Dear Friends, One last message for this series of emails, to express my deep appreciation and gratitude for being part of this month with me. As the Buddha said to Ananda, “Good friends, companions, and associates are the whole of the spiritual life. ” (SN 45.2) It is inspiring for me to know that there were people from… Read More »
Dear Friends, Closing off this month by finishing up the talk by Kamala Masters titled “The Power of Patience.” I like the way Kamala shows a link between equanimity and patience in this talk. Kamala says that in India, she has heard a colloquial translation of equanimity as “seeing with patience.” I like that description. Patience – to… Read More »
Dear Friends, Continuing with the talk by Kamala Masters titled, “The Power of Patience.” Kamala talked about a period of time she practiced as a nun because she wanted to live a simple life for a while. She describes her experience: “I just did the practice in a simple way. When something arose, just being able to see… Read More »
Dear Friends, Continuing with the talk by Kamala Masters titled, “The Power of Patience.” Kamala shared a reflection that resonated with me: You might have noticed that there’s no joy when there’s impatience in the practice. … When we can go at good pace with ourselves, just allowing things to arise that are already arising, and our only… Read More »
Dear Friends, Continuing with the talk by Kamala Masters titled, “The Power of Patience.” Kamala tells a story of a time she was having a “rolling up the mat” period of practice. She told the teacher, “I can’t do this!” The teacher and translator discussed for a bit, and the translator said, “Sayadaw-ji says that when you’re feeling… Read More »
Dear Friends, Continuing with the talk by Kamala Masters titled, “The Power of Patience.” Kamala says [Patience] gives us this gentle effort of endurance, to not only remember to stay open to the ever present changing moments in retreat, but also to remain with that quiet faith inside of us that we can do it. To keep our… Read More »
Dear Friends, We’ll spend the last few days of this month with the talk by Kamala Masters titled, “The Power of Patience.” Kamala starts out by saying that patience is of the qualities that’s “so basic and humble that we often underestimate their power.” She also says, “it’s such an important part of our home life, and such… Read More »
Dear Friends, To finish Kamala’s talk, “The Five Spiritual Faculties’ relationship to Equanimity” with the fifth faculty of wisdom. Kamaly says the calm and steady collected mind can “pierce through the illusion of solidity and permanence.” She says, “When [the mind] pierces through the illusion of permanence, the deep understanding and wisdom of impermanence is known. Not theoretically,… Read More »
Dear Friends, Continuing with Kamala’s talk, “The Five Spiritual Faculties’ relationship to Equanimity,” and the fourth faculty of concentration. Several teachers, talks, and articles on this subject frequently comment that the word “concentration” may not be the best translation for samadhi. When I was on retreat with Susie Harrington last August, she said that the word “concentration” has… Read More »
Dear Friends, Continuing with Kamala’s talk, “The Five Spiritual Faculties’ relationship to Equanimity,” and the third faculty of mindful awareness. Kamala reminds us that sati, the word often translated as “mindfulness” has as it root an aspect of memory – of remembering to be mindful. She calls it a “powerful” mindfulness because it’s the type of present moment… Read More »
Dear Friends, Continuing with Kamala’s talk, “The Five Spiritual Faculties’ relationship to Equanimity,” and in particular her comments on the faculty of effort and energy. This effort and energy is balanced. Kamala shares an analogy from Sayadaw U Tejaniya: This is not like a 100-yard dash, it’s more like a marathon. Kamala describes the qualities as patient and… Read More »
Dear Friends, Continuing with Kamala’s talk, “The Five Spiritual Faculties’ relationship to Equanimity“ Kamala gives a brief overview of the five faculties, and then delves into each in more detail. Today, we’ll look at the overview and touch into the first – in Pali, it’s called saddha, which is often translated as faith. Kamala’s talk describes how the… Read More »
Dear Friends, I’ll start today with Kamala’s next talk in the retreat, on the topic of The Five Spiritual Faculties’ relationship to Equanimity. Kamala starts the talk by sharing a teaching she received from Sayadaw U Pandita: Equanimity is like a chariot being pulled by five horses. In the lead is Mindful Awareness. Behind that are a pair… Read More »
Dear Friends, Continuing with the talk from Kamala Masters, “Equanimity-Seeing the World with Quiet Eyes” and adding another “good news Monday” segment… In the talk, Kamala shares a quote from Don Juan to Carlos Castaneda and then relates that to equanimity: This is what Don Juan said to Carlos Castaneda, “The art of being a spiritual warrior is… Read More »
Dear Friends, Continuing with the talk from Kamala Masters, “Equanimity-Seeing the World with Quiet Eyes“ Kamala poses a second question we can ask ourselves.How can we stay aware yet compassionate towards ourselves when we do react? She says, We oftentimes judge ourselves after [reacting]. Then we’re paralyzed again, because we did or said something, it caused a kerfluffle,… Read More »
