One of a series of messages sent to those participating in our 30Day Meditation Challenge. This was sent just after midnight, June 27.
Well, I must apologize for my absence. I didn't fall off the face of the earth, but I did fall off my own wagon in terms of sending you messages every day. The weather, both internal and external, has been tempestuous. All part of everyday life, of course. I remind myself, by reminding you, that we practice meditation in order to be practiced in meeting life where we find it. Some days are harder than others. Some days we are too tired, or angry, or just plain sorry for ourselves to make it to the cushion.--though we may know that those are the days we most need to sit, quiet our mind, witness ourselves.
I hope that your practice is going well. Whether you have sat as many days as you meant to or not, I hope that this challenge is teaching you something--some things--about yourself and your own mind.
Here's a quote:
"This method of synchronizing your mind and body is training you to be very simple and to feel that you are not special, but ordinary, extra-ordinary. You sit simply, as a warrior, and out of that, a sense of individual dignity arises. You are sitting on the earth and you realize that this earth deserves you and you deserve this earth. You are there--fully, personally, genuinely."
-Shambhala: The Sacred Path of the Warrior, Chogyam Trungpa
Talk to you soon!
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Meditation Challenge: Day 19
From a series of messages sent to our 30Day Meditation Challenge group. I sent this one just after midnight, June 20
We are nearly 2/3 of the way through this challenge. I myself have been finding this commitment to be...well...challenging to keep. I've meditated most days, but certainly not all. I've talked to a few of you who are also struggling. The important thing, of course, is to persevere. I do wonder if there is anyone out there who has managed to make it to the cushion every single day. Don't be shy; speak up and let us know! We could all use a little positive modeling, I think.
Lately I've been thinking about this: whenever I get to a place where I think I have some of the big things figured out--life, love, Right Livelihood, etc.--life comes along and provides me with a new challenge or two. (To be honest, it feels more like a smackdown, most of the time). Now, I know full well that the challenges are part of the journey, and perhaps the most important part. But still I find myself asking "Why? Why me, why now, when I'm trying so hard to live well?"
Here's a short, sweet answer for you, courtesy of Hildegard of Bingen, a cloistered Bavarian nun of the 12th century.
"Holy persons draw to themselves all that is earthly."
Yep. There's no point in making this journey unless you're ready to come back to earth and use what you have learned.
I leave you with one more quote from Hildegard:
"Where do we begin? Begin with the heart."
Amen, sister.
Talk to you soon!
--Both quotes from Meditations with Hildegard of Bingen, translated and illustrated by Gabriele Uhlein, OSF
We are nearly 2/3 of the way through this challenge. I myself have been finding this commitment to be...well...challenging to keep. I've meditated most days, but certainly not all. I've talked to a few of you who are also struggling. The important thing, of course, is to persevere. I do wonder if there is anyone out there who has managed to make it to the cushion every single day. Don't be shy; speak up and let us know! We could all use a little positive modeling, I think.
Lately I've been thinking about this: whenever I get to a place where I think I have some of the big things figured out--life, love, Right Livelihood, etc.--life comes along and provides me with a new challenge or two. (To be honest, it feels more like a smackdown, most of the time). Now, I know full well that the challenges are part of the journey, and perhaps the most important part. But still I find myself asking "Why? Why me, why now, when I'm trying so hard to live well?"
Here's a short, sweet answer for you, courtesy of Hildegard of Bingen, a cloistered Bavarian nun of the 12th century.
"Holy persons draw to themselves all that is earthly."
Yep. There's no point in making this journey unless you're ready to come back to earth and use what you have learned.
I leave you with one more quote from Hildegard:
"Where do we begin? Begin with the heart."
Amen, sister.
Talk to you soon!
--Both quotes from Meditations with Hildegard of Bingen, translated and illustrated by Gabriele Uhlein, OSF
Monday, June 18, 2007
Meditation Challenge: Day 18
From a series of messages sent to the participants in our 30-Day Meditation Challenge. I sent this one today, June 18.
Can it really be Day 18? Well, yes, it is, though it is early yet, so for me it feels as if this is Day 17's entry. (As I did my usual late-night meditation last night, but decided to write to you this morning).
This was a weekend full of challenges, and I often found it difficult to make time for myself, my thoughts, my inner space, my meditation time. Suffice it to say that the weekend began with a wake and ended with a busted refrigerator, and you'll get an idea of how I'm feeling today. As I did my other Monday-morning work, I've been searching for a decent quote for you. I've been searching, believe it or not, since 8:30 a.m.
