I recently completed an intensive, 30 day silent meditation retreat in California following a very strict Burmese Buddhist lineage, with formal sessions totaling sixteen and a half hours per day. Each day began at 4am with the gentle sound of a bell signaling the start of another day of meditation. Each day was another opportunity
A New Yorker magazine cartoon depicts a couple strolling down the street, one saying to the other: These are the ‘good old days’ that someday we won’t be able to remember. I think a lot about when the kids were little, and how great it felt to be a new dad, and now that both
We realize everyone is experiencing the same impermanence that we are. This is one Buddhist insight I hang on to. It feels comforting. These are not my words. They were written by Kathryn Schulz, a staff writer at The New Yorker and the author of the deeply moving Lost & Found: Reflections on Grief, Gratitude,
If I’m going to explore aging and humility I need to remember we older ones are no longer as energetic, or slim, or good looking. The other day I received an interesting catalog in the mail. My wife thought it was a medical scrubs catalog, but when I looked closer the company’s about us page
Relaxing into not-knowing is a key to the present moment. When you don’t know, all possibilities are open. How do we live our life knowing that it’s temporary? We have this opportunity to live this life, and we don’t know for how long. And we don’t know what will happen next. I am guessing most
When we come home to who we are in our entirety, as we are here and now in the dynamic flow of impermanence, we discover we never left this place of true refuge and peace. I spoke on the phone the other day with a dear friend I had not seen in 40 years. We
I feel that I should be above it all, but mostly I’m not. I struggle with my emotions. Practicing mindfulness of emotions helps a lot, but sometimes I am just plain sad or overcome by all that is untenable in the world, borrowing a line from Brother Steindl-Rast. I feel that I should be above
Folks who meditate in order to feel better often find the opposite. Eventfully they see that it’s the letting go of the wanting of happiness, that actually brings it! I can begin to answer by sharing a haiku I recently found: Since my house burned downI now have a better viewof the rising moon. This
The work of meditation is finding a home in the present moment and letting go of anything that tries to pull you away. The lychees didn’t fruit much this year. In fact, barely at all. I thought maybe it was something I said? Some freaky karma thing? Two years ago, our family was excited to