♥

Creativity is spirituality looking for a form

2010-01-06T06:25:00.001-05:00

Creativity is spirituality looking for a form. It is a quest of the human spirit to find somehow a way of flowing with the universal pulse that runs through all things.

Quoted from Sam Feinstein

Breath in....it's the outbreath from the trees

2010-01-03T22:29:00.005-05:00

Breath in

It's the outbreath from the trees

Breath out

Exhale

and the trees will breath
Realize all rivers flow to the sea

This drawing was inspired

by the music and lyrics

of Joe Reilly

This song remains on my iPod
and is regularly played
on long and short walks
and never ceases to make me smile.
Link: Spirit Boy: Tree Meditation

Link: Joe Reilly: Present Moment

Dance!

2010-01-03T09:53:00.002-05:00

Metta 2010

2010-01-03T07:07:00.004-05:00

Thich Nhat Hanh encourages us to practice metta meditation in the first three days of the new year. On the first day we practice for ourselves. On the second day we practice for the other person we love. On the third day we practice for the other person (or institution) that makes us suffer. Concrete practices are described for the coming year.

This 75-minute dharma talk in English given by Thich Nhat Hanh in Upper Hamlet, Plum Village.

Finding What You Didn’t Lose

2009-11-07T10:08:00.003-05:00

When someone deeply listens to you

it is like holding out a dented cup

you've had since childhood

and watching it fill up with

cold, fresh water.

When it balances on top of the brim,

you are understood.

When it overflows and touches your skin,

you are loved.

When someone deeply listens to you,

the room where you stay

starts a new life

and the place where you wrote

your first poem

begins to glow in your mind's eye.

It is as if gold has been discovered!

When someone deeply listens to you,

your bare feet are on the earth

and a beloved land that seemed distant

is now at home within you.
~ John Fox ~

To be

2009-05-10T08:23:00.001-04:00

“Finally I am coming to the conclusion
that my highest ambition is to be what I already am.
That I will never fulfill my obligation
to surpass myself
unless I first accept myself,
and if I accept myself fully in the right way,
I will already have surpassed myself.”

Thomas Merton

Love After Love

2009-05-10T08:18:00.002-04:00

The time will come
when, with elation
you will greet yourself arriving
at your own door, in your own mirror
and each will smile at the other's welcome,
and say, sit here. Eat.

You will love again the stranger who was your self.
Give wine. Give bread. Give back your heart
to itself, to the stranger who has loved you

all your life, whom you ignored
for another, who knows you by heart.
Take down the love letters from the bookshelf,

the photographs, the desperate notes,
peel your own image from the mirror.
Sit. Feast on your life.

Derek Walcott

Spring

2009-04-12T08:23:00.000-04:00

Permission Slips and Affirmation Catchers

2009-01-10T09:13:00.005-05:00

Found at Soul Journal with a colour pdf file here

Also check out

Permission Slip

A Good Day

2009-01-03T09:17:00.004-05:00

Light A Candle

The Real Journey

2009-01-02T21:52:00.003-05:00

"It may be that

when we no longer know what to do,

we have come to our real work,

and

when we no longer know

which way to go,

we have begun our real journey.”

~Wendell Berry,

American man of letters, poet, and farmer

Read at There Is No Path

Let Go

2008-12-30T12:22:00.002-05:00

Let go of what has passed.

Let go of what may come.

Let go of what is happening now.

Don’t try to figure anything out.

Don’t try to make anything happen.

Relax, right now, and rest.

Tilopa

2008-12-30T11:25:00.000-05:00

2008-12-30T10:27:00.000-05:00

Breathe...

2008-12-28T15:50:00.003-05:00

Breath in
It's the outbreath from the trees

Breath out
Exhale and the trees will breath

Realize all rivers flow to the sea

Link: Spirit Boy: Tree Meditation

Link: Joe Reilly: Present Moment

Teach us to sit still

2008-12-27T10:42:00.005-05:00

Blessèd sister, holy mother, spirit of the fountain, spirit of the garden,
Suffer us not to mock ourselves with falsehood
Teach us to care and not to care
Teach us to sit still
Even among these rocks,
Our peace in His will
And even among these rocks
Sister, mother
And spirit of the river, spirit of the sea,
Suffer me not to be separated
And let my cry come unto Thee.

Listen to T.S. Elliott read "Ash Wednesday" (the poem) here: SOF

Love is...

2008-12-24T08:32:00.001-05:00

Love is what's in the room with you at Christmas

if you stop opening presents and listen.

~Author unknown,

attributed to a 7-year-old named Bobby

2008-12-24T08:26:00.001-05:00

For the spirit of Christmas fulfils the greatest hunger of mankind.

~Loring A. Schuler

Nonviolent Communication

2008-12-23T18:51:00.003-05:00

The concrete actions we are observing that are affecting our well-being
How we are feeling in relation to what we are observing
The needs, values, desires, etc. that are creating our feelings
The concrete actions we request in order to enrich our lives

Link: Going For Refuge

Link: Puddle Dancer Press

Link: Marshall Rosenberg

Link: The Four Part NVC Process

Two-days....todays.....

2008-12-23T11:22:00.001-05:00

Your life has an inner purpose and an outer purpose.

Inner purpose concerns Being and is primary.

Outer purpose concerns doing and it is secondary.

Your inner purpose is to awaken.

It is as simple as that.

You share that purpose with every other person on the planet - because it is the purpose of humanity.

Your inner purpose is an essential part of the purpose of the whole, the universe and its emerging intelligence.

Your outer purpose can change over time.

It varies greatly from person to person. Finding and living in alignment with the inner purpose is the foundation for fulfilling your outer purpose. It is the basis for true success. Without that alignment, you can still achieve certain things through effort, struggle, determination, and sheer hard work or cunning. But there is no joy in such endevor, and it invariably ends in some form of suffering.