3 hours later, here is a little bit of inspiration that doesn't deal directly with meditation, but with the vicissitudes of life that our practice helps us to live through.
"Periods of darkness, times in the forest and the underworld, are times when we are in the cauldron, more aware than during ordinary times of the necessity and possibility of regeneration and healing, in the place of surrender and choice.
To be vulnerable and fallible, to have a shadow and a soul, to make our way through life determining who we become by the choices we make, is what we do here. Over and over again, it seems to me, life comes along and says, "Choose!"...These are the decisions that shape our lives, which ultimately are soul journeys."
--Jean Shinoda Bolen, Crossing to Avalon, 1994
Enjoy the journey.
Can it really be Day 18? Well, yes, it is, though it is early yet, so for me it feels as if this is Day 17's entry. (As I did my usual late-night meditation last night, but decided to write to you this morning).
This was a weekend full of challenges, and I often found it difficult to make time for myself, my thoughts, my inner space, my meditation time. Suffice it to say that the weekend began with a wake and ended with a busted refrigerator, and you'll get an idea of how I'm feeling today. As I did my other Monday-morning work, I've been searching for a decent quote for you. I've been searching, believe it or not, since 8:30 a.m.
3 hours later, here is a little bit of inspiration that doesn't deal directly with meditation, but with the vicissitudes of life that our practice helps us to live through.
"Periods of darkness, times in the forest and the underworld, are times when we are in the cauldron, more aware than during ordinary times of the necessity and possibility of regeneration and healing, in the place of surrender and choice.
To be vulnerable and fallible, to have a shadow and a soul, to make our way through life determining who we become by the choices we make, is what we do here. Over and over again, it seems to me, life comes along and says, "Choose!"...These are the decisions that shape our lives, which ultimately are soul journeys."
--Jean Shinoda Bolen, Crossing to Avalon, 1994
Enjoy the journey.
Thursday, June 14, 2007
Meditation Challenge: Day 14
Another from a series of messages sent out to participants in our 30-Day Meditation Challenge. I sent this one on June 14.
Two weeks in, how is everyone doing?I'll keep it brief tonight. Here are two short and simple quotes for you, both from Charlotte Joko Beck's wonderful book Everyday Zen: Life and Work.
"If you are new to practice it's important to realize that simply to sit on that cushion for fifteen minutes is a victory. Just to sit with that much composure, just to sit there, is fine."
"Each moment, as it is, is complete and full in itself. Seeing this, no matter what arises in each moment, we can let it be. Right now, what is your moment? Happiness? Anxiety? Pleasure? Discouragement? Up and down we go, but each moment is exactly what each moment is. Our practice, our aspiration, is to be that moment and let it be what it is. If you are afraid, just be fear, and right there you are fearless."
Enjoy your moment!
Two weeks in, how is everyone doing?I'll keep it brief tonight. Here are two short and simple quotes for you, both from Charlotte Joko Beck's wonderful book Everyday Zen: Life and Work.
"If you are new to practice it's important to realize that simply to sit on that cushion for fifteen minutes is a victory. Just to sit with that much composure, just to sit there, is fine."
"Each moment, as it is, is complete and full in itself. Seeing this, no matter what arises in each moment, we can let it be. Right now, what is your moment? Happiness? Anxiety? Pleasure? Discouragement? Up and down we go, but each moment is exactly what each moment is. Our practice, our aspiration, is to be that moment and let it be what it is. If you are afraid, just be fear, and right there you are fearless."
Enjoy your moment!
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Meditation Challenge: Day 13
From a series of messages sent to our 30 Day Meditation Challenge group. This one was sent June 13
What a roller-coaster of a week this has been on my end. Our goal of 30 days has sometimes (often) been the only anchor that could drag me to the meditation cushion in the midst of my private turmoil. I've been grateful for that. Though sometimes I think, "Oh no...another 19 days to go. What did I get myself into?"I have a feeling I'm not alone in my feeling. Usually once I've finished meditating for the day, I am grateful to have made it to the cushion, grateful to have kept my commitment. Sometimes not, to be honest; sometimes I feel just as worn out and worn down, just as confused, as I did before I sat. Yet I persevere, my faith in the process undaunted. And knowing that I could never let the rest of you down.
