections rising up from the faces bathed in soft sunlight on the open air deck.

The heartfelt responses exposed many different backgrounds and education levels, as reflections of our mothers and fathers were shared. Noticing the details of what had brought us together, we realized we were blending very diverse blessings.  How rare and precious and intimately connected is each human life. We seemed to be a reflection of John Dunne’s poem just slightly revised, ‘No woman is an island,’ There we were touching each other across vast reaches of income, education, religion and hemisphere.  

After sharing our widely divergent backgrounds, we moved into Naikan, a practice of inner reflection. We reflected upon the previous two days of the Outstanding Women in Buddhism Awards ceremonies. We reflected upon our experiences whether as staff, volunteer, participant or observer using the three questions of Naikan. We used Naikan, a practice of “Inner Reflection” to reflect upon what we received from the events, what we gave and any troubles we caused.  The three questions of Naikan helped raise in us gratitude for the event and each other.

Responses to the first question, “What did I receive?”, were an overwhelming reminder to truly be grateful for what is -- as is.  The discussion was a teaching in how generosity can be experienced as perfection. It is a perfection when there is no giver, no receiver. When touched by generosity in this way, we can only experience gratitude.  The local women and men most often demonstrated this teaching.

The question, “What did I receive?” was consistently answered with comments such as  “I had the opportunity to… ” or “I was asked to. . .”. For example many shared how they had received the opportunity to serve the Outstanding Women in Buddhism awardees drinks; decorate the staircase for the event or provide breakfast to the Maechee and nuns.”

As we moved to reviewing our responses to the second Naikan question, “What did I give?”  smiles spread from face to face. Many commented how they found their answers to the second question the same as what they had given to the first question.  Many noted how what they had given was what they felt they had also received. At one point we sat in silence noting how simple gifts whether received or given open our hearts. Everyone agreed that the simple generosity of sharing a smile can generate the experience of receiving far more than we have given. Our discussion of how the first and second questions had generated such similar responses tapped joy in our hearts. The happiness seemed to radiate from those who had worked so hard and some all year to make it possible for those of us from first world nations to be sitting comfortably in the open air facility.

Despite the heat, we continued our reflection of events using the third question of Naikan, “What troubles did I cause?” Sharing difficulties caused by awardees and participants while preparing for and conducting the awards events consistently generated amusement. We frequently found ourselves laughing at each other and ourselves. The result was an outpouring of gratitude for the opportunity to learn and grow through each other. We were grateful for traveling hours on a bus after a long day. How calming it was to hear chanting in different languages and from different traditions float up from different seating areas on the bus. We were able to laugh about frustrations created from missing materials, misunderstood interpretations and other gaffes. We were connecting again through sharing our embarrassments and missteps. 

Being able to participate in such sharing, my heart was opened even further and changed my attitude. I worry far less about the third question.  My memory will carry me back to sitting on a grass mat, laughing at mistakes. I then come forward in time and tell myself to not be so serious.  Who does not cause troubles? Instead, I am reminded to use troubles I cause as learning lessons. How grateful to have a day of experiences from which to learn and grow. 

How grateful I am that the world is so unfair and that I am not held accountable for the amazing experiences I have received. Having the opportunity to learn with such amazing women broke my mind open to how true it is that I cannot ever return the favors or repay the debts of kindness I have received. Not relying on words, I relied on the wrinkled brows, twinkles in the eyes and the singing laughter to speak to me. Such actions revealed the wisdom arising from contemplation and sudden “ah ha’s” as well as the sincere caring and concern expressed through the translators.

We did not need translators to understand gratitude. Sitting in the flow of such sharing, I was overwhelmed by a deep sense of heartfelt appreciation. When touched by a caring hand, held by a soft smile, or given a cushion for comfort, all we can experience is gratitude.  The workshop in Hua Hin was a wake up call to how little effort it takes to join hands across cultures, history, race, gender, age and the myriad of boundaries we set up as obstacles in our daily lives. With laughter we can open our hearts and minds, with gratitude we can touch the world.