I've been finding myself deeply affected lately by a growing awareness of the tremendous diversity of our Meditation Oasis "family". Facebook more than anything has made me aware of how different we all are and yet we are drawn together by our common human experience and the deepest aspects of our inner life which we reach through meditation. From time to time I like to click on the faces on the Facebook page. It's been so fulfilling to see people living in so many different countries with such different interests. Many of us could probably fall into heated discussions with each other at the drop of a hat over politics and find ourselves world's apart in our musical tastes. Yet we can all sit together and meditate and experience a place of complete harmony.

Many of us are busy with holidays now, but some are not. We all experienced the solstice yesterday, but for some it signaled the shortest day of the year while for others it was the longest. We moved into winter where I live, but some of you are experiencing summer. Awareness of these differences has caused me to pause before sending a year end message. Yesterday instead of writing "Merry Christmas" and "Happy Hanukah" (which most people celebrate where I live), I found myself looking for a more universal greeting. I could have sent out a "Happy Solstice" message, I suppose. We all experience the changing seasons thanks to the tilt of the earth moving around the sun. But then I remembered that for people on or near the Equator, the Solstice doesn't mean much. All of this has brought me to this place today where I want to send a different kind of message, one that we can all relate to no matter what we all do or don't celebrate and believe.

As I searched for the perfect holiday/non-holiday message, I remembered the message Richard and I have often used. That's the message I'd like to send to you all today. I think it's something we can all relate to and a desire every human being shares. And it's something many of us move toward through meditation --

"We wish you a peaceful mind and an open heart."

This morning I was delighted to learn (from a comment on a blog post) that our Breath in the Heart Meditation would be shared online as part of Plumline's Monday morning Sangha. In fact, it is going on as I write.

Although Buddhist studies have not been a part of my background, and I have had no training in mindfulness meditation, I am always struck by how much my meditations seem to resonate with those traditions. As I've said before, the deepest truths can be arrived at and expressed through many different paths.

I enjoyed visiting the Plumline website. Plumline describes itself as "Building online Sangha in the tradition of Thich Nhat Hanh". For those who don't know, "Sangha", roughly translated, means spiritual community. A community of like-minded practitioners is felt to be essential to support on-going spiritual practice in Buddhism.

Those interested in Buddhism may want to visit Plumline. Thich Nhat Hanh, from whom they derive their inspiration, has written one of my all-time favorite poems - "Call Me by My True Names". (See Thich Nhat Hanh speaking on mindfulness on YouTube.)

I've come to feel our podcasts are like a giant group meditation. We don't see and meet each other for the most part, but we truly are meditating together -- thousands of us. I've hoped to provide some support for that experience in this blog and on our Meditation Oasis website. Perhaps there are yet other ways that we can create community for those who are interested. I've thought of different ways -- an online course, a chat group, a conference call. I'm not sure what will actually manifest, and would be interested in your ideas.

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