Eckhart Tolle
Source: A New Earth : Awakening

Spirit

2008-12-22T09:40:00.003-05:00

“From chaos there rises the world of the spirit”.

~Adam Mickiewicz~

Artists of the World...

2008-12-22T09:30:00.002-05:00

Beauty is a key to the mystery and a call to transcendence. It is an invitation to savour life.....

Artists of the world, may our many different paths all lead to that infinite Ocean of beauty where wonder becomes awe, exhilaration, unspeakable joy.

Days....

2008-12-19T10:06:00.003-05:00

DAYS....Each one is a gift, no doubt,
mysteriously placed in your waking hand
or set upon your forehead
moments before you open your eyes.
Today begins cold and bright,
the ground heavy with snow
and the thick masonry of ice,
the sun glinting off the turrets of clouds........

Read the rest at WhiskeyRiver

Craving and impermanence......

2008-12-19T08:12:00.000-05:00

Winter Day

2008-12-17T07:40:00.004-05:00

In the desolate season
I roamed
the horizon of the endless mind
and strayed into a village
a hawthorn hedge set around it.
A vagabond cooks dog meat on a fire
from which a purple cloud flows away.
The man who sang at summer's end the song of roses
grieves over this heart's ruination.
The seed collector, the bulbul, does not talk.
I will study in this village, with a lamp on
"Study like Milton"whispers an angel like a university president.
And yet I ended up playing chess with a hunter and a fisherman
until the bush put on pear-like blossoms.
Now that I've lost everything
I'd like to consecrate this evening
to the person who circles the hedge
playing with butterflies
to the kingfisher and the man that strays in
to the eternal woman
to this winter day
putting in a cup with a long handle like a lofty tower
the haws and the tears.

—Translated from the Japanese by Hiroaki Sato

Symptoms of Inner Peace

2008-12-16T20:40:00.002-05:00

* A tendency to think and act spontaneously rather than on fears based on past experiences.

* An unmistakable ability to enjoy each moment.

* A loss of interest in judging other people.

* A loss of interest in judging self.

* A loss of interest in interpreting the actions of others.

* A loss of interest in conflict.

* A loss of the ability to worry. (This is a very serious symptom.)

* Frequent, overwhelming episodes of appreciation.

* Contented feelings of connectedness with others and nature.

* Frequent attacks of smiling.

* An increasing tendency to let things happen rather than make them happen.

* An increased susceptibility to the love extended by others as well as the uncontrollable urge to extend it.

Source: Symptoms of Inner Peace

My tasks lie in their places.....

2008-12-16T08:58:00.003-05:00

I go among trees and sit still.

All my stirring becomes quiet

around me like circles on water.

My tasks lie in their places
Where I left them,
asleep like cattle.

Then what I am afraid of comes
I live for a while in its sight.
What I fear in it leaves it,
and the fear of it leaves me.
It sings and I hear its song.

Wendell Berry: A Timbered Choir.

And a woman who held a babe against her bosom said, "Speak to us of Children."

2008-11-13T21:48:00.003-05:00

And he said:

Your children are not your children.

They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for
itself.

They come through you but not from you,

And though they are with you, yet they belong not to
you.

You may give them your love but not your thoughts.

For they have their own thoughts.

You may house their bodies but not their souls,

For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you
cannot visit, not even in your dreams.

You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them
like you.

For life goes not backward nor tarries with
yesterday.

You are the bows from which your children as living
arrows are sent forth.

The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite,
and He bends you with His might that His arrows may go
swift and far.

Let your bending in the archer's hand be for
gladness;

For even as he loves the arrow that flies, so He loves
also the bow that is stable.

~Kahlil Gibran~

The Fourteen Mindfulness Trainings

2008-11-13T20:49:00.002-05:00

The First Mindfulness Training: Openness
Aware of the suffering created by fanaticism and intolerance, I am determined not to be idolatrous about or bound to any doctrine, theory or ideology, even Buddhist ones. Buddhist teachings are guiding means to help me learn to look deeply and to develop my understanding and compassion. They are not doctrines to fight, kill or die for.

The Second Mindfulness Training: Nonattachment to Views
Aware of suffering created by attachment to views and wrong perceptions, I am determined to avoid being narrow-minded and bound to present views. I will learn and practise non-attachment from views in order to be open to others’ insights and experiences. I am aware that the knowledge I presently possess is not changeless, absolute truth. Truth is found in life and I will observe life within and around me in every moment, ready to learn throughout my life.

The Third Mindfulness Training: Freedom of Thought
Aware of the suffering brought about when I impose my views on others, I am committed not to force others, even my children, by any means whatsoever – such as authority, threat, money, propaganda or indoctrination – to adopt my views. I will respect the right of others to be different and to choose what to believe and how to decide. I will, however, help others renounce fanaticism and narrowness through compassionate dialogue.

The Fourth Mindfulness Training: Awareness of Suffering
Aware that looking deeply at the nature of suffering can help me develop compassion and find ways out of suffering, I am determined not to avoid or close my eyes before suffering. I am committed to finding ways, including personal contact, images and sounds, to be with those who suffer, so I can understand their situation deeply and help them transform their suffering into compassion, peace and joy.

The Fifth Mindfulness Training: Simple, Healthy Living
Aware that true happiness is rooted in peace, solidity, freedom and compassion, and not in wealth or fame, I am determined not to take as the aim of my life fame, profit, wealth or sensual pleasure, nor to accumulate wealth while millions are hungry and dying. I am committed to living simply and sharing my time, energy and material resources with those in real need. I will practise mindful consuming, not using alcohol, drugs or any other products that bring toxins into my own and the collective body and consciousness.

