Dear Friends, In the Buddha’s instruction to Sona (AN 6.55), he compares effort to the tuning of a stringed instrument. A guitar string that’s too tight doesn’t sound right, and neither does one that’s too loose. We are to apply our effort to find a balance. As you practice, notice when you are “too tight” or “too loose”.… Read More »
Dear Friends, Gil is building the progression of effort in practice. The initiating effort gets us going, perhaps again and again. Then we can make choices where we will put the effort – to something helpful or not helpful. Then we develop some level of relaxed persistence, some continuity of practice. Gil describes these as “what we offer”… Read More »
Dear Friends, The inspiration for this month’s topic came from this description of the Five Spiritual Faculties on the Audio Dharma page for the series: [The Buddha] emphasized that suffering is workable, that we can engage with our suffering in such a way as to be freed from it. He described five faculties that we need to develop… Read More »
Dear Friends, In the third talk from the retreat, “The Brahma Viharas for Insight and Wisdom,” Jill brings in lots of ideas to unpack – so I’ll take a couple of days to bring out a few points I found helpful. Jill starts off by explaining two extremes we might notice in our own lives – one of… Read More »
Dear Friends, As we open to the experience of emotions, sometimes, it’s enough to label them, to get a gap between the experience of the emotion and our habitual response. There’s a poem by Rumi, “The Guest House,” that reminds us that emotions are normal: This being human is a guest house.Every morning a new arrival. A joy,… 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 »
Dear Friends, Just a few concluding reflections on Sally Armstrong’s talk, “The roles of mindfulness, metta and equanimity in our practice“. Here are Sally’s closing comments in this talk: That’s the possibility of these practices. Landing in the present moment, knowing what’s happening, in our direct experience. Feeling that connectedness with the external, with other, with the world,… Read More »
Dear Friends, There are many ways to cultivate mettā. Many teachers will lead a practice with the use of phrases. I like how Christina Feldman describes the purpose of these phrases: “The conscious cultivation of metta as a meditative pathway employs the use of a few simple phrases that give shape and language to the intention of metta.… 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, I was inspired and grateful to the people here in Saskatoon and all around the globe that assembled yesterday for events supporting the Women’s March on Washington. (I regret that I wasn’t in attendance.) I have a set of “Compassion Cards” from Pema Chödrön, which have a set of slogans on one side and brief commentary on each… Read More »
Dear Friends, The ninth talk in Andrea Fella’s Daily Life Practice Retreat from April 2016 looks at what we do in this practice, and why we’re doing it. What we’re doing is exploring wise mindfulness – knowing what is happening in the present moment while it is happening. We know that we know; we are aware that we… Read More »
Dear Friends, From Shantideva, an eighth-century Buddhist master: There’s nothing that does not grow light Through habit and familiarity. Putting up with little cares I’ll train myself to bear with great adversity. In chapter 5 of True Refuge, Tara Brach suggests a way of dealing with these “little cares” through a process she calls “light RAIN” – a… Read More »
Dear Friends, Tara Brach’s website has several suggestions on maintaining a daily practice, and she includes these tips that are likely relevant to most of us: If you miss practice for a day, a week, or a month, simply begin again. Don’t judge your practice — rather, accept what unfolds and trust your capacity to awaken and be… Read More »
Dear Friends, Here we are, already into the second week of January. Maybe, like me, you’ve hit a few bumps on your path based on the intention you’ve set for the month/day/year. When that happens, my default behavior is to get down on myself. And then I get down on myself for getting down on myself… In her… Read More »
Dear Friends, This past May, I had an opportunity to sit with Susie Harrington and Anne Cushman at the Lost Coast Retreat. As we neared the end of the retreat, Anne shared her tips on “How To Maintain A Daily Practice of Almost Anything“. The first step is “Set Your Intention.” Many of you are familiar with Jeanne’s… Read More »
