Dear Friends, Over the past days, we have been exploring the air element – movement, breath, and continual change. It feels important to acknowledge that this exploration is unfolding at a time when the world itself feels especially unsettled. Many of us are taking in heavy news: lives lost, ongoing wars, threats to democratic systems, and a sense… Read More »
Dear Friends, As we continue exploring the fourth wise effort of sustaining wholesome states, Andrea Fella offers a beautiful perspective on how mindfulness and equanimity can help us nurture these states skillfully without clinging, in her talk “Fourth Right Effort and Equanimity.”https://www.audiodharma.org/talks/9603?code=YLNL (1 hour) Andrea reminds us that wholesome states like calm, joy, or equanimity can sometimes be… Read More »
Dear Friends, As we cultivate wise samadhi in conjunction with the other path factors, we begin to develop a stability of mind and heart. Wisdom develops, as we see things as they are. The heart can meet the conditions of the world with balance, perspective, with equanimity, upekkha. One way of describing equanimity is “to stand in the… Read More »
Dear Friends, Gil’s final talk on the faculty of samadhi first reminds us that this is something closer to our natural state when we relax all artifice. “We just settle into a very relaxed, deep, attentive way of being.”https://www.audiodharma.org/talks/11157 The progression discussed so far has gone from the initial ways we begin, over and over, to center the… Read More »
Dear Friends, Here we are, near the end of the month, and we have covered all the recordings from the retreat with Jill and DaRa. Some highlights from the last couple of weeks: The practice of appreciative joy (mudita), and that gratitude (wow thanks) is a supportive ally in cultivating this joy in the joy of others, as… Read More »
Dear Friends, One of the question themes explored in Questions and Answers was about maintaining equanimity in the midst of social injustice, the climate crisis, etc. Jill reiterated that equanimity is not about making us immune to the visceral responses that may arise. She says “We want to keep our aliveness, our humanness, our responsiveness, and use the… Read More »
Dear Friends, In Equanimity Practice, Jill invites the retreat participants into another relational practice related to equanimity. First she brings in an interesting question, as this was the penultimate day of the retreat – inviting the participants to notice how they are responding to the ending of the retreat as that can highlight the habitual tendency we might… Read More »
