Chocolate Pudding is Wonderful

This was the title I suggested to Blanche for her wonderful talk this morning. I have heard most of Blanche's stories a number of times over the years, but when they are delivered in a skillful and timely matter as they were this morning, it doesn't matter. There was a great story from Tassajara, which included the line about chocolate pudding, and which I hadn't heard before, about sympathetic joy, one of the four Brahmaviharas.
I got to experience some of that (the joy, not the pudding), this afternoon. As is often the case, during the first period after work, it looked like a lot of people were a little tired and slumped, so I suggested to Blanche that she might like to offer some posture adjustments, which she did during the following period. Since I sit facing out, I didn't get an adjustment, but I remember clearly from other times that feeling of Blanche's hands on my shoulders, warm and very loving, and so I was getting to feel that vicariously as Blanche laid her hands on people around the zendo, and I could see how their bodies reacted, softened and straightened, and the energy in the room changed subtly. The afternoon wore on, and the schedule carried on pushing us gently towards stillness...