In September of this year, we were blessed with the opportunity to welcome Reverend Heng Sure and his delegation of 40 people from all over the world to London! Our time together with the 11 monks and nuns and 30 lay people from the DRBA community was infused with so many moments filled with learnings and inspiration.

Spending a week with monastics who have collectively cultivated for so many years was a remarkable experience -- it was beautiful to observe how by simply walking around a big city like London, their presence opened people's eyes and hearts in new ways. Perhaps people aren't used to seeing such large groups of monastics together in public places, or perhaps it is the joy that emanates from their presence (and years of cultivation) that ripples out to those around them. There were many instances where we could see how others in the community were warmed or touched by being in their company, even if only for a brief moment or together at a gathering.

Welcoming Rev Heng Sure Home: Puppets and Music Making!

On Friday, I joined the London planning crew, ie. the wonderful Lam family :), to welcome the delegation at the airport as they arrived. What a joy to see their smiling faces, all together and so excited to embark on this 2+ week journey together through London and Poland, planting seeds of goodness and dharma within and without along the way!

After nearly 20 years of knowing him, it was a gift to have the chance to welcome Rev. Heng Sure to our home to spend his first night in London with our family (a wonderful surprise that just got planned a few days before he arrived!) :) The girls were overjoyed to see him when they came back from school and it was so heartwarming to see how much he feels like family to them (and all of us). They were chatting away with him and requesting songs on his guitar so they could sing along, as if they just saw each other a few days ago :) ("I Have Enough" and "Dedication of Merit" are two of the girls' favourite tunes). It must be Rev Heng Sure's warmth, humility and presence of mind and heart that children can sense, which moves them to interact so freely with him.

While we were on a family trip this summer, the girls had spotted a unicorn puppet and asked if they could get it as a gift for Rev. Heng Sure, as they know he loves puppets and guessed he probably didn't have a unicorn one in his collection yet :) They were so excited to gift it to him on the first day and much to their surprise he had also brought some puppet gifts for them -- a mouse puppet for each of them and a gorgeous and graceful peacock puppet for Mommy. The girls thoroughly enjoyed having a master class in puppeteering from Rev Heng Sure that evening, practicing funny voices together, learning the tricks behind getting the finger movements down and demonstrating how to present the show to others -- they even did a little practice puppet show for us! :)

Early the next morning, Rev. Heng Sure was scheduled to deliver a talk via video call, in which he addressed 600 people watching on a huge screen in an auditorium, who are part of one of the most well-known monasteries in China, together with 80,000 people who live-streamed his talk online, with TVs broadcasting it! It was wonderful to be a fly on the wall the night before and in the early hours of that morning, watching Rev. Heng Sure prepare for his talk with such intense discipline and focus, as he paced around our living room, sipping hot tea and reviewing his notes. Deep and I had fun spending the previous night figuring out how to make our study look like a little Buddhist TV studio for his talk :) We were so grateful to be able to incorporate the beautiful Guan Yin Boddhisatva that Rev Heng Sure himself had gifted to us 8 years ago into the background, watching over him as he delivered his talk. And of course it went beautifully and was very well-received from the feedback Rev. Heng Sure later shared.

[Photos - Shah Family with Rev Heng Sure]



First of Many Circles: Opening Ceremony

Later that morning, the delegation came together for the first time at an intimate opening ceremony at a vegetarian restaurant in the heart of central London called Tibits. A few of us had gathered early to sprinkle a little extra love around the space to offer the delegates a warm welcome and it was wonderful to see the look of surprise and joy on their faces as they entered the room, big smiles on their faces and taking photos of every little detail they appreciated. Following a prayer and delicious vegan lunch, Rev. Heng Sure brought the delegates together in their first of many circles to follow in these couple of weeks together. After offering a few words about the intention behind this delegation and inspiration for their time together, he invited each person around the circle to share a few words from their hearts about why they were moved to be part of this international DRBA delegation in Europe.