Here is today's quote:
"I can choose, and it is this exercise of volition, an...ancient potential of human behavior, that holds me accountable for the consequences of what I do. I did not set in motion the karmic stream, but it's up to me how I negotiate its currents. I can go with the current, swim against it, or seek a shoreline, but the currents and eddies of the stream are forever shifting and leave me no option but to continually decide what to do. My choices bear upon the stream itself, for it is a mutual stream in which all of creation swims. I can do nothing that will not affect you. You can do nothing that will not affect me. We are awash together, bound in such intricate and binding reciprocity that if anything moves, all moves."
--from "Ten Thousand Mistakes", by Lin Jensen, Shambhala Sun, March 2007
Talk to you...very soon!
What a roller-coaster of a week this has been on my end. Our goal of 30 days has sometimes (often) been the only anchor that could drag me to the meditation cushion in the midst of my private turmoil. I've been grateful for that. Though sometimes I think, "Oh no...another 19 days to go. What did I get myself into?"I have a feeling I'm not alone in my feeling. Usually once I've finished meditating for the day, I am grateful to have made it to the cushion, grateful to have kept my commitment. Sometimes not, to be honest; sometimes I feel just as worn out and worn down, just as confused, as I did before I sat. Yet I persevere, my faith in the process undaunted. And knowing that I could never let the rest of you down.
Here is today's quote:
"I can choose, and it is this exercise of volition, an...ancient potential of human behavior, that holds me accountable for the consequences of what I do. I did not set in motion the karmic stream, but it's up to me how I negotiate its currents. I can go with the current, swim against it, or seek a shoreline, but the currents and eddies of the stream are forever shifting and leave me no option but to continually decide what to do. My choices bear upon the stream itself, for it is a mutual stream in which all of creation swims. I can do nothing that will not affect you. You can do nothing that will not affect me. We are awash together, bound in such intricate and binding reciprocity that if anything moves, all moves."
--from "Ten Thousand Mistakes", by Lin Jensen, Shambhala Sun, March 2007
Talk to you...very soon!
Monday, June 11, 2007
Meditation Challenge: Day 11
Hi again! I went away for the weekend...well, okay, I didn't actually go anywhere, but the days were too full of weekend-type activities for me to find time to write to you. For which I apologize; I was thinking about you. Especially on Saturday, when I completely forgot to meditate and then felt a surge of guilt, because I'd somehow let all of you down...Eventually I got over myself, and thankfully also got over the momentary and childish urge to cover up my missed day. We're all human here, right?
In the original article about the 30-Day Practice Challenge, the interviewer asks the creator of the first challenge, Andrea McQuillin if she ever "cheated". She responds, "No, I haven't cheated. There are days when I haven't practiced." Think about that for a moment. What's the difference between cheating and not doing what you've set out to do? Being honest with yourself and others about it. Saturday was the first day I've missed this month--though I'll tell you, it's nearing 12:30 a.m. as I write this, and I am contemplating not practicing tonight. But you know what? I'm pretty sure I will. Something about my commitment to greeting each of you (almost) every day keeps me on the cushion. Thank you for being here with me. (Even though "here" is somewhere else for each of us...and isn't *that* a subject for contemplation?!)
Enough of my late-night ramblings! Back to our regularly scheduled inspiration. Why do we meditate? Here's one answer:
"To be this close to the moment in which our life is unfolding we need to cultivate a deeper awareness through the development of a meditation practice. Awareness is itself a healing quality. Where awareness is focused the deepest potentials for clarity and balance present themselves. Though what we are aware of may be incessantly changing, awareness itself remains a constant, a luminous spaciousness without beginning or end, without birth or death. It is the essence of life itself. It is what remains when all that is impermanent falls away. It is the deathless."
--from A Year to Live, Stephen Levine, 1997
Talk to you tomorrow!
In the original article about the 30-Day Practice Challenge, the interviewer asks the creator of the first challenge, Andrea McQuillin if she ever "cheated". She responds, "No, I haven't cheated. There are days when I haven't practiced." Think about that for a moment. What's the difference between cheating and not doing what you've set out to do? Being honest with yourself and others about it. Saturday was the first day I've missed this month--though I'll tell you, it's nearing 12:30 a.m. as I write this, and I am contemplating not practicing tonight. But you know what? I'm pretty sure I will. Something about my commitment to greeting each of you (almost) every day keeps me on the cushion. Thank you for being here with me. (Even though "here" is somewhere else for each of us...and isn't *that* a subject for contemplation?!)
Enough of my late-night ramblings! Back to our regularly scheduled inspiration. Why do we meditate? Here's one answer:
"To be this close to the moment in which our life is unfolding we need to cultivate a deeper awareness through the development of a meditation practice. Awareness is itself a healing quality. Where awareness is focused the deepest potentials for clarity and balance present themselves. Though what we are aware of may be incessantly changing, awareness itself remains a constant, a luminous spaciousness without beginning or end, without birth or death. It is the essence of life itself. It is what remains when all that is impermanent falls away. It is the deathless."