The Sixth Mindfulness Training: Dealing with Anger
Aware that anger blocks communication and creates suffering, I am determined to take care of the energy of anger when it arises and to recognise and transform the seeds of anger that lie deep in my consciousness. When anger comes up, I am determined not to do or say anything, but to practise mindful breathing or mindful walking and acknowledge, embrace and look deeply into my anger. I will learn to look with the eyes of compassion on those I think are the cause of my anger.

The Seventh Mindfulness Training: Dwelling Happily in the Present Moment
Aware that life is available only in the present moment and that it is possible to live happily in the here and now, I am committed to training myself to live deeply each moment of daily life. I will try not to lose myself in dispersion or be carried away by regrets about the past, worries about the future, or craving, anger or jealousy in the present. I will practise mindful breathing to come back to what is happening in the present moment. I am determined to learn the art of mindful living by touching the wondrous, refreshing and healing elements that are inside and around me, and by nourishing seeds of joy, peace, love and understanding in myself, thus facilitating the work of transformation and healing in my consciousness.

The Eighth Mindfulness Training: Community and Communication
Aware that lack of communication always brings separation and suffering, I am committed to training myself in the practice of compassionate listening and loving speech. I will learn to listen deeply without judging or reacting and refrain from uttering words that can create discord or cause the community to break. I will make every effort to keep communications open and to reconcile and resolve all conflicts, however small.

The Ninth Mindfulness Training: Truthful and Loving Speech
Aware that words can create suffering or happiness, I am committed to learning to speak truthfully and constructively, using only words that inspire hope and confidence. I am determined not to say untruthful things for the sake of personal interest or to impress people, nor to utter words that might cause division or hatred. I will not spread news that I do not know to be certain nor criticise or condemn things of which I am not sure. I will do my best to speak out about situations of injustice, even when doing so may threaten my safety.

The Tenth Mindfulness Training: Protecting the Sangha
Aware that the essence and aim of a Sangha is the practise of understanding and compassion, I am determined not to use the Buddhist community for personal gain or profit or transform our community into a political instrument. A spiritual community should, however, take a clear stand against oppression and injustice and should strive to change the situation without engaging in partisan conflicts.

The Eleventh Mindfulness Training: Right Livelihood
Aware that great violence and injustice have been done to the environment and society, I am committed not to live with a vocation that is harmful to humans and nature. I will do my best to select a livelihood that helps realise my ideal of understanding and compassion. Aware of global economic, political and social realities, I will behave responsibly as a consumer and as a citizen, not investing in companies that deprive others of their chance to live.

The Twelfth Mindfulness Training: Reverence for Life
Aware that much suffering is caused by war and conflict, I am determined to cultivate non-violence, understanding and compassion in my daily life, to promote peace education, mindful mediation and reconciliation, within families, communities, nations and in the world. I am determined not to kill and not to let others kill. I will diligently practise deep looking with my Sangha to discover better ways to protect life and prevent war.

The Thirteenth Mindfulness Training: Generosity
Aware of the suffering caused by exploitation, social injustice, stealing and oppression, I am committed to cultivating loving kindness and learning ways to work for the well-being of people, animals, plants and minerals. I will practise generosity by sharing my time, energy and material resources with those who are in need. I am determined not to steal and not to possess anything that should belong to others. I will respect the property of others, but will try to prevent others from profiting from human suffering or the suffering of others beings.

The Fourteenth Mindfulness Training: Right Conduct (for lay members)

Aware that sexual relations motivated by craving cannot dissipate the feeling of loneliness, but will create more suffering, frustration and isolation, I am determined not to engage in sexual relations without mutual understanding, love and a long-term commitment. In sexual relations, I must be aware of future suffering that may be caused. I know that to preserve the happiness of myself and others, I must respect the rights and commitments of myself and others. I will do everything in my power to protect children from sexual abuse and to protect couples and families from being broken by sexual misconduct. I will treat my body with respect and preserve my vital energies (sexual, breath, spirit) for the realisation of my bodhisattva ideal. I will be fully aware of the responsibility for bringing new lives in the world, and will meditate on the world into which we are bringing new beings.

The Fourth Mindfulness Training

2008-11-13T20:46:00.001-05:00

Aware of the suffering caused by unmindful speech and the inability to listen to others, I am committed to cultivating loving speech and deep listening in order to bring joy and happiness to others and relieve others of their suffering. Knowing that words can create happiness or suffering, I am determined to speak truthfully, with words that inspire self-confidence, joy and hope. I will not spread news that I do not know to be certain and will not criticise or condemn things of which I am not sure. I will refrain from uttering words that can cause division or discord, or that can cause the family or the community to break. I am determined to make all efforts to reconcile and resolve all conflicts, however small.

Row, Row, Row Your Boat

2008-11-13T18:28:00.002-05:00

The lyrics have often been used as a metaphor for life's difficult choices, and many see the boat as referring to one's self or a group with which one identifies. Rowing is a skillful, if tedious, practice that takes perfection but also directs the vessel. When sung as a group, the act of rowing becomes a unifier, as oars must be in sync in a rowboat.

The idea that man travels along a certain stream, suggests boundaries in the path of choices and in free will.

The third line recommends that challenges should be greeted in stride while open to joy with a smile.

The final line, life is but a dream, is perhaps the most meaningful. With a religious point of view, life and the physical plane may be regarded as having equivalent value as that of a dream, such that troubles are seen in the context of a lesser reality once one has awakened.

