Nourished Through Practice: An Interview with Jonathan Borella
We asked WITHIN teacher Jonathan Borella to share about his personal meditation journey. Here’s what he told us.
Q: How did you get started with meditation?
A: Discovering meditation was a lucky accident. I was right out of high school and looking to take a class on Western religions at the community college because I liked discussing religious history. The class was full though, so a friend convinced me to take a class on Eastern religions with her. I signed up for the class mostly to hang out with her.
Two books we read in that class left a lasting impression on me. The first was Tao: the Watercourse Way by Alan Watts. The second was The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching by Thich Nhat Hanh.
At this time in my life I was just beginning to become more conscious as a consumer, concerned about how my own consumption impacted the planet and its populations. So Thich Nhat Hanh's teachings on the Fifth Mindfulness Training, which is a precept about nourishing yourself, the earth, and society with what you consume in the form of edible foods, sense impressions, volitions, and consciousness, really spoke to me. I became vegetarian, started curating my media diet more thoughtfully, and tried to reduce my consumption of disposable items.
It took another couple years after that before I began a consistent formal meditation practice, however, and it took a lot of suffering to get me there.
Though my practice of the Fifth Mindfulness Training helped me give up all drugs and alcohol, I was in a toxic relationship with someone who was still addicted. Without going into all of those details, my life got to a pretty dark place. I remembered the The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching, read it again, and then started reading everything by Thich Nhat Hanh that I could find. I started my own meditation practice and soon found a community practicing the Plum Village tradition in my hometown. I took refuge in the community and my practice has been deepening and evolving ever since.
Q: What led you to begin teaching meditation?
A; In the tradition of Buddhism I learned, there is a practice called Dharma Sharing in which practitioners get together as a community and talk about their successes and challenges in mindfulness with the guidance of deep listening and loving speech. Everyone becomes a teacher in this way.
I have been so nourished by this way of sharing because it has helped me find my voice even when I was full of doubt, confusion, or anxiety. It has also helped me find delight in expressing joy and celebrating my triumphs when I tended to be more reserved and self-effacing.
The other thing I learned is that I really loved being present as people began to find their own voice as well. Their stories of transformation and applying the teachings to their own lives in innovative and creative ways became fuel for me to keep my practice committed and fresh.
Over time, I began to be invited to speak on panels at practice centers, facilitate groups, organize and teach at retreats. I realized all I had to offer was my own practice. So I dived deep into the teachings and did the best I could to live a life founded on their wisdom.
As this path stretched before me, I found myself drawn to the discourses of early Buddhism, and I wasn't hearing many other teachers drawing from these sources in their offerings. As I connected with these teachings and began to make sense of them through my first person experience, I became passionate about sharing them with others, becoming a somewhat interpreter for folks who find the language archaic and distant.
It is thrilling for me to see connections between what the Buddha taught 2,600 years ago and what is only now being "discovered" by Psychology and Neuroscience in the fields of Trauma Resilience and Reward Based Learning. That the Buddha was able to make these discoveries simply by observing his own mind fascinates me, and I just can't help but spread the word.
Q: What advice would you give to someone who is just getting started with meditation?
A; Once the Buddha's attendant, Ananda, came to him and said, "Teacher, I've had an insight. I believe that spiritual friendship is half of the path." The Buddha congratulated Ananda perhaps as a parent would their child who just tied their shoes for the first time and then corrected him by saying that spiritual friendship is actually the whole of the path.
So, I always encourage folks just beginning meditation to find a community of spiritual friends. In community there are experienced practitioners who can be examples for you to learn from as well as younger members for you to be accountable to. A community will also expose you to new teachings and offer concrete support for deepening your practice. My Sangha pitched in to send me to my first retreat, and my mentor allowed me to spend nights in a yurt on her property so that I could take solo retreats from time to time. A community will also support you in building a mindful lifestyle.
It is very difficult to change behaviors if you don't also make changes to your environment. By associating with people who live mindfully, you will pick up their habits and slowly make healthy changes in your life that lead to more mindfulness, concentration, and insight.
Q: What has been your favorite meditation retreat so far?
