Dear Friends, You may have seen this meme before: a stick person is walking with a dog (or sometimes a child or other person). There is a thought-bubble from each. The person’s bubble is full of people, cars, music, food, clothes, mail, gadgets, etc. The dog’s thought bubble reflects just the scene ahead – trees, sun, earth. The… Read More »
Dear Friends, Continuing with Sally Armstrong’s talk, “Facets of Equanimity,” looking at some of the ways equanimity might be experienced in our meditation practice. She states, “Any moment of true or clear mindfulness has equanimity in it.” You can hear this balance of equanimity in the definitions of mindfulness Sally shares. Mindfulness is the aware, balanced acceptance of… Read More »
Dear Friends, A talk by Joseph Goldstein this summer started with this quote from René Daumal’s Mount Analogue: Keep your eye fixed on the way to the top, but don’t forget to look right in front of you. The last step depends on the first. Don’t think you’re there just because you see the summit. Watch your footing,… Read More »
Dear Friends, This weekend, I sat a retreat led by Jeanne Corrigal. The topic was “Coming Home: to dharma, to love, to ourselves, and each other”. It was a beautiful retreat that brought together teachings from Buddhist and Indigenous traditions. One of my key takeaways was in reconnecting to the wisdom that comes from an embodied knowing –… Read More »
Dear Friends, Yesterday, we tuned into the first aspect of compassion – empathy, the quivering of the heart in response to suffering. Today, we look translating that empathy into responsiveness. Christina Feldman starts this section: Empathy teaches us to listen to and understand suffering and its causes. Embodiment is concerned with what we do with that understanding. Embodiment… Read More »
Dear Friends, There’s a Pāli word, dukkha, that Christina Feldman discusses in the context of compassion. Dukkha has many different translations. Some of the original translators used the word “suffering”, but more recent translators use words like unsatisfactoriness, stress, dis-ease. (An article by Glenn Wallis lists several alternative translations:https://www.lionsroar.com/what-is-dukkha/ ) Joseph Goldstein has described the origins of the… Read More »
Dear Friends, As another January draws to a close, I want to thank you for your words of encouragement, your comments and emails, and your dedication to your practice. It’s so much easier to sit on the cushion each day, knowing that many of you are joining me in that practice. A practice of gratitude is a support… Read More »
Dear Friends, The next aspect of phenomena we are invited to investigate are what are called the “aggregates” – a way of describing the kinds of “stuff” that make up our experience. The list of aggregates is: material form – like your body and the things your body senses (sights, sounds, etc.) feeling tone – as we already… Read More »
Dear Friends, Joseph Goldstein has said, “For the purpose of meditation, nothing is particularly worth thinking about.” This means thoughts can come and go as they wish, but we don’t need to become involved with them. (Joseph also says, “it’s simple, but it’s not easy.”) Bhante Gunaratana lists five ways to work with mental states, based on the… Read More »
Dear Friends, Bhante Gunaratana started chapter 8 with a recounting of the Two Kinds of Thought discourse, where the Buddha described a way we can classify and reflect on thoughts: Suppose I divide my thoughts into two classes. On one side, I set thoughts of sensual desire, ill will, and cruelty. On the other side, I set thoughts… Read More »
Dear Friends, In the Entering the Path lecture on contemplation of feelings, Bhikkhu Anālayo describes the “function” of these feelings we’ve been considering these past few days… Imagine a prehistoric human is walking through the forest when something comes up in front of them: that human had to quickly decide: is this something to hunt and kill, or… Read More »
Dear Friends, Welcome to the beginning of our third week together! As you recommit to your intention for practice, here are some helpful words just posted on Tara Brach’s Facebook page: It is helpful to start your meditation with a reflection on what matters to you. Some meditation students bring to mind an all-encompassing aspiration, while others focus… 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 »
