Session 10:
Prompts

This week we invite you to reflect on the themes of belonging, especially in a sangha setting.

These are questions from Larry Yang, at the end the chapter called “The Precious Experience of Belonging” in his book Awakening Together.

• What is the experience of belonging for you? How does it feel in the body? What sense doors are engaged? How does it feel in the heart? What emotional states emerge from this reflection? How does it feel in the mind? Is the mind relaxed, agitated, dull, busy, or calm?

• What qualities allow you to relax into being present and feeling that you can be authentically who you are without any pretense or mask?

• Even though there might not be any space in the world that is 100 percent safe, what allows you to feel safe enough that you can soften the defenses that can hide or protect or even pretend the nature of your reality?

• Having reflected on your own experience with belonging, how might others feel about the experience? What might others who are different from you need to feel that precious sense of belonging in the world, in their life?