LINK: Row, Row, Row Your Boat

Agape .. Caritas .. Mettā

2008-11-11T15:06:00.008-05:00

Originally developed by John Lee (1973, 1988). He identified six basic love theories—also known as "colors" of love—that people use in their interpersonal relationships:

Eros – a passionate physical and emotional love based on aesthetic enjoyment; stereotype of romantic love
Ludus – a love that is played as a game or sport; conquest
Storge – an affectionate love that slowly develops from friendship, based on similarity
Pragma – love that is driven by the head, not the heart; undemonstrative
Mania – highly volatile love; obsession; fueled by low self-esteem
Agape – selfless altruistic love; spiritual; motherly love

Agape

Agape forms the basic spiritual principle of "loving your enemies" and giving without selfish motives and is found in all major religions

Caritas

C.S. Lewis called agape love Caritas and described it as an unconditional love directed towards one's neighbor which is not dependent on any lovable qualities that the object of love possesses.

Agape is the love that brings forth caring regardless of circumstance. Lewis recognizes this as the greatest of loves, and sees it as a specifically Christian virtue.

In a chapter in "The Four Loves" Lewis metaphorically compares love with a garden, charity with the gardening utensils, the lover as the gardener, and God as the elements of nature. God's love and guidance act on our natural love (that cannot remain what it is by itself) as the sun and rain act on a garden: without either, the object (metaphorically the garden; realistically love itself) would cease to be beautiful or worthy. Lewis warns that those who exhibit charity must constantly check themselves that they do not flaunt--and thereby warp--this love

Mettā

Mettā (Pāli) or maitrī (Sanskrit) has been translated as loving-kindness, friendliness, benevolence, amity, friendship, good will, kindness, love, sympathy, and active interest in others.

The object of mettā meditation is loving kindness (love without attachment). Traditionally, the practice begins with the meditator cultivating loving kindness towards themselves, then their loved ones, friends, teachers, strangers, enemies, and finally towards all sentient beings. Commonly, it can be used as a greeting or closing to a letter or note.

Commitment to Meditation

2008-11-11T09:58:00.004-05:00

My meditation practice is undisciplined and irratic ..... October was filled with overseas travel and the many external pressures of "doing" rather than "being"....and I am approaching November feeling as though I have lost touch with the present moment

On facebook, there is a new event that lasts 108 days (November 8, 2008 - Febryuary 23, 2009 ... Feb. 25 is the Tibetan New Year)

Folks are asked to commit to any practice, meditation, contemplation, aspiration prayer, sadhana, yoga or shikantaza ....... 108 seconds to 108 minutes ...... Doing it every day. Every day. Every day. Every day for 108 solid days ....... On a zafu, a chair, standing in a park ....

Then there is Michael Brown's "One-on-One" where he suggestes that folks commit to 40 days ........ look at the circumstances in your life and make a list of ten one-word summaries of an unresolved issue, event, circumstance, person, or situation currently causing grief or anxiety .... taking 15 minutes per day....day. Every day. Every day for 40 solid days ...... to scan the list ... feel the emotional signature related to that issue, event circumstance ... and where you feel it in your body ....

Doorways

"In approaching the Self, it helps to have a doorway we can comfortably walk through......"

With this in mind.....and with the intention to incorporate daily meditation practice into my life I chose to start with a ten minute guided meditation.....from the Mindfulness Practice Centre at the University of Vermont....it is a woman's voice...it is gentle....suitable for beginners like me

As a back-up, and for variety (if and when I become restless) .... I have also downloaded Peter Russell's 10 minute version

Through this regular daily practice .... I may need to go deeper in the future .... and hopefully 40 to 108 days will not feel so daunting ?

Pervasive Contemporary Violence to Which Idealists Succumb

2008-11-08T18:11:00.003-05:00

There is a pervasive form of contemporary violence to which the idealist …most easily succumbs: activism and overwork.

The rush and pressure of modern life are a form, perhaps the most common form, of its innate violence.

To allow oneself to be carried away by a multitude of conflicting concerns, to surrender to too many demands, to commit oneself to too many projects, to want to help everyone in everything, is to succumb to violence.

The frenzy of our activism neutralizes our work for peace. It destroys our own inner capacity for peace. It destroys the fruitfulness of our own work, because it kills the root of inner wisdom which makes work fruitful.

-- Thomas Merton
Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander, Doubleday, 1966, p 73

LINK: The Thomas Merton Center
LINK: Merton and Friends Weblog

NEW Diana Winston Dharma Talk!!

2008-11-08T13:01:00.001-05:00

This talk explores the importance of taking care of ourselves, inner cycles of reflection and contemplation, and how our work on the cushion can impact the world. We learn the importance of joy and finding your own unique expression of service.

LINK: Taking Care of Myself, I Take Care of the World (58:24) Download

LINK: 2008-10-23 Insight Meditation (2)

Emotional Processing

2008-11-08T12:37:00.003-05:00

We are all in process....most of us are processing unconsciously

Many of us are releasing our emotional states....very few are resolving them

Everytime I get upset and blame another

and I tell another story or I try to mainpulate another

so that I feel okay about what is going on....

then I am releasing my emotional state...

not processing...

I am releasing it...

and I am creating more emotional debris around me

that at some point is going to need to be processed

LINK: Michael Brown

In approaching the Self....

2008-11-08T11:26:00.001-05:00

In approaching the Self, it helps to have a doorway we can comfortably walk through, rather than having to break through the wall of thoughts separating us from our inner space.

Pathway of Awareness

2008-10-26T16:45:00.002-04:00

Michael Brown's PRESENCE PROCESS introduces us to two perceptual tools:

"The Pathway of Awareness" reveals that our awareness deliberately and systematically moves from the vibrational (womb) into the emotional (childhood) into the mental (teenage) and then into the physical (adult) experience, in that specific order.
"The Seven Year Cycle" reveals how this deliberate sequence of entry is necessary to develop our capacity to interact with these different attributes of our experience

What The Pathway of Awareness also brings to our attention is that when we seek to regain full consciousness - to extract our awareness from a time-based paradigm and to re-awaken to a fullness of our authentic immortal Presence while journeying through this mortal life experience - that there is a specific and very deliberate journey we must take: we must reverse the Pathway of Awareness we used to enter into our experience of this life.