In the lead up to this circle, some of the organisers were unsure how comfortable people would feel sharing in this way in front of so many people. Rev Heng Sure and I had brainstormed ahead of time, a few people we could invite to open the circle of sharing, which planted beautiful seeds, and once they shared, the rest flowed so effortlessly as we all know so well in the ServiceSpace ecosystem :) Throughout their time in London, whenever we held space for circles of sharing from the heart (including this one at the opening ceremony), each person tapped into their hearts and shared authentically about their own journeys and the gratitude they felt for many of the others who were there -- not a single person passed and so many shared their gratitude for those circles, in which they were nourished by each other's experiences and stories. More than a handful of people stood up and shared that their participation in the previous delegation "changed my life." It was really moving to witness the transformation people shared about from some folks who became vegetarians, another who even became vegan, others who started tuning into Rev Heng Sure's weekly talks via live-stream and others who shared their inspiration with members of their family who then joined in this time. The magic that unfolds in circles such as these is so deeply nourishing.

[Photos - Opening Ceremony]

The Tale of Two Sanghas

The following day on Sunday, the delegation visited Amaravati Buddhist Monastery, hosted by a face familar to many of us who serves as the current abbot and used to be at Abhayagiri Forest Monastery in California, Ajahn Amaro. DRBA and the family of monasteries that Amaravati is part of have a long history, as Master Hsuan Hua and Ajahn Sumedho were old friends.

Rev. Heng Sure was so alive and in his element as he spoke to 100+ folks that had gathered that afternoon for the Sunday Talk series to hear him share some words of wisdom on patience, featuring some great voices that had everyone laughing throughout and so many wonderful stories that moved everyone deeply.

He shared some deeply touching stories about the long history between these two sanghas including the story about how Master Hua had gifted Ajahn Sumedho's sangha the auspicious land, which they built Abhayagiri Forest Monastery on in California. As Master Hua lay in his bed in Los Angeles just before he passed away in 1995, he asked Rev. Heng Sure to reach out to Ajahn Sumedho as he wanted to speak with him. Ajahn Sumedho immediately flew down to pay him a visit in West Covina at his bedside and Master Hua asked him if they were looking for some land to build a monastery in California. Ajahn Sumedho was pleasantly suprised and said indeed they were, so Master Hua told him about 120 acres of hillside land he wanted to gift to him for this purpose and asked if he would accept the gift. He readily agreed and these were the seeds from which Abhayagiri Forest Monastery was born.

Rev Heng Sure was also present at the dedication of Amaravati Monastery in England and he shared how one of the ceremonies they performed involved putting auspicious items into the ground in the centre of the Buddha Hall to be buried under a stone, which deemed the space to be complete and suitable to share the dharma. During this ceremony, which was attended by the King of Thailand's sister, as many offered precious jewels like uncut diamonds, rubies and sapphires, Rev Heng Sure spontaneously felt moved to offer his wrist watch, which was oiginally his father's, a memory he carried with him since he was 20 years old when his father passed away. His intention for doing this was so that his father could meet the dharma sooner. There were goosebumps throughout the room as we relived that sacred moment with him.

[Download or listen to Full Talk online]
[Photos - Amaravati Monastery Visit]



From China-scale to ServiceSpace-scale :) - Awakin Talk

As many of us know, Rev. Heng Sure is such a deeply humble monk and over the years we've all seen him show up with the same spirit for a 80,000+ person talk to people in China as he does for a living room Awakin Circle with 60 people or a dharma talk in a hall with 150 people. His humility makes him so human and so much more accessible as a monk of 40+ years and as a result people feel so comfortable being themselves in his company and having deeply authentic and meaningful conversations without fear of being judged.

When Rev. Heng Sure arrived at the event we hosted on Monday, he was sharing the story about the talk in China with a few others from the delegation and saying how surprised he was to learn later on about the 80,000 people who tuned in via livestream for his talk. I reminded him, " Rev. Heng Sure, so sorry this evening is not going to be China-scale, it's going to be ServiceSpace scale -- small things with great love, a talk in a cozy former-church hall with 70-80 people. We hope that's still okay?" :) He smiled and immediately responded, "As we walked down the path to come in and noticed we were welcomed with flower petals under our feet showing us the way, we knew this was ServiceSpace and it was just wonderful." :)

That evening, at St. Ethelburgas Centre for Reconciliation and Peace, the delegates started off their evening in the meditation tent in collective silence, as volunteers from the London community came together to infuse the space with a little extra love, lighting, quotes, petals, candles, etc. Following the meditation, we moved into the beautiful venue of what used to be an old church, where Rev. Heng Sure engaged in a moving dialogue on "Cultivating Compassion in Uncertain Times: What Would the Buddha Do?". Nisha, a local ServiceSpace friend from London, led the conversation and invited him to share about his life story and how it unfolded in the way it did and what a Buddhist lens offers on a variety of different topics including how our behaviour is driving climate change, the value of silence in our daily lives, and how to find inner and outer balance.

