New Year's Day Gathering

Invitation:

The Invisible Destination: 

A New Year’s Morning of Practice & Presence

“The particular mind of the ocean / Filling the coastline’s longing...”

As the calendar turns, we often find ourselves caught between the tide of what has passed and the unknown horizon of what is to come. On this New Year’s Morning, we invite you to join the MahaSangha Community for a special gathering of Zazen, reflection, and creative expression.

Together, we will honor the "brief harvest" of 2025—the lessons learned in the darkened days and the surprises that woke in forgotten corners. Rather than simply making resolutions, we will practice The Offering: turning our attention toward the year ahead and asking how we might offer our own presence as a gift to the world.

Our Flow Together

We will begin in the resonance of poetry, followed by 15 minutes of shared Zazen to settle into the "mind of the ocean."

The morning is structured into two movements:

The Harvest: Honoring the gifts and letting go of the burdens of 2025.

The Offering: Seeding our intentions and expressions for 2026.

Through individual choice of experiential practice, we will move these reflections from the head to the heart, sharing our insights (as desired) in smaller, experiential groups. We will conclude with a collective blessing to "mind our lives" in the year to come.

Gathering Details

This Gathering took place: January 1, 2026 | 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM Central 

What to Bring: Please have materials ready for your chosen practice (journal and pen, basic art supplies, a small space for movement). You may also wish to bring a small object that represents a "lesson" or gift from the past year - or an intention for the coming year - to place on your home altar.

“May the nourishment of the earth be yours, / May the clarity of light be yours...”

All are welcome. No prior experience with meditation or the arts is necessary—only a willing heart and a settled seat.

RECAP & Follow Up

Dear Friends, 

Thank you for joining us to mindfully mark the transition from 2025 to 2026.  What a gift to cross these thresholds in community.  Thank you as well to those who signed up but were not able to attend.  We felt your intention to greet the New Year with receptivity and reflective engagement.  May our intentions extend the field of compassion to all beings.  

We wanted to share some resources from our gathering.  Below you will find copies of the poems that were shared, the New Year message from Flint, the prompts from each of the experiential breakout rooms, and some gems that were shared during the integration dialogue.  

Poems:

• At the End of the Year - John O’Donohue

• Beannacht: A Blessing for the New Year - John O’Donohue

• The Uses of Sorrow - Mary Oliver

Experiential Prompts:

• Mindful Movement Practice

• Mindful Visual Arts Practice

• Mindful Writing Practice

Additional Attachments:

New Year Message from Flint

Chatterfall Intentions for the Coming Year (Deidentified from the session)

A Few Gems that were shared within the Discussions:

No Coming, No Going (from Plum Village)

Song shared by Becky Kane 

Lyrics:

‘No coming, no going, no after, no before.

I hold you close to me

I release you to be so free,

Because I am in you and you are in me.’

Teaching shared by Chris Ulrich

‘You cannot make the plane come, but you can clear the runway.’

Additional questions posed within the discussion:

‘What wants to happen?’

‘What is my life asking of me?’

MahaSangha Webpage:

It was mentioned during the discussion that perhaps the resources could be shared on the MahaSangha webpage.  We have added a page to access all of these resources here:

Thank you for being part of this spiritual community.  May our practice, intentions, and skillful actions support the liberation of all beings.  

With love, 

Jessica & Jon-Eric Steinbomer and Emily & Ryan Van Wyk

Poetry Shared During the Gathering

Additional Resources Shared during the Gathering

Prompts from our Experiential Breakout Rooms