--from A Year to Live, Stephen Levine, 1997
Talk to you tomorrow!
Friday, June 8, 2007
Meditation Challenge: Day 8
From daily messages sent out to those participating in our 30Day Meditation Challenge. This went out June 8.
Today we began our second week of practice, our 8th day of challenging ourselves to sit, to practice. Already it's not easy. Here, we have been gradually increasing our sitting time. Tonight we made it to 15 minutes. 15 minutes!!! It can seem so interminable...and yet in many ways, it seems like no more time than the 5 minutes we began with after the Dalai Lama's visit. 15 minutes is long enough to begin to glimpse something, a brief moment of not-thinking, not-planning, not-scheming. I'd say my practice tonight was about...14 minutes, 25 seconds of monkey mind, and 35 seconds of no-mind. Which is 35 seconds more than I'd had all day.
Here's a quote:
"We say: 'Everything comes out of emptiness.' One whole river or one whole mind is emptiness. When we reach this understanding we find the true meaning of our life. When we reach this understanding we can see the beauty of human life. Before we realize this fact, everything that we see is just delusion. Sometimes we overestimate the beauty; sometimes we underestimate or ignore the beauty because our small mind is not in accord with reality."
-from Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind, Shunryu Suzuki
Talk to you tomorrow!
Today we began our second week of practice, our 8th day of challenging ourselves to sit, to practice. Already it's not easy. Here, we have been gradually increasing our sitting time. Tonight we made it to 15 minutes. 15 minutes!!! It can seem so interminable...and yet in many ways, it seems like no more time than the 5 minutes we began with after the Dalai Lama's visit. 15 minutes is long enough to begin to glimpse something, a brief moment of not-thinking, not-planning, not-scheming. I'd say my practice tonight was about...14 minutes, 25 seconds of monkey mind, and 35 seconds of no-mind. Which is 35 seconds more than I'd had all day.
Here's a quote:
"We say: 'Everything comes out of emptiness.' One whole river or one whole mind is emptiness. When we reach this understanding we find the true meaning of our life. When we reach this understanding we can see the beauty of human life. Before we realize this fact, everything that we see is just delusion. Sometimes we overestimate the beauty; sometimes we underestimate or ignore the beauty because our small mind is not in accord with reality."
-from Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind, Shunryu Suzuki
Talk to you tomorrow!
Thursday, June 7, 2007
Meditation Challenge: Day 7
Yet another entry written for our group involved in the 30Day Meditation Challenge. Sent out June 7.
I have a cat. He's one of those strange cats who acts more like a dog. We joke that he doesn't quite understand the "cat thing", which dictates aloofness and cool behavior, and instead wants to be included with everything. If left to his own devices, he would follow me around like a puppy, mewling conversationally the whole time. Needless to say, he's right there with me for each meditation session. The first night, he surprised me by coming right up to where I sat--on my meditation cushion, on the floor--and after his meowing elicited no response, stood up on his hindlegs, put one paw on my shoulder, and extended the other to my face, as if to say, "Are you all right?" That was an entirely new move.
Most nights he contents himself with sniffing me (or us, when two of us are sitting), circling our periphery. He'll give a tender nip to my elbow, his usual signal to pay attention. Then he'll leap up to the chair between us, and curl up contentedly, nose tucked under his tail. Cats are supreme meditators.
So I looked for a quote about animals and meditation, but I haven't found one yet. I'll just have to put it in my own words: if you have a pet, you have probably noticed their attraction to meditation. They are drawn to be right next to you as you practice. (I have noticed the same phenomenon with yoga, with rehearsals of both music and dance, and with Shamanic journeying). I believe that animals are drawn to congruency of body and mind, and when we calm our mind, settle into ourselves, and return to the present moment--we are finally in harmony with them.
What do you think? I know we have a fair amount of dog lovers out there--and even one dog professional!
And here's a quote for you:
"In many spiritual traditions, sitting meditation is the universal posture used for accessing the human resource of wisdom. In silence, the sitter becomes the fair witness and suspends judgment of the process that is revealed....Sitting meditation teaches people how to wait, listen, and observe what is revealed...[It] teaches us about the art of observation, where ideas and images are released as quickly as they are revealed."
-from The Four-Fold Way: Walking the Paths of the Warrior, Teacher, Healer and Visionary, Angeles Arrien, 1993.
