Ted Tollefson Speaks on the Unitarian-Buddhist Connection, Dec. 4

FROM TED TOLLEFSON…

Dear Meditators,

This coming Sunday, Dec. 4, I will be speaking at the River Falls UU Society about The Unitarian-Buddhist Connection which has been important in my life and in many of our contemporary UU congregations. I will give special attention to practices that might unify our tribes and enrich our communities. Like Thoreau and Emerson, I meditate with eyes open as well as closed, while walking as well as sitting.

Here’s a poem I wrote along these lines for two friends from seminary, Ann & Barb, who have been together as a couple for over 40 years.

Please join us this coming Sunday at 10:30 am and invite friends who meditate.

Ted Tollefson

FOUR THINGS THAT CAN’T BE HIDDEN (Ted Tollefson)

Old Buddha said there are 3 things

that can’t be hidden:

Sun, Moon, and Truth.

How did he miss the 4th?

that allows elder couples

to feel like newlyweds

and makes it possible

to find our beloved

even in the dark

or in a half-remembered dream.

Any kind of love

proclaims itself

with or without words

there’s no denying

a connection like that

even curmudgeons grin

as Sun and Moon circle each other

and fill the sky

with their luminous longing.

Like it or not

Love needs a body

and some days ours will do—

to live with that music

in our bones and breath

generates waves of well-being

that would make Old Buddha bow

and kiss the earth again.