On this coming Sunday October 6th, we will have a special evening focused on bell inviting. We will be meeting both in person at the Vihara and online - two separate but parallel meetings, with us all focused together on bell inviting technique and its deeper meaning.

It may be that you come because you are interested in inviting the large bell at the Vihara for our meetings there. Or you may be interested in inviting the bell for our online meetings. Or you may want to enhance your individual bell practice at home.

Bells are used in the Plum Village tradition to remind us to return home to our body and our breathing. When we invite the bell, it’s a means to call the joy in us, the tranquility in us, so that we can awaken the Buddha in us. There is a baby Buddha in each of us, and we have to be aware of it. When we invite the bell to sound, we have a chance to touch the Buddha in us, we have a chance to call the nature of Buddha in us, so it can manifest itself.

When we are inviting the bell for others at a meditation, it is much more than a signal to start or conclude meditation. The bell - small or large - acts like a bodhisattva, gently calling us back to awareness of the present moment.

We hope you can join us, and look forward to our time together. If you are joining the online meeting and have a bell at home, please bring it with you to the meeting. If you don’t yet have a bell, don’t worry - simply bring yourself and your desire to deepen your practice.

With love

Steve