Congratulations on your first week of meditation!
I have a cat. He's one of those strange cats who acts more like a dog. We joke that he doesn't quite understand the "cat thing", which dictates aloofness and cool behavior, and instead wants to be included with everything. If left to his own devices, he would follow me around like a puppy, mewling conversationally the whole time. Needless to say, he's right there with me for each meditation session. The first night, he surprised me by coming right up to where I sat--on my meditation cushion, on the floor--and after his meowing elicited no response, stood up on his hindlegs, put one paw on my shoulder, and extended the other to my face, as if to say, "Are you all right?" That was an entirely new move.
Most nights he contents himself with sniffing me (or us, when two of us are sitting), circling our periphery. He'll give a tender nip to my elbow, his usual signal to pay attention. Then he'll leap up to the chair between us, and curl up contentedly, nose tucked under his tail. Cats are supreme meditators.
So I looked for a quote about animals and meditation, but I haven't found one yet. I'll just have to put it in my own words: if you have a pet, you have probably noticed their attraction to meditation. They are drawn to be right next to you as you practice. (I have noticed the same phenomenon with yoga, with rehearsals of both music and dance, and with Shamanic journeying). I believe that animals are drawn to congruency of body and mind, and when we calm our mind, settle into ourselves, and return to the present moment--we are finally in harmony with them.
What do you think? I know we have a fair amount of dog lovers out there--and even one dog professional!
And here's a quote for you:
"In many spiritual traditions, sitting meditation is the universal posture used for accessing the human resource of wisdom. In silence, the sitter becomes the fair witness and suspends judgment of the process that is revealed....Sitting meditation teaches people how to wait, listen, and observe what is revealed...[It] teaches us about the art of observation, where ideas and images are released as quickly as they are revealed."
-from The Four-Fold Way: Walking the Paths of the Warrior, Teacher, Healer and Visionary, Angeles Arrien, 1993.
Congratulations on your first week of meditation!
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
Meditation Challenge, Day 6
Another short and sweet entry at the end of another day...this week has continued to be tempestuous, at least in terms of internal weather. We've had everything from fender-benders to drastic schedule changes to deal with around here. I hope to have time to write more later in the week, but for now, I leave you with a little inspiration:
"By bringing awareness to thought, the practice of meditation helps you get free of your immediate negative reactions, which are fear-based. Instead of being judgmental, you can become inquisitive about other people and take delight in them. You can take them in completely. You can do this even if you still end up not liking them very much."
Susan Piver, "Out of Fear", Shambhala Sun, March 2007
Talk to you tomorrow!
"By bringing awareness to thought, the practice of meditation helps you get free of your immediate negative reactions, which are fear-based. Instead of being judgmental, you can become inquisitive about other people and take delight in them. You can take them in completely. You can do this even if you still end up not liking them very much."
Susan Piver, "Out of Fear", Shambhala Sun, March 2007
Talk to you tomorrow!
Tuesday, June 5, 2007
Meditation Challenge: Day 5
Sent to our 30-Day Meditation Challenge, early in the morning of June 6. (But still Day 5 for me).
Technically, it is Day 6 as I write this; just after 1:00 a.m., and I am wrapping up a very long day. I am about to sit myself down for my daily practice, so I will keep this note short and sweet. Here is a poem for you:
Remember
That to have the eyes of an artist,
That can be enough,
The ear of a poet,
That can be enough.
The soul of a human
just pointed
in the direction of the divine,
that can be more than enough.
I tell you this to remind myself.
Every gesture is an act of creation.
Even empty spaces and silence
can be the wings and voices of angels.
---Michele Linfante (though I found it in A Big New Free Happy Unusual Life: Self-expression and Spiritual Practice for Those Who Have Time for Neither, by Nina Wise, a wonderful performance artist and teacher)
Talk to you tomorrow!
Technically, it is Day 6 as I write this; just after 1:00 a.m., and I am wrapping up a very long day. I am about to sit myself down for my daily practice, so I will keep this note short and sweet. Here is a poem for you:
Remember
That to have the eyes of an artist,
That can be enough,
The ear of a poet,
That can be enough.
The soul of a human
just pointed
in the direction of the divine,
that can be more than enough.
I tell you this to remind myself.
Every gesture is an act of creation.
Even empty spaces and silence
can be the wings and voices of angels.
---Michele Linfante (though I found it in A Big New Free Happy Unusual Life: Self-expression and Spiritual Practice for Those Who Have Time for Neither, by Nina Wise, a wonderful performance artist and teacher)
Talk to you tomorrow!
