by Sage M.

Sage has participated in more than one month-long retreat at the Abbey. This year she arranged to have a retreat environment at home and did the retreat there. She shares some of her thoughts.

During the retreat, I have been pondering a question, filtered through my community activist experience: Who and what am I accountable to?

The question was posed during one of the many activist meetings I have attended, and I have been giving it much thought over the last year.  What group, what value, what commitment would be such that my own accountability to it would be transformative and profound?  The true answer seemed elusive at best.

During one of my meditative walks in February, the question surfaced once again. This time, the answer was certain and clear. I am accountable to my refuge: Namo Gurubhya, Namo Buddhaya, Namo Dharmaya, Nama Saghaya.  Everything else I do is to be filtered through that lens.

So whether it is climate change, racism, immigration rights, or woman’s rights, if my actions come from my refuge, then my thoughts, my speech, and my actions will become powerful and true.

As a nun once told me, “Let your promises sink into your psyche, build your power, give you strength, and give you confidence.

 

Photo: Sage offers a gift she made for the opening of Chenrezig Hall: an embossed copper plate that reads “om mani padre hum”

Read how Sage is Planning Ahead.