This Dharma Thought is offered by Steve Allison-Bunnell, an ordained lay member of the Plum Village Order of Interbeing and the practice leader of the Joining Rivers Sangha at the Bozeman Dharma Center. This article was originally published in the Bozeman Daily Chronicle on February 10, 2024.

The old cliché, “travel is broadening,” really is true. Long before I knew anything about Buddhist practice, I remember looking at a phone on my first trip to England and thinking, “Wow, there’s more than one way to design a telephone!” But travel only broadens you if you let it. After returning from a European tour, a family friend pronounced, “Those Italians, they’re different.” I had noticed a difference and been intrigued by the possibilities. This friend had seen differences and entrenched his own preferences even more strongly.

Mindfulness is nothing more than noticing things and being aware of our reactions to them. We practice mindfulness first with meditation, since it is often easier to be aware of our own breath and body, and then by extending our awareness to the world around us. The trick to being present, whether traveling to an exotic place or driving to work, is to hold that awareness softly and without reflexive judgement. The Buddha taught that when we can see the world as it is, rather than how we want it to be, our sense of dissatisfaction (“suffering” in classic Buddhist parlance) diminishes.

Travel is the perfect opportunity to cultivate “Beginner’s Mind” — seeing the world in every moment as if for the first time, filled with wonder and delight, and free from preconceptions. Alternatively, if we cling to our habitual expectations, travel will almost certainly violate them and we might as well not have left home.

I recently got the gift to practice awareness and surrender to the moment during a natural history tour to the Caribbean with my son’s school. Literally each second of every day was an invitation to be present and truly see where we were, from coral reefs to tropical rain forests. No two underwater formations were identical, and every tree in the jungle seemed unique. The curiosity and openness of our fellow travelers helped sustain that presence. Knowing that the weather could quickly change our itinerary, we had to be flexible in what we expected. I was grateful that my established practice of mindfulness helped me not worry about what would happen next.

The trick when we come home after reveling in the freedom and novelty of travel is to maintain that expansive attitude even in our familiar surroundings and routines. It’s so easy to fall back into our habitual reactions and stories. And it’s also so easy to think we have to “get away from it all” to be engaged and happy again. The Venerable Thich Nhat Hanh taught that the essence of mindfulness is to be confident that we always have enough to be happy in the present moment. With that in view, we don’t need an exotic trip to see the world afresh.

Steve Allison-Bunnell with Joining Rivers Sangha shares this dharma thought:

I like to think I am not a greedy person, but when it comes to photography, my greed knows no bounds. I love to make photographs and I hate to delete them. I faced this while trying to pick images for our annual family photo book. I wondered, “What does it mean to edit a photo collection mindfully?” On one hand, non-discrimination tempts me to think that all of the photos I made are beautiful in their own way. Keep them! But then, looking deeply and non-attachment lead me to joyfully throw away all but the few that most clearly evoke the moment that was the present. Ultimately, I can let go of the rest because those few are actually enough. The ones I keep are even more beautiful because they are not diluted by irrelevant variations. What collection do you dislike weeding? How do you see the truly special items?

This Dharma Thought on Nurturing Gratitude is from an August newsletter written by Steve Allison-Bunnell of the Joining Rivers Sangha which meets Mondays at 7pm

[One] Friday night [in August], our car suddenly needed a new alternator and battery, and I was supposed to drive to Missoula in the morning. A recipe for suffering, or dissatisfaction with the world as it was, if there ever was one. But I was rescued at the auto parts store, where not only were the parts in stock, but they also called a friend who ran a mobile repair service. Barely an hour later I was headed home, our old Subaru purring along. Thich Nhat Hahn taught, “If you aren’t experiencing gratitude, you are suffering.” Indeed, thanks to the practice, that hour was filled with gratitude instead of anxiety. Through the Eyes of Interbeing, I experienced the auto parts store as a sangha: a DIY community of people helping each other keep their cars running. I was delighted to partake in its casual, mundane generosity. Where do you find Sangha in unlikely places? How do you nurture gratitude when it’s easy to suffer?

This Dharma Thought is brought to you from Steve Allison-Bunnell of the Joining Rivers Sangha.

“Fake it ’til you make it” is how we are often encouraged to keep trying even when we lack confidence. But as reassuring as it might sound that no one is perfectly competent, it is ultimately exhausting to hide our authentic selves. For neurodiverse people, it can be devastating. Happily, one of the greatest fruits of mindfulness practice is genuine ease with the present, no matter what is going on around us. This week, a boy who had been in our camp program all day at the Science Center reflected on the exuberant chaos of kids working on a project and all clamoring for help. He told me, “You are my new favorite person! You are so chill even when all this stuff is going on around here.” It was a touching gift to hear that I had managed to hold the container all day, and that he had felt and noticed the calm I had been practicing to project. I don’t think I could have faked that if I had tried! When do you feel the ease of your inside and outside matching up? What helps you do that?

For this Dharma Thought, we share Steve Allison-Bunnell’s September writing on the Five Remembrances.
“I am of a nature to grow old. I cannot escape old age…” It might seem like a big downer to recite the Five Remembrances on your birthday, but that is what I did this week. And I am old enough now that I indeed cannot escape the experience of an aging body. If the practice were only the Four Remembrances, and ended with “I will lose all that I love,” it would indeed be difficult to contemplate on any day, much less one’s birthday. But it is the fifth that never fails to both bring me back into the present moment and to renew the joy of living: “My actions are my only true possessions. I cannot escape the consequences of my actions. They are the ground on which I stand.” Instead of scaring me more, this line always reminds me that my life ripples out and crosses yours. I—you—we—can’t not make a difference! Those ripples continue even as we change and age. And with each passing year, there are more ripples sent into the universe. What intersections in the ripples of your life can you see? How does that refresh your experience of Interbeing?

