Super inspired by Saturday's Hear The Homeless gathering!

     
From all corners of the bay, about 20 of us gathered in Berkeley, inspired by Afreen's re-igniting of the idea and invitation. After a circle of stillness and sharing of intentions, we rolled up our sleeves and assembled 75+ sandwiches and bag lunches (complete with hand-crafted quotes and art on each paper bag!). Then, we took to the streets to practice presence and simply find homeless friends to share lunch and perhaps a bit of their experiences with us.

From meeting soft-spoken Deven who humbled us with his accepting solitude, to a 77-year-old Carl hailing from New York, a Buddhist nun walking downtown, folks slumbering in a park, and countless others in-between-- we returned to Vinya's living room buzzing with a sense of aliveness. As various groups walked through the door, they all "had the glow" (one participant remarked) -- an inner radiance, a twinkle in the eye, an indefatigable smile.

What struck me the most was that, as we all made our rounds-- and even as we all re-grouped and shared reflections on the experience-- the giving of bag lunches wasn't so much what we were offering, but rather, they were an excuse to practice love. Each interaction was an exchange that goes much deeper-- a practice of taking the time to see the soul under each nameless face: to stand on the same ground with another being, to look eye-to-eye, and listen with ears wide open, ready to take in the magnificence of a perfect stranger, and in so doing, to melt the barriers of our own hearts just a little bit more.

More stories in a blog post to follow, but in the meantime, above are a collective compilation of photos from the day... :)