Following some questions from the audience, as the evening came to a close, Rev Heng Sure pulled out his guitar and invited everyone to join in singing "She Carries Me", a beautiful song about Guan Yin Boddhisatva and by the end of it, there was a feeling of warmth that filled the whole room and many tears of gratitude flowing. We concluded with offering the Dedication of Merit, a Buddhist prayer which invites us all to share the merits of any goodness that has come of our time together and send a wish out into the world to pay it forward. The guests all had a chance to interact with the delegates over teas, coffees and refreshments so generously offered by the community and it was beautiful to see the sangha holding space for others in this way.

[Photos - Awakin Talk with Rev Heng Sure]
[Download and listen to Full Audio Recording of Talk]

The Journey of Three Steps and a Bow - Awakin Circle

While the delegation headed to Cambridge on Tuesday, we had a day to prepare for the third and final gathering we were hosting, an Awakin Circle at our home. It was a blessing to have my daughters join us in welcoming the entire delegation to our home and offering gifts of peace poles, which we had received from Masamisan and Maki during their visit in July, and heart-shaped candle holders. As you can imagine, the monks and nuns were really moved when they learned the story behind these gifts and how they were made entirely as a labour of love by volunteers who stayed up so late making them with their hands. It was really sweet to see how the monastics engaged with children with so much love, light and grace, their eyes lighting up as each of them met our two daughters. It was truly an incredible a gift for our daughters to spend this time together with them, receiving many blessings as they engaged with each and every monk and nun and many of the lay people in the delegation, something I'm sure they will never forget.

Following the hour of collective silence and a circle of sharing recent moments of inspiration, Rev. Heng Sure offered stories from his bowing pilgrimage -- what inspired him to become a monk as opposed to a deeply spiritual lay person and how did he know that Master Hua was the teacher he wanted to learn from; what were the seeds which led to him and Marty taking the pilgrimage and what were some of the inspiring highlights during those years on the road. It was wonderful to hear all of these inspiring stories in person and many people shared afterwards how deeply moved they were by his journey together with his humility, authenticity and openness.

[Photos - Awakin Circle with Rev Heng Sure]
[Download and listen to Full Audio Recording of Awakin Circle]



Every Heart Is Our Temple

For me personally, the whole experience of having the delegation here in London for a week was very deepening in many ways -- I've never seen ServiceSpace and so many members of another religious community merge and be together for this many days in this way before. It was beautiful to see some of Rev. Heng Sure's words come to life, from a call we had a couple of days before he left Berkeley. He had said that he sees DRBA as keepers of the theory aspect of dharma and ServiceSpace as the practice of the values of the dharma. One of his intentions for this delegation was to inspire the DRBA community to to embrace dharma in action, these ways of being and doing which can help the community to evolve and deepen in practice.

After spending a week together, hosting three different events, attending his dharma talk at Amaravati Monastery, etc, it became so clear to me that ServiceSpace is really living the values of all the world's religions combined, without the packaging, boundaries, differences, and politics that a container of a "religion" often seeds -- our spiritual path is anchored in interfaith values, we have no boundaries, no in/out (mobius strip!) and no lifetime commitment required so barriers to entry are low. People grow through their own practices and reflection and as they cultivate, they naturally get more involved with contributing their labour of love in the community and supporting others "to carry them across" as Rev. Heng Sure would say.

I feel so grateful for the spiritual values that form the roots, foundation and soil of the entire ServiceSpace ecosystem and how these values have anchored so many ripples while ensuring that nothing is ever off, even by an inch. Because we aren't bound by any religious tradition or paradigm, there's so much freedom to just be and do in a way that feels aligned with our values, with nature and with our own hearts.

As Rumi so beautifully said... "I belong to no religion. My religion is love. Every heart is my temple."