Dear Friends, A poem by Kabir: The small ruby everyone wants has fallen out on the road. Some think it is east of us, others west of us. Some say, “among primitive earth rocks,” others, “in the deep waters.” Kabir’s instinct told him it was inside, and what it was worth, And he wrapped it up carefully in… Read More »
Dear Friends, For this month, I’m dedicating Sundays to practices of the heart. As Jeanne often explains, our practice has two wings – the wing of mindfulness, and the wing of kindness. So we’ll use Sundays to strengthen our kindness muscle. On Saturday, I needed to flex the “kindness to self” muscle… I had run some batch jobs… Read More »
Dear Friends, Gil Fronsdal’s translation of the opening two stanzas of the first verse of the Dhammapada is: All experience is preceded by mind, Led by mind, Made by mind. Speak or act with a corrupted mind, And suffering follows As the wagon wheel follows the hoof of the ox. All experience is preceded by mind, Led by… Read More »
Dear Friends, After January 1’s post on Intention, Rod commented that actions are needed to make intentions meaningful. I think Rod’s comments align with this sentiment from Thich Nhat Hanh: Chapter 3 of The Four Foundations of Mindfulness in Plain English looks at clear comprehension, a way of seeing precisely what is happening in this moment and using that to… Read More »
Dear Friends, In The Now Effect, Elisha Goldstein writes: Stepping int the now doesn’t happen only when we stop and pause our bodies; we can enter into a space simply by acknowledging what we’re doing. … why not allow the movements of our lives to be the entry points into the now? One of the most frequent movements that… Read More »
Dear Friends, In Chapter 2 of The Four Foundations of Mindfulness in Plain English, Bhante Gunaratana discusses various postures in which one can meditate: sitting, standing, walking, and lying down.Even experienced meditators can benefit from reviewing their posture on occasion, so I invite you to really pay attention to your body, no matter what position you are in. Today,… Read More »
Dear Friends, I was quite moved by Bhante Gunaratana’s description of how mindfulness of breathing can connect us to all beings: But all living beings breath. Breathing does not differentiate among Buddhists, Christians, Hindus, Sikhs, Jews, Muslims, and Zoroastraians. Nor does it distinguish between rich and poor, capitalists and socialists, or conservatives and liberals for that matter. When… Read More »
Dear Friends, Welcome to 2018 and the first email of our month together! You have reasons why you signed up for this series. Perhaps you are seeking steadiness in a turbulent life, forming deeper connection with others, creating conditions that will lead to peace, or many other reasons. Try to articulate this reason, as this intention will help… Read More »
Dear Friends, We are about to start another month-long exploration of ways to support a daily meditation practice. I’m so honored to have you as part of this community. The theme we will be exploring this month is the four ways of establishing mindfulness – mindfulness of the body, of feelings, of the mind, and of phenomena themselves.… Read More »
Once again, I will be offering daily meditation emails for January 2018. Are you interested in participating? I haven’t drafted everything out in full detail yet, by my proposed theme is “bringing mindfulness practice to daily life”. Similar to last year’s offering, I’ll send out an email each day in January, with links to recorded talks or articles,… Read More »
Dear Friends, It’s been a pleasure to be a visitor to your inbox this past month. This is a special project for me, now in my second year. I appreciate having the opportunity to dig deep into teachings and readings, reflecting on what it means to me, and hearing from so many what it means to you. So… Read More »
Dear Friends, Today is the last day of the 5 day retreat with Adrianne Ross, so I’ll be back to the land of technology later this afternoon. I thank you for your patience! Meanwhile, here’s a reflection for today! I look forward to catching up with your responses. It’s hard to believe we’re at the end of January!… Read More »
Dear Friends, I’m on retreat right now, so here’s a post to keep you inspired while I’m not engaging with email and the internet. I won’t be able to respond to your emails or posts until Tuesday afternoon. Feel free to share your thoughts below to inspire the others reading these posts. Well, here we are, almost at the… Read More »
Dear Friends, I’m on retreat right now, so I’ve scheduled this email to keep you company until I’m back to the land of emails and internet. I won’t be able to respond to your emails or posts until Tuesday afternoon. Feel free to share your thoughts below to inspire your fellow practitioners! A while ago, I pointed out… Read More »
Dear Friends, I’m on retreat right now, and my phone and computer are getting a break too. So enjoy this email in my technical absence. Feel free to post your comments below to share your thoughts with the others also reading this message. I’ll be able to respond to you by Tuesday afternoon. Yesterday’s email was about mindful… Read More »