In other words, we must first attain physical presence, then mental clarity, and then emotional balance. Only when this is accomplished do we reawaken to our authentic vibrational identity.

If we skip any of these steps along the way we at some point have to return and complete them.

LINK: The Presence Portal

Sigh.....

2008-08-27T11:12:00.003-04:00

It has been a splendid summer.....cool evenings.....warm days....

As my leave from work draws slowly to an end, I feel recharged......at peace.

Compassion = No judgment

Authenticity = No deception

Freedom = No thought

Fearlessness = No ego

Love = No self

Making more of it is making it up.

No need to research or study, analyze or compare.

No slideware, no book, no CDs, no subscriptions.

No seminars, no webcasts.

No invention or interpretation.

There is only one thing for you to do.

Sit down and practice.

Everything else happens by itself.

Presented in public service and courtesy of a wide-eyed teacher 2,500 years ago.

My favourite summer read:
The Art of Power
My favourite summer listening:
Diana Winston;
Thich Naht Hahn;
Eckhart Tolle;
SOF;
My favourite blog post (above):
Cheerio Road

Thich Nhat Hanh Quotes

2008-08-21T10:32:00.004-04:00

“Even non-sounds

such as a ray of sunlight coming through the window

are bells of mindfulness that can remind us to return to ourselves,

breath, smile and live fully in the present moment.”

"Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile,

but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy."

Tangerine meditation, Thich Nhat Hanh

2008-08-21T10:24:00.002-04:00

One day, I offered a number of children a basket filled with tangerines. The basket was passed around, and each child took one tangerine and put it in his or her palm. We each looked at our tangerine, and the children were invited to meditate on its origins. They saw not only the tangerine, but also its mother, the tangerine tree. With some guidance, they began to visualize the blossoms in the sunshine and in the rain. Then they saw petals falling down and tiny green fruit appear. The sunshine and the rain continued, and the tiny tangerine grew. Now someone has picked it, and the tangerine is here. After seeing this, each child was invited to peel the tangerine slowly, noticing the mist and the fragrance of the tangerine, and then bring it up to his or her mouth and have a mindful bite, in full awareness of the texture and taste of the fruit and the juice coming out. We ate slowly like that.

Each time you look at a tangerine, you can see deeply into it. You can see everything in the universe in one tangerine. When you peel it and smell it, its wonderful. You can take your time eating a tangerine and be very happy.

Creative people

2008-08-21T09:04:00.002-04:00

Bodhi Tree Swaying writes: "I highly recommend this 1996 Psychology Today article by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi on the topic of the creative personality, in which he identifies “10 antithetical traits often present in creative people that are integrated with each other in a dialectical tension.”

Creative people have a great deal of physical energy, but they’re also often quiet and at rest.
Creative people tend to be smart yet naive at the same time.
Creative people combine playfulness and discipline, or responsibility and irresponsibility.
Creative people alternate between imagination and fantasy, and a rooted sense of reality.
Creative people trend to be both extroverted and introverted. We’re usually one or the other, either preferring to be in the thick of crowds or sitting on the sidelines and observing the passing show.
Creative people are humble and proud at the same time.
Creative people, to an extent, escape rigid gender role stereotyping.
Creative people are both rebellious and conservative.
Most creative people are very passionate about their work, yet they can be extremely objective about it as well.
Creative people’s openness and sensitivity often exposes them to suffering and pain, yet also to a great deal of enjoyment.

This is an article that bears repeated reading, especially for those pursuing a spiritual path — something that I regard as being an inherently creative field of endeavor.

On holidays

2008-08-11T19:33:00.003-04:00

Dharma Talks by Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh

6 hours of "Throwing Away"

2008-08-02T08:12:00.010-04:00

WORDS

RadioKosmos1 - Eckhart Tolle, Bill Laswell, Inoue, Aloof Proof, with binaural beats by obi-nine 48:57 minutes (44.81 MB)
Being Peace by Thich Nhat Hanh 73:31 minutes (33.69 MB)
A Breathing Exercise (3:11) How simple attention to breath enhances our awareness and enjoyment of the present moment. Courtesy of Sounds True.

Guided 10 Points Practice and Earth Breathing
Problem with Disembodied Meditation
Guided Prana Breathing (lying down)
Extending Awareness (sitting up)

MUSIC
Free Meditation Music

Sweet Melody of Joyful Aspiration - composed by the 17th Gyalwang Karmapa

Weekend Links

2008-07-26T09:21:00.003-04:00

New Earth

“An Evening With Eckhart Tolle”

Retreat Links:

Thich Nhat Hanh - Simple Mindfulness - 89 min (2005)

Guided Meditation

12 excellent practices for starting down a path of increased awareness and heightened consciousness:

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1. Start Being More Present
This means participating in whatever activity you are engaged with 100% focus and attention. Remember, the “past” is nothing but previously experienced versions of what was the present, as the future is nothing but present moments that have not occurred yet. There really is nothing but a continual NOW, a forever stream of “present” moments, and once you start realizing this you start paying more attention to the NOW and can become a very conscious person.

2. When in the Shower, Really Experience It
A simple and fun way to start integrating “being present” is in the shower. Showering can be SO enjoyable, and I bet it has become a perfunctory activity in your life with much less enjoyment than it really deserves. You will thank me for this: next time you are in the shower really feel the hot water pouring over your head and body. Pay close attention to the sensation of soap and shampoo coursing on your skin. Notice the showerhead, curtain and tiles as if for the first time. This can be SO enlightening and enjoyable, and can get you on the path to living more consciously.

3. Start Noticing People in a Different Manner
Most of us are on “automatic pilot” when it comes to our mindset concerning the people in our lives. Very rarely do we step out of our pre-existing perceptions of friends, co-workers and family and look at them in a different manner. But noticing people’s uniqueness can be a useful gateway to consciousness– start becoming aware of their voice, the way they walk, mannerisms etc…as if you are perceiving them for the first time. This will give you a fresh perspective.