A: Gosh, there have been so many and each one has been heart opening and challenging it its own way. I suppose my favorite retreat is always the last one I was on; that was over New Year's eve just before social distancing started because of the pandemic. The retreat was at the Mariposa Institute, a retreat center in the Oak woodlands of Mendocino county where I live with the Sugarplum Sangha. We were hosting the retreat and I was on the organizing and teaching team.
It was a very emotional retreat for me. My partner was away in Vietnam to be with her family as her mother was dying. I had to embrace some guilt that I had for not being with her and supporting her, while at the same time feeling so inspired by her groundedness and clarity through it all. Luckily, I had a community around me for support - old friends with whom I've created very happy memories.
I was surprised by how transparent I was with all the retreatants about what I was going through, allowing my emotions to show in the talks I gave and more intimate Dharma Sharing sessions. This opened me up to sharing about my experiences with depression and how that can be sustained or transformed depending on the habits energy I nurture. I tied this in with the theme of the retreat, Beginning Anew, and was able to share vulnerably and authentically about my challenges and how far along I've come in the practice.
Q: What is your favorite way to incorporate mindfulness into your day?
A: I keep coming back to mindfulness of the body. The immediate here-ness and now-ness of the body keeps me grounded in the present moment, and when I am mindful of my body's postures, movements, and functions a very pristine concentration arises that is clear and peaceful. I notice my actions become relaxed and unhurried. Everything feels like a dance. Mindfulness of the body keeps my practice alive moment to moment. I am fully present as I reach to open a cupboard, or turn a door knob, or pour a cup of tea. I am also mindful of what is going on inside my body. Everything I experience basically comes down to a sensation in the body.
The only thing that is real about praise or blame, anxiety or excitement, calm or stress is the sensations they create in the body. When I can experience all of these states as simply physical energies that arise and dissipate I worry much less about the past and the future.
The body is also a vast plane of stillness. When I can go inside and touch this stillness, it permeates everything. The surface appearance of things is no longer enticing or frightening because I can dwell in the stillness underneath.
Q: What habit energies are you still practicing to transform?
A: Lots! I still need to be very mindful and careful not to turn to food or media when stress levels get a little elevated, and I still need to practice lots of stillness, silence, and self-compassion when other people's actions make it difficult for me to achieve my own goals. Regular sitting meditation, taking moments to stop and rest during the day, and lots of contact with friendly and encouraging people helps a lot!
Q: What do you love about teaching at WITHIN?
A: I'm a pretty new teacher here at WITHIN, and I'm already feeling very happy with it. Hannah and Tasha, and the rest of the leadership team have really made me feel at home, offering lots of flexibility to work with my schedule and encouragement to do my thing.
And I really love that all the other teachers are doing their thing too! It is so refreshing to be in a space that is not ideologically bound to any way of being. I like feeling curious about the other teachers styles, learning from them and seeing new perspectives about mindfulness. And I like that they are curious about me too. I think the students receive a lot of benefits with this approach. Everyone has different needs and temperaments, and at WITHIN they can find a teacher that suits them.
So far the biggest joy has just been sitting and sharing space with the students. I really am uplifted by all the smiles, eagerness, openness and enthusiasm. It really encourages me to offer something special for them and to live my practice everyday so that I have something fresh for the next session.
Q: What are your favorite books related to meditation?
A: The first book I read by Thich Nhat Hanh, The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching, will always be in my heart. Along with that are several others by him that have nourished me: Nothing to do, Nowhere to Go, Understanding Our Mind, and Awakening of the Heart.
Right now, my favorite is a book by Stephen Batchelor called After Buddhism. It really is a fascinating read as he paints a picture of the historical Buddha based on examples from the earlier scripture. In doing so reveals the portrait of a man who learned to look at his own experience of the world in a radical way and was deeply committed to sharing his teaching for the transformation of the society of his time. This portrait is brought to life by several character studies of the people who were close to the Buddha while he was alive, and we see that the Buddha was someone very much engaged in his world without being entangled in it even as he had to navigate the politics and cultural assumptions that were prevalent.
This book also offers very convincing arguments for interpreting even the most esoteric teachings of the Buddha in a way that is compatible with secularism and scientific empiricism. If you're interested in contemplating who the Buddha really was, this is a wonderful book for you.
Jonathan teaches in our online studio on Thursdays at 12pm, and on many Sundays at 9:15am. Join him for a class this week!