I find that newer students do not ask this question much in their meditation groups, fearing, perhaps, that they might be the only ones with this concern. I still struggle with having a consistent, regular meditation practice, and I have been at this for 41 years. But I have noticed that I do not have…
I mean, the pandemic, economic turmoil; not to mention I am behind a few loads of laundry. And all of a sudden I am somehow supposed to start fresh, become a brand new, happy, healthy person, and so on. Not happening. Sorry, readers. And sorry to break it to you, self, so impersonally. I am…
A few folks have asked me if I am feeling any lingering effects from my recent Covid-19 illness. Not really; but I do I find mindful dish-washing in the kitchen sink to be much more fulfilling. I used to find myself wondering, pre-Covid-19, if washing dishes until kingdom come was getting in the way of…
If you don’t have a sense of humor, you have no sense at all. I think of that menu and its message from time to time, as I struggle to keep up my meditation practice. I ask myself, am I taking meditation too seriously? In the words of the comic Swami Beyondananda The world is…
A good poem does not just describe life. It teaches us how to live it. Over the years I have wept reading certain poems. One poet I keep returning to is the Japanese monk Ryōkan Taigu, who lived from 1758 to 1831. Ryokan was a hermit monk who left behind poetry and calligraphy instead of…
But, as Hawaii-born retired Sumo grand-master Akebono would say to reporters after winning yet another match, “I just try my best.” That’s all we ask. Try your best. Just show up on the cushion, again and again. If you just keep showing up, the magic starts to happen – but it helps a lot to…
Karen Maezen Miller, in a piece in Lion’s Roar, describes the domestic practices of ancient Zen masters as intimate daily life transformations. Following in their steps she reflects: In the fall, the broad canopy of giant sycamores in my backyard turns faintly yellow and the leaves sail down. A part of every autumn day finds…
Wishing others an entire year of monumental experiences or events, is curious to me. I am not sure I can handle anything too out of the ordinary. In fact, I am quite happy with ordinary. what’s so special about being special? I’ve been around the “special” block quite a few times, enough to question the…
This year, I don’t think I’ll make any resolutions. Well, except for maybe one. I resolve to live a little more happily. And that comes by clearly seeing how I make myself unhappy. How I keep carrying this heavy bag of “me” around. Even after I put it down temporarily in meditation, I manage to…
We are settling in to a new house. As I get older, moving feels more emotional, more gut-wrenching. Witnessing our old home slowly coming apart, with carefully chosen bits going into carefully chosen boxes, I felt a little vulnerable. Little bits of me separated, re-arranged with other bits, and put away. Only to re-emerge and…