4. Notice Your Surroundings
Likewise, how often do you really notice your surroundings? I challenge you to take one full day and begin noticing all the unique features of your home, car, office, or wherever you spend a lot of time. You will be shocked when you start noticing colors, angles, sounds, etc…that you did not previously notice and were seemingly not there before. The thing is, they WERE there; you have just chosen to be conscious of them today. Learn from this exercise.

5. Take a Different Angle
To take this a step further, a wonderful way to bring about consciousness is to intentionally change your angle and view on things. This may sound crazy, but next time you are home, stand on a table and start seeing your house in a different light. When at the office, stand on a desk, or even sit under one, to change perspective. How does this generate consciousness you may ask? Consciousness is all about awareness, and when you start seeing things from different angles you attain a wider understanding of them, and become more aware in general. Try it!

6. Take a Few Moments Each Day to be STILL
Stillness is essential for consciousness to transpire in your life. Your chatterbox thrives on activity and action, and persuades you to constantly be saying, thinking or doing something. Purposefully remaining still for a few minutes every day slows things down, and eventually helps you feel universal connection between all things.

7. Really Taste and Savor Your Food
Eating consciously is an AWESOME way to increase your connection with the universe. I bet 99.9% of the time you eat you are not paying attention to your food. And I mean really paying attention—how does it taste and smell, and what is the essence of it? What is the sensation the food gives your mouth, throat and stomach? How do you feel after you are done eating? This type of food awareness can be powerful and ultra-enjoyable!

8. Pay Close Attention to Your Sense of Smell
I think smell is the lost sense of our time. Unless something smells excessively foul, or outrageously delicious, we very rarely focus our attention to the sense of smell. Another challenge—start smelling things! For one day begin to notice how your office, car, and home really smell. Start integrating this lost sense into your daily experiences, and gain a more well-rounded perception of the world you are ensconced.

9. Commit to Listening and Hearing Others
If smell is the lost sense, listening is the forgotten one. When we converse with people, our chatterbox is always preparing us for a response—it is actually very rare to be really listening to another person. Next time you are speaking to someone, notice this—see how your mind is busy at work forming a response to the other person’s language. Once you become aware of this, let it go and try just being there for them. Even if you have something relevant and pertinent to add, resist the temptation and just be there. This practice helps generate real connections with those in our lives, and is a gateway to conscious living.

10. Start Paying Attention to Your Breath
The breath is an excellent place to start for realizing the universal connection between all things. Even if you do not consider yourself a spiritual person, commit to sitting in silence with your breath for at least 5 minutes each day. This is a very powerful exercise. Notice it flow into and out of your body, and just be present to its existence. Let the chatterbox in your head fade away and be present to the coolness of air rushing into the nostrils and the warmth of air exiting them.

11. Feel Your Body Parts
Similarly, feeling your body parts connects your mind and body in a very unique way, and helps expand your general consciousness. After taking a few deep breaths, start noticing your different body parts. Just feel blood flowing, heart pumping, and anything else that crosses the field of consciousness. Just be there with the body.

12. Meditate
Meditation is the practice of stillness and awareness, and helps create “gaps” of consciousness where the continuous voice of ego is put aside. Quieting the chatterbox is hard work, and the more you feel as if you don’t have the ability to meditate, the more cut off from universal connection you probably are…and the more you need the practice.

A single gentle rain makes the grass many shades greener

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A single gentle rain makes the grass many shades greener.

So our prospects brighten on the influx of better thoughts.

We should be blessed if we lived in the present always,

and took advantage of every accident that befell us,

like the grass which confesses

the influence of the slightest dew that falls on it;

and did not spend our time

in atoning for the neglect of past opportunities.

We loiter in winter

while it is already spring.

HENRY DAVID THOREAU

RAIN

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R: Recognition that a feeling has arisen. It is occurring. Just notice. What is it that you're really feeling?

A: Acceptance and welcoming of the feeling. You allow it to be. You allow the emotion to be a part of your aliveness. You leave it alone. You don't fight it. It's just like you have a house with two doors. You allow the visitors to enter and exit, just to pass through. Each have their own duration. What visits isn't under your control.

I: Interest in the feeling. Be intimate with the feeling. Develop a caring acceptance of it. Then explore it. What is its message to you?

N: Non-identification with the feeling. Just experience the feeling. Don't make it "me." It's not your identity. It's only a movement of emotional energy, like a river flowing along. Feelings are always changing. The purpose of feelings is to be felt.

Pick one .........or two

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Pick one or two and start today.

Be present. Don’t think about how great things will be in the future. Don’t dwell on what did or didn’t happen in the past. Learn to be in the here and now, and experience life as it’s happening, and appreciate the world for the beauty that it is, right now. Practice makes perfect with this crucial skill.

Connect with others. In my experience, very few things can achieve happiness as well as connecting with other human beings, cultivating relationships, bonding with others. Some tips on doing this.

Spend time with those you love. This might seem almost the same as the item above, and in reality it’s an extension of the same concept, a more specific application. Spending time with the people you love is extremely important to happiness … and yet it’s incredible how often we do just the opposite, and spend time alone, or disconnected from those we love, or spend time with people we don’t much like. Make it a priority to schedule time with the people you love. Make that your most important item of the day. For myself, I have a time when I cut off work, and the rest of the day is for my family. Weekends are exclusively for my family. And by setting aside this sacred time, I ensure my happiness by letting nothing come between me and the people I love most.