Monday, June 4, 2007
Meditation Challenge: Day 4
Part of a series of messages sent to our 30-Day Meditation Challenge group. Today is Day 4, June 4.
A busy Monday, our first since the challenge began. It was also a gloomy, rainy, tempestuous day, one marked by upsets and challenges for many of the people I talked to. I hope you were able to make time for yourself, and your practice, today.
Personally, my workday began at 8:00 a.m. and is just now wrapping up--9:53 p.m. And that's not counting a rehearsal that I really should squeeze in before finally sitting down to dinner! Do I feel like meditating? Well....er....actually, I do. (I've surprised myself, but I'm really looking forward to sitting tonight). But I would do it even if I didn't feel like it. I don't feel like paying the bills a lot of the time, but I've learned to make myself do it. Or, perhaps a better example, I don't always like rehearsing--but I feel much, much better when I've done it. Even if the rehearsal was grueling, painful, and boring.
That's the strange truth about meditation: it doesn't always feel good. Yet, somehow, it always...feels good. At least in retrospect!
Here is today's inspiration:
"Although meditation may seem like a practice that turns away from the world, it is not a way to avoid problems or difficulty. We meditate partly to have the strength to confront the challenges in our life and world. As you allow your meditation practice to grow, it naturally opens the heart and helps you to connect, feel, and care more deeply for the natural world. With practice, you can allow your own deepening awareness of your interconnectedness with all life to inform how you take action to protect the things you love and hold dear."
--from Awake in the Wild: Mindfulness in Nature as a Path of Self-Discovery, by Mark Coleman, 2006. (Though I found it in the March 2007 issue of Shambhala Sun).
Talk to you tomorrow!
A busy Monday, our first since the challenge began. It was also a gloomy, rainy, tempestuous day, one marked by upsets and challenges for many of the people I talked to. I hope you were able to make time for yourself, and your practice, today.
Personally, my workday began at 8:00 a.m. and is just now wrapping up--9:53 p.m. And that's not counting a rehearsal that I really should squeeze in before finally sitting down to dinner! Do I feel like meditating? Well....er....actually, I do. (I've surprised myself, but I'm really looking forward to sitting tonight). But I would do it even if I didn't feel like it. I don't feel like paying the bills a lot of the time, but I've learned to make myself do it. Or, perhaps a better example, I don't always like rehearsing--but I feel much, much better when I've done it. Even if the rehearsal was grueling, painful, and boring.
That's the strange truth about meditation: it doesn't always feel good. Yet, somehow, it always...feels good. At least in retrospect!
Here is today's inspiration:
"Although meditation may seem like a practice that turns away from the world, it is not a way to avoid problems or difficulty. We meditate partly to have the strength to confront the challenges in our life and world. As you allow your meditation practice to grow, it naturally opens the heart and helps you to connect, feel, and care more deeply for the natural world. With practice, you can allow your own deepening awareness of your interconnectedness with all life to inform how you take action to protect the things you love and hold dear."
--from Awake in the Wild: Mindfulness in Nature as a Path of Self-Discovery, by Mark Coleman, 2006. (Though I found it in the March 2007 issue of Shambhala Sun).
Talk to you tomorrow!
Sunday, June 3, 2007
Meditation Challenge: Day 3
An excerpt from a message sent to the 30-Day Meditation Challenge group today, June 3
Here is today's inspiration:
It takes courage to sit well...We have to be willing to do something that is not easy...As we sit, we find that the primary thing we must work with is our busy, chaotic mind. We are all caught up in frantic thinking and the problem in practice is to begin to bring that thinking into clarity and balance. When the mind becomes clear and balanced and is no longer caught by objects, there can be an opening--and for a second we can realize who we really are.
--from Everyday Zen: Love and Work, Charlotte Joko Beck, 1989
Keep up the good work!
Here is today's inspiration:
It takes courage to sit well...We have to be willing to do something that is not easy...As we sit, we find that the primary thing we must work with is our busy, chaotic mind. We are all caught up in frantic thinking and the problem in practice is to begin to bring that thinking into clarity and balance. When the mind becomes clear and balanced and is no longer caught by objects, there can be an opening--and for a second we can realize who we really are.
--from Everyday Zen: Love and Work, Charlotte Joko Beck, 1989
Keep up the good work!
Meditation Challenge: Day 2
These messages were sent to those participating in a 30-Day Meditation Challenge. I have cross-posted them here for the benefit of anyone and everyone who might be interested.
