Another Day at the Parliament, Tuesday, Dec 8

The last full day of this terrific event of the spirit began with rain and is ending with delightful conversations in one of the coffee area's with an elderly woman from Australia and a Sikh from Melbourne.

In the midst of that, Karen and I visited a sustainable community centre connected with Victoria University and another group that works with aboriginal people here. Wonderful time! There are many tears here as well with the first people's and the way they have been treated and are being treated by the government and some of the settlers. Reminded me of home so much. We never quite come to the point of taking responsibility for the injustice we have brought down on others in our history, those who are different.

A Dharma Talk by Vietnamese Buddhist Zen master from his monastery in France for the Parliament was a powerful witness to what he called the five mindfulness trainings.

He called for collective awakenment! The first was reverence for all of life. The second point was living in mindful happiness, or generosity . The third is living in mindful love, safety for all beings. Love that brings joy, compassion, nourishment, and love of self so that we can love others. The Fourth point is,
Loving speech and mindful, compassion listening using the words that inspire, Love joy and, inclusiveness, deep listening, and loving speech.

There is so much that happens at these events it is hard to put it all down. I am sure we will have some great conversations over the next five years as we prepare for Parliament number six, wherever it is. Our day ended with s beautiful concert by the folks from Melbourne and Australia. The host was a woman from the NPR of this culture.