Do the things you love. What do you love doing most? Figure out the 4-5 things you love doing most in life, the things that make you happiest, and make those the foundation of your day, every day. Eliminate as much of the rest as possible. For me, the things I love doing are: spending time with my family, writing, reading, and running. I do those things every day, and very little else. It may take awhile to get your life down to your essentials like I have (it took me a few years of careful elimination and rescheduling and saying “no” to requests that aren’t on my short list), but it’s worth the effort.

Focus on the good things. Everyone’s life has positive and negative aspects — whether you’re happy or not depends largely on which aspects you focus on. Did you lose today’s softball game? At least you got to spend time with friends doing something fun. Did you sprain your ankle running? Well, your body probably needed a week’s rest anyway, as you were running too much! Did your baby get sick? Well, at least it’s only a flu virus and nothing life-threatening … and at least you have a wonderful baby to nurse to health! You can see my point — almost everything has a positive side, and focusing on the positives make all the difference. My Auntie Kerry died last week (as you know), and I’m still grieving, but 1) I’m happy I spent time with her before her death; 2) her death has brought our family closer together; 3) her suffering has ended; and 4) it reminded me to spend more time with the people I love while they’re still alive.

Do work you love. An extension, of course, of doing the things you love, but applied to work. Are you already doing the work you love? Then you’re one of the lucky ones, and you should appreciate how lucky you are. If you aren’t doing the work you love, you should make it a priority to try to find work you’re passionate about, and to steer your career in that direction. Take myself for example: I was doing work that I was good at (just last year), but that I wasn’t passionate about. I was passionate about writing, and so I pursued blogging … and with a year of hard work, was able to quit my day job and blog full time. I’m so much happier these days!

Lose yourself in your work. Once you’ve found work you love, the key is to lose yourself in it … clear away all distractions, find an interesting and challenging task, and just pour all your energy and focus into that task. With practice, you’ll forget about the outside world. There are few work-related joys that equal this feeling. Read more.

Help others. Is there any better feeling than helping a fellow human being? There aren’t many. And it’s not too hard — here are 25 ways.

Find time for peace. With the hectic pace of life these days, it’s hard to find a moment of peace. But if you can make time for solitude and quiet, it can be one of the happiest parts of your day. Here’s how.

Notice the small things. Instead of waiting for the big things to happen — marriage, kids, house, nice car, big promotion, winning the lottery — find happiness in the small things that happen every day. Little things like having a quiet cup of coffee in the early morning hours, or the delicious and simple taste of berries, or the pleasure of reading a book with your child, or taking a walk with your partner. Noticing these small pleasures, throughout your day, makes a huge difference.

Develop compassion. Compassion is developing a sense of shared suffering with others … and taking steps to alleviate the suffering of others. I think too often we forget about the suffering of others while focusing on our own suffering, and if we learned to share the suffering of others, our suffering would seem insignificant as a result. Compassion is an extremely valuable skill to learn, and you get better with practice. Here’s how.

Be grateful. Learning to be grateful for what’s in our lives, for the people who have enriched our lives, goes a long way toward happiness. It helps us to appreciate what we have and what we have received, and the people who have helped us. Read more.

Become a lifelong learner. I find an inordinate amount of pleasure in reading, in learning about new things, in enriching my knowledge as I get older. I think spending time reading some of the classics, as well as passionately pursuing new interests, is energy well invested. Try to do a little of it every day, and see if it doesn’t make you happier.

Simplify your life. This is really about identifying the things you love (see above) and then eliminating everything else as much as possible. By simplifying your life in this way, you create time for your happiness, and you reduce the stress and chaos in your life. In my experience, living a very simple life is also a pleasure in itself.

Slow down. Similar to simplifying, slowing down is just a matter of reminding yourself that there’s no need to rush through life. Schedule less things on your calendar, and more space between things. Learn to eat slower, drive slower, walk slower (unless you’re doing it for exercise). Going slowly helps to reduce stress, and improve the pleasure of doing things, and keeps you in the present moment.

Exercise. I’ve written about the pleasures of exercise many times. It can be hard to start an exercise program (here’s how) but once you get going, it relieves stress and can really give you a good feeling. I feel joyful every time I go out for a run!

Meditate. You don’t need to join a Zendo or get a mat or learn any lotus positions, but the simplest form of meditation can really help you to be present and to get out of the worrying part of your head. You can do it right now: close your eyes and simply try to focus on your breathing as long as possible. Pay attention to the breath as it comes into your body, and then as it goes out. When you feel your mind start to wander, don’t fret, but just simply acknowledge the other thoughts, and then return to your breathing. Do this a little each day and you’ll get better at it.

Learn to accept. One of the challenges for people like me — people who want to improve themselves and change the world — is learning to accept things as they are. Sometimes it’s better to learn to accept, and to love, the world as it is, and people as they are, rather than to try to make everything and everyone conform to an impossible ideal. I’m not saying you should accept cruelty and injustice, but learn to love things when they are less than “perfect”.

Spend time in nature. Go outside and take a walk each day, or take the time to watch a sunset or sunrise. Or find a body of water — the ocean, a lake, a river, a pond — and spend time taking a look at it, contemplating it. If you’re lucky enough to live near some woods, or a mountain, or a canyon, go hiking. Time in nature is time invested in your happiness.

Find the miracles in life. I absolutely believe in miracles, and believe that they are all around us, every day. My children are all miracles. The kindnesses of strangers are miracles. The life growing all around us is a miracle. Find those miracles in your life, and enjoy the majesty of them.
For more happiness reading, check out my favorite happiness blog: The Happiness Project, by the lovely Gretchen Rubin.

The web of life

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"Man did not weave the web of life,

he is merely a strand in it.

Whatever he does to the web,

he does to himself."

~ Chief Seattle~

Spiritual Activism: Co-creating The World We Seek

2008-07-12T10:27:00.003-04:00

By Carla GoldsteinDirector, The Women’s Institute at Omega

For decades I have considered myself a women’s rights and social justice activist. The word “spiritual” wasn’t in my vocabulary, and I still trip on it.....I realized that approaching our social disagreements through extreme polarization and name-calling was not a winning strategy.