Steve Allison-Bunnell with the Joining Rivers Sangha writes:

Land acknowledgements at the start of various events often provoke some reactivity in me, and not out of disagreement with their sentiment or the reality they shine light on. The fact of Interbeing, as Thay calls it, and our undeniable location in the stream of life does compel us to look deeply at our relationship to this land and its longtime human stewards. That discomfort is something of the point, but it also can feel like there isn’t actually the container to fully reflect on how our presence in this place now is enabled by past injustice. So I am glad for the opportunity in our practice this week to offer that container to honor Indigenous People’s Day with our full concentration and diligence. How do you experience land acknowledgements? What do you do to find a place for what it brings up?

Please join us Monday, October 9, from 7-8:30 pm, for sitting and walking meditation. We will have a special practice of Touching the Earth to honor Indigenous People’s Day, and support one another in the Practice through Dharma Sharing.

Additional Note from the BDC: Bozeman Dharma Center sits on unceded land that was shared grounds of the  Apsáalooke (Crow), Salish, Tséstho’e (Cheyenne), Niitsítpiis-stahkoii ᖹᐟᒧᐧᐨᑯᐧ ᓴᐦᖾᐟ (Blackfoot / Niitsítapi ᖹᐟᒧᐧᒣᑯ), Cayuse, Umatilla and Walla Walla peoples. Settlers of European descent claimed ownership of the land, displacing those who lived here. Please take a moment to acknowledge and honor the people of these nations, as well as all of those displaced, present and past. We lament this injustice in our history as well as ongoing systemic anti-black racism that prevents the full participation of people of color in our society. To this end we strive to contribute to the dismantling of racism where we can.

In Buddhist practice, concentration is highly prized as a way to train our minds and hearts. It is a vehicle for presence, for remembrance. This life gives many opportunities for joy and beauty, and it also is rife with conflict and disagreement, lack, endless entertainment and thus distraction. What are we running from when we scroll through our phones, watch multiple episodes of a show, shop, eat too much and rage against those who appear different from our comfort?

Ways of concentration include being absorbed, employing awareness along with focus. Attention. Isn’t our life really determined by attention? Where we place our attention really colors and defines the quality of our life. If we wish to develop kindness or patience, we must concentrate. If we wish to free ourselves from so much distraction, opinion and noise, we must collect ourselves. We bring strength to our effort, to our spiritual orientation to life. Like juice concentrate. We extract the essence, the heart of the matter. Concentration is not some tedious exercise. It can provide a deep connection to life. We bring our attention to life, to our own good hearts, with strength and purpose.

To sit still with our experience, to be present with our prayer. To breathe. We practice placing our attention on the divine, on God, on the interrelationship of all things. To concentrate is to bring together — our attention, our intention, and our purpose. It is to take the time for reflection seriously. It is to be whole. Wholly available.

In my own meditation practice, concentration has been difficult. My mind races, my heart wants, and I am easily distracted. I know I am not alone, but it can be frustrating to give myself the gift of time and silence, and then be bombarded by all manner of desires and resistances. Even though we live in an environment full of juicy ways to ignore our hearts and be entertained, my experience is — even in beautiful silent settings, the mind pulls away from the present moment into habits of longing. Where is that intention of communion and service? I just want to watch TV.

The Zen Master Shunryu Suzuki Roshi said, True concentration does not mean to be concentrated on only one thing…Without trying to concentrate our mind on anything, we are ready to concentrate on something…

Concentration is the readiness of the heart and mind — to face what is right before me, to stay present in conflict, to help and serve.

This Dharma Thought is brought by Karen DeCotis. This excerpt was originally published on bozemandailychronicle.com, part of the BLOX Digital Content Exchange.

This Dharma Thought is offered by Steve Allison-Bunnell with the Joining Rivers Sangha which meets Mondays at 7PM.

As I work with visitors in the STEAMlab at the Montana Science Center, parents will often look at me with combined incredulity and admiration and say, “You are so patient!” The implication is that the attention I gave their child takes a lot of effort and arises from some special talent. I appreciate the compliment, but I experience patience more as a natural fruit of the practice, rather than enforcing a particular discipline on myself. Meeting each kid where they are, being present for them as they struggle a bit, and finding joy in their success, all come from nurturing mindfulness in general. Patience arises from not being in a hurry, and when I have to ask another child to wait while I finish, they can do so because they see I will give them my attention when their turn comes. Do you find yourself being patient when it might seem hard? How might you slow down enough to discover patience with ease?

This Dharma Thought brought to you by Steve Allison-Bunnell of the Joining Rivers Sangha which meets Mondays at 7 PM.

A hike can be a great opportunity to visit with a companion or daydream. It can also be a wonderful walking meditation, easily experiencing presence and increasing our awareness of what is around us. Earlier this month hiking up New World Gulch, I enjoyed friendly silence with my spouse, spreading my attention throughout the forest. Without being able to identify them all, I noticed being surrounded by many birds, all calling back and forth. I began to see green huckleberries plumping on the bushes. This soft immersion, rather than hyper-vigilance (“Is there a bear there?!”) was rewarded when, almost back to the car, a motion in a tree turned out to be a pine marten. This was a first after over 25 years in Montana, and we all stood still, watching each other with curiosity. How do you nourish your immersion in the world around you? Where is your favorite place in nature to experience Interbeing?