Sutra 2.46: Sthira-sukham asanam.
The connection to the earth should be steady and joyful.
Second, from modern Yoga instructor Rodney Yee:
Sit and feel your connectedness to the earth--
your posture rising from the fluidity of your spine--
the ease with which you can balance over your connectedness--
the small finger of your individual existence on the huge body of the planet
Can you let your mind broaden into a much larger consciousness, supported by your contact with the ground?
--from Yoga: the Poetry of the Body, Rodney Yee with Nina Zolotow, 2002
Sit, and be. Rest in the moment. See you tomorrow!
Greetings!
We have reached Day 2. I'm sure by this time (it's a little after 5 p.m. as I write this), many of you have already completed your practice for the day. Some of you are probably like me: I prefer to wait until my work for the day is done, and then sit. It provides a break for my busy mind. Whichever time of day works for you is fine. There is no one right time.
I didn't get around to sitting until nearly midnight last night, and when I finished, the first thing I realized was how tired I was. It didn't take long for that feeling to pass, though, and I felt invigorated. Today I have more mental energy than I've had in a long time. I don't always react that way to meditating, and of course the goal of meditation is not really to emerge as a more productive person. (Though "studies show" that can happen, but we think of it as more of a beneficial side effect). What is the goal? Is there one? Probably not...the aim is, I think, simply to be with ourselves, to slow down and sit awhile. What do you think?
By the way, today or tomorrow I hope to have a Yahoo group set up, whereby those of you who wish can exchange ideas and spur each other on.
Today's inspiration consists of two interlocking ideas from the world of Yoga. Yoga as we think of it, the physical practices, are really just one arm of an eight-limbed philosophy for life. The original purpose of Hatha Yoga (the physical poses) was to prepare the body for sitting meditation.
First, from the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, which collect the guiding thoughts of Yoga:
We have reached Day 2. I'm sure by this time (it's a little after 5 p.m. as I write this), many of you have already completed your practice for the day. Some of you are probably like me: I prefer to wait until my work for the day is done, and then sit. It provides a break for my busy mind. Whichever time of day works for you is fine. There is no one right time.
I didn't get around to sitting until nearly midnight last night, and when I finished, the first thing I realized was how tired I was. It didn't take long for that feeling to pass, though, and I felt invigorated. Today I have more mental energy than I've had in a long time. I don't always react that way to meditating, and of course the goal of meditation is not really to emerge as a more productive person. (Though "studies show" that can happen, but we think of it as more of a beneficial side effect). What is the goal? Is there one? Probably not...the aim is, I think, simply to be with ourselves, to slow down and sit awhile. What do you think?
By the way, today or tomorrow I hope to have a Yahoo group set up, whereby those of you who wish can exchange ideas and spur each other on.
Today's inspiration consists of two interlocking ideas from the world of Yoga. Yoga as we think of it, the physical practices, are really just one arm of an eight-limbed philosophy for life. The original purpose of Hatha Yoga (the physical poses) was to prepare the body for sitting meditation.
First, from the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, which collect the guiding thoughts of Yoga:
Sutra 2.46: Sthira-sukham asanam.
The connection to the earth should be steady and joyful.
Second, from modern Yoga instructor Rodney Yee:
Sit and feel your connectedness to the earth--
your posture rising from the fluidity of your spine--
the ease with which you can balance over your connectedness--
the small finger of your individual existence on the huge body of the planet
Can you let your mind broaden into a much larger consciousness, supported by your contact with the ground?
--from Yoga: the Poetry of the Body, Rodney Yee with Nina Zolotow, 2002
Sit, and be. Rest in the moment. See you tomorrow!
Meditation Challenge: Day 1
This was sent out to our group for the 30-Day Meditation Challenge on June 1. I've cross-posted it here for the benefit of anyone who would like to join in...or is just curious.
Well, I meant to send this out while most of you were still at work, but, alas... So some of you may be on Day 4 by the time you see this message...and if so, congratulations, both of for making it to Day 4 and for staying away from e-mail for the entire weekend! For the rest of us...
We have begun. I know that some of you began already this morning; well done! Others may be planning to begin when you arrive home from work, or before bed. That's fine, too. Just make sure you note the good you are doing for yourself.
I have asked to provide more resources on how to meditate, so I'll be dropping these in as the days pass. To begin with, here are some of my favorite books:
Well, I meant to send this out while most of you were still at work, but, alas... So some of you may be on Day 4 by the time you see this message...and if so, congratulations, both of for making it to Day 4 and for staying away from e-mail for the entire weekend! For the rest of us...
