Dear Friends, Ānanda was a long-time attendant of the Buddha, and he’s one of my favorite characters from the suttas. He often asks the questions that we’d want to ask, or says the things that we’d say, and the Buddha gives a teaching to him – and by extension, to us. At one point, Ānanda says to the… Read More »
Dear Friends, Generosity is a favorite topic of mine. In studying and practicing generosity, I’ve learned much about qualities of the heart. Generosity is so much more than just a monetary exchange or giving a gift. There are many ways to give that we may already be doing – through our presence, and the way we are in… Read More »
Dear Friends, Galway Kinnell’s poem St Francis and the Sow starts: The budstands for all things,even for those things that don’t flower,for everything flowers, from within, of self-blessing; though sometimes it is necessaryto reteach a thing its loveliness,to put a hand on its browof the flowerand retell it in words and in touchit is lovelyuntil it flowers again from within, of self-blessing… Read More »
Dear Friends, There are many ways to cultivate mettā. Many teachers will lead a practice with the use of phrases. I like how Christina Feldman describes the purpose of these phrases: “The conscious cultivation of metta as a meditative pathway employs the use of a few simple phrases that give shape and language to the intention of metta.… Read More »
Dear Friends, Yesterday, I shared Christina Feldman’s idea that with mindfulness, we “turn towards” experience, and then with kindness, we can “stand beside” it. (Some of us may remember Jeanne sharing teachings on this approach too.) With this attitude, aversion doesn’t have to go away – wow! Christina says, “we learn to bring an attitude of kindness to… Read More »
Dear Friends, Turn on the news, and you’ll likely read about some manifestation of hatred, aversion, ill-will, fear, or variations thereof. Wars, crime, violence. Maybe not as news-worthy, you might have your own internal messages that come from that same source – impatience, judging, blame, harsh self-talk, and so on. We can even have aversion to aversion! “I’m… Read More »
Dear Friends, Let’s move into chapter 1 of Christina Feldman’s Boundless Heart. This chapter is a deep dive into the first quality of heart. The Pāli word for this quality is mettā. Christina describes the roots of this word: The word metta draws on the Pali/Sanskrit word mitta, which translates as “friend.” In turn mitta draws on an earlier… Read More »
Dear Friends, The qualities of heart-mind we’ll be investigating this month are referred to as the brahma viharas, which is often translated as the “divine abodes” – and that can seem like something to which we cannot relate. However, Christina Feldman points out these qualities aren’t unfamiliar. Likely all of us can think of times we have experienced kindness,… Read More »
Dear Friends, The first lines of a book, a speech, a song, a movie, often points to the subject or theme that will be explored in the work. (You can probably think of several opening lines that have stayed with you over the years.) Christina Feldman starts A Boundless Heart with this paragraph: There is no greater love… Read More »
Dear Friends, We are about to start another month-long exploration of ways to support a daily meditation practice. I’m so honored to have you as part of this community. The theme we will be exploring this month is infusing mindfulness with kindness as we go about daily life, with inspiration from the book Boundless Heart: The Buddha’s Path… Read More »
Once again, I will be offering daily meditation emails for January 2019. Are you interested in participating? I haven’t drafted everything out in full detail yet, by my plan is to explore the theme of infusing mindfulness with kindness as we go about daily life, with inspiration from the work of Christina Feldman’s Boundless Heart. Similar to previous… Read More »
Dear Friends, As another January draws to a close, I want to thank you for your words of encouragement, your comments and emails, and your dedication to your practice. It’s so much easier to sit on the cushion each day, knowing that many of you are joining me in that practice. A practice of gratitude is a support… Read More »
Dear Friends, I’m on retreat until Tuesday afternoon, but I’ve queued up some emails to keep you inspired while I’m away. Continuing with Bhante Gunaratana’s discussion in Chapter 13, now on the eightfold path. The eightfold path lists steps we can follow to realize the release from suffering caused by craving. In brief, they are: Skillful understanding –… Read More »
Dear Friends, I’m on retreat until Tuesday afternoon, but I’ve queued up some emails to keep you inspired while I’m away. Today and tomorrow will be brief… I think there is plenty of material, especially from Friday and Saturday, to keep you engaged! Chapter 13 in The Four Foundations of Mindfulness in Plain English visit the Four Noble Truths… Read More »
Dear Friends, I’m on retreat until Tuesday afternoon, but I’ve queued up some emails to keep you inspired while I’m away. The seventh factor of awakening and the fourth quality of the heart are both called “equanimity”. I’m not sure if the two are the same thing. I get the sense that they are, but that we are… Read More »