Below is a list of emerging principles for a new model of spiritual activism.

AWARENESS, COMPASSION AND LOVE We take action that is born out of awareness, compassion and love, not out of reaction, fear and anger.
INTERDEPENDENCE We see relationships to others and the world in the context of our interdependence. We no longer see the “enemy” or “other” as isolated from ourselves. This does not strip away our ability to recognize and name injustice, but helps us understand that the root of both suffering and joy ultimately circles back to us because of our unity as a whole organism.
EMPOWERMENT We use power to empower others rather than to dominate over others.
THE MEANS MATTERS We bring the intention of love and compassion equally to the means and the ends, understanding that relationships are central to process.
MINDFULNESS AND PRESENCE We cultivate mindfulness and the capacity to be present for others so that our relationships and actions are coming from intention and awareness.
PARADOX & MYSTERY We accept paradox and mystery, which allows us to see that the truth can be ambiguous, complex, contradictory or unknowable. This, in turn, relieves us from the need to always classify into either/or, right and wrong.
SEEKING BALANCE We seek balance in our lives to bring healing to self and others; balance between our inner and outer lives, and between our mind, body, heart, and spirit.
OPEN TO SUFFERING We open our hearts to suffering rather than isolate ourselves from it so that we can cultivate self-understanding, empathy with others, and benefit from the wisdom that we gain from seeing reality as it is.
BEYOND PROXIMATE CAUSE We take responsibility for our actions and assume a duty to others that stretches beyond our capacity to anticipate consequences.
LIVING OUR VALUES We live from our values consistently across all of our social roles, including in both the private and public sphere of our lives. Spiritual activism provides an integrative framework for daily

When you recognize the unconsciousness in you...

2008-07-12T10:05:00.001-04:00

But when you recognize the unconsciousness in you, that is your consciousness awakening. It is the act of recognition itself that is one of the ways in which awakening happens.

The best indicator of your level of consciousness

2008-06-04T21:38:00.002-04:00

For most people,

presence is experienced either never at all

only accidentally and briefly on rare occasions

without being recognised for what it is.

The best indicator of your level of consciousness is

how you deal with life's challenges when they come.

Through those challenges,

an already unconscious person tends to become more deeply unconscious,

and a conscious person more intensely conscious.

You can use a challenge to awaken you,

you can allow it to pull you into even deeper sleep.

Protection from deeply unconscious people

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Nonreaction to the ego in others

is one of the most effective ways

not only of going beyond ego in yourself

but also of dissolving the collective human ego.

But you can only be in a state of nonreaction

if you can recognize someone's behavior as coming from the ego,

as being an expression of the collective human dysfunction.

When you realize it's not personal,

there is no longer a compulsion to react as if it were.

By not reacting to the ego,

you will often be able to bring out the sanity in others,

At times you may have to take practical steps

to protect yourself from

deeply unconscious people.

This you can do without making them into enemies.

Your greatest protection, however,

is being conscious.

Denial of the present...

2008-06-02T06:57:00.000-04:00

“All negativity is caused by denial of the present.

Unease, anxiety, tension, stress, worry

– all forms of fear –

are caused by too much future,

and not enough presence.

Presence is the reality that

dissolves the past and future.”

I am the Now

2008-06-01T20:22:00.000-04:00

~
A simple but radical spiritual practice is
to accept whatever arises in the Now
- within and without.
~
When your attention moves into the Now,
there is an alertness.
It is as if you were waking up from a dream,
the dream of thought,
the dream of past and future.
Such clarity,
such simplicity.
No room for problem making.
Just this moment as it is.
~
I am not my thoughts, emotions, sense perceptions, and experiences.
I am not the content of my life.
I am Life.
I am the space in which all things happen.
I am consciousness.
I am the Now.
I Am.
~

losing my train of thought....

2008-05-31T10:31:00.000-04:00

"The equivalent of external noise is the inner noise of thinking.

The equivalent of external silence is inner stillness. "

"Dogmas - religious, political, scientiﬁc - arise out of the erroneous belief that thought can encapsulate reality or the truth. Dogmas are collective conceptual prisons. And the strange thing is that people love their prison cells because they give them a sense of security and a false sense of "I know."
Nothing has inflicted more suffering on humanity than its dogmas. It is true that every dogma crumbles sooner or later, because reality will eventually disclose its falseness; however, unless the basic delusion of it is seen for what it is, it will be replaced by others.
What is this basic delusion? Identiﬁcation with thought."

"The quicker you are in attaching verbal or mental labels to things, people, or situations, the more shallow and lifeless your reality becomes, and the more deadened you become to reality, the miracle of life that continuously unfolds within and around you.
In this way, cleverness may be gained, but wisdom is lost, and so are joy, love, creativity, and aliveness. They are concealed in the still gap between the perception and the interpretation. Of course we have to use words and thoughts. They have their own beauty - but do we need to become imprisoned by them."
Quotes: Eckhart Tolle

Stand Still

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Stand still.

The trees ahead and bushes beside you

Are not lost.

Wherever you are is called Here,

And you must treat it as a powerful stranger,

Must ask permission to know it and be known.

The forest breathes.

Listen.

It answers,

I have made this place around you.

If you leave it, you may come back again, saying Here.

No two trees are the same to Raven.

No two branches are the same to Wren.

If what a tree or a bush does is lost on you,

You are surely lost. Stand still.

The forest knows

Where you are.

You must let it find you.

David Wagoner

Acceptance

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Wherever you are, be there totally.

If you find your here and now intolerable and it makes you unhappy,

you have three options:

remove yourself from the situation,

change it,

accept it totally.

Eckhart Tolle