This is part two of a two-part collaborative post with author Raymond Sigrist. Part one is here. I would first suggest that we very carefully re-read Raymond’s essay. Perhaps you might print it out and keep it some place where you might stumble upon it, perhaps when you are in the grips of confusion or irritation. [...]
Love at ground zero
September 14, 2010 By 2 Comments
A few days ago a member of our sangha wrote asking me to help her get a handle on troubling feelings of anger, despair and confusion. She asks a radically urgent question, radical in the true sense of the word’s roots–the question gets at the root of who we are and how we manifest in [...]
Why meditate
January 22, 2010 By 7 Comments
I think that from time to time we need to remind ourselves why we meditate. It’s so easy to forget. It seems everything and nearly everyone conspires in this forgetting. That is why we come to places where for a short time at least we set aside the iPhones with all their charming and ever-intriguing [...]
Do you pay regular visits to yourself?
April 20, 2009 By 1 Comment
“We meet at this appointed time. You’ve read where it says that Lovers pray constantly. Once a day, once a week, five times an hour, Is not enough. Fish like we Need the ocean around us. Do camel-bells say, Let’s meet again Thursday night? Ridiculous. They jingle Together continuously, Talking while the camel walks. [...]
become a wizard of ahs
March 4, 2008 By Leave a Comment
What happens when we sit down to meditate? We begin to see the movements of mind. Many of the movements are away from the perceived objects of our experience. Let’s call this the movement of rejection. There’s an itch, or a jarring sound, or an sudden upheaval of thoughts, and if we look carefully there [...]
dropping into the depths
February 25, 2008 By Leave a Comment
As we get into our yoga and meditation practice, we naturally start dropping into deeper and deeper places within. We see how this dropping down requires some initial effort. We become aware of the tremendous hold the “surface” has on us, how it holds us in its web of chatter, worry, anxiety and incessant wants. [...]
to sit or not to sit
February 25, 2008 By Leave a Comment
This issue: to sit or not to sit? Merely stating this issue brings up a legion of other issues, many of which go unchallenged and unrecognized in the awareness of a potential meditator. To tackle one issue inevitably begs other, lateral questions. As an instructor, I am somewhat aware of the dynamics involved in teaching. [...]
not knowing is most intimate
February 24, 2008 By Leave a Comment
Some thoughts about the essence of our meditation practice. An exchange between Zen teachers old (9th century China, I believe). Fayan was going on pilgrimage. Dizang said, “Where are you going?” Fayan said, “Around on pilgrimage.” Dizang said, “What is the purpose of pilgrimage?” Fayan said: “I don’t know.” Dizang said, “Not knowing is most [...]
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