We have begun. I know that some of you began already this morning; well done! Others may be planning to begin when you arrive home from work, or before bed. That's fine, too. Just make sure you note the good you are doing for yourself.
I have asked to provide more resources on how to meditate, so I'll be dropping these in as the days pass. To begin with, here are some of my favorite books:
Shambhala: The Sacred Path of the Warrior, Chogyam Trungpa
A Path with Heart, Jack Kornfield
Peace Is Every Step, Thich Nhat Hanh
Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind, Shunryu Suzuki
Start Where You Are, Pema Chodron
Insight Meditation, Joseph Goldstein
Here's a link to a concise introduction, sent in by one of our Challenge members:
http://health.discovery.com/centers/stress/articles/meditation/meditation_print.html
There is a lot more out there, so there will be much more to come. Please send me the names of any books or websites that *you* find helpful on this journey. For now, I leave you with a bit of inspiration:
Meditation is a practice that can teach us to enter each moment with wisdom, lightness, and a sense of humor. It is an art of opening and letting go, rather than accumulation or struggle. Then, even within our frustrations and difficulties, a remarkable inner sense of support and perspective can grow. Breathing in, "Wow, this experience is interesting, isn't it? Let me take another breath. Ah, this one is difficult, even terrifying, isn't it?" Breathing out, "Ah". It is an amazing process we have entered when we can train our hearts and minds to be open and steady and awake through it all.
--Jack Kornfield, A Path With Heart
Enjoy the process!
Meditation Challenge! The Welcome
This was originally sent out to our 30 Day Meditation Challenge group on May 31. I decided to cross-post those messages for the benefit of anyone who wants to get started on meditating without being bothered by joining a group. (But if you want to join the group, just comment, and I'll add you; you can start whenever you like!)
Welcome to the 30-Day Meditation Challenge. We will begin the official challenge tomorrow, June 1. In the meantime, please let me know if you need any resources or information regarding meditation.
For a successful meditation, the following is necessary: your attention, your patience with yourself, a comfortable place to sit/stand/walk, and time. That's all. Some of us sit on meditation cushions, others sit in chairs, on beds, on sofas, on park benches. Some even lie down for their meditation, while others walk. The important thing is the practice.
I will be offering you quotes and encouragement each day. If enough of you would like, I may start up a Yahoo group so that you could all encourage each other. Do me a favor, and let me know what you think of that idea...I think a group is a great help in keeping one in the challenge, and I know that all of you have valuable experiences to share, but I realize that some of you may wish to maintain your privacy.
That's all for today. Here is a quote for you, taken from the book that inspired me to begin meditating, many years ago:
Our life is an endless journey; it is like a broad highway that extends infinitely into the distance. The practice of meditation provides a vehicle to travel on that road. Our journey consists of constant ups and downs, hope and fear, but it is a good journey. The practice of meditation allows us to experience all the textures of the roadway, which is what the journey is all about. Through the practice of meditation, we begin to find that within ourselves there is no fundamental complaint about anyone or anything at all.
--Shambhala: The Sacred Path of the Warrior, Chogyam Trungpa
May your journey be replete with texture!
Welcome to the 30-Day Meditation Challenge. We will begin the official challenge tomorrow, June 1. In the meantime, please let me know if you need any resources or information regarding meditation.
For a successful meditation, the following is necessary: your attention, your patience with yourself, a comfortable place to sit/stand/walk, and time. That's all. Some of us sit on meditation cushions, others sit in chairs, on beds, on sofas, on park benches. Some even lie down for their meditation, while others walk. The important thing is the practice.
I will be offering you quotes and encouragement each day. If enough of you would like, I may start up a Yahoo group so that you could all encourage each other. Do me a favor, and let me know what you think of that idea...I think a group is a great help in keeping one in the challenge, and I know that all of you have valuable experiences to share, but I realize that some of you may wish to maintain your privacy.
That's all for today. Here is a quote for you, taken from the book that inspired me to begin meditating, many years ago:
Our life is an endless journey; it is like a broad highway that extends infinitely into the distance. The practice of meditation provides a vehicle to travel on that road. Our journey consists of constant ups and downs, hope and fear, but it is a good journey. The practice of meditation allows us to experience all the textures of the roadway, which is what the journey is all about. Through the practice of meditation, we begin to find that within ourselves there is no fundamental complaint about anyone or anything at all.
--Shambhala: The Sacred Path of the Warrior, Chogyam Trungpa
May your journey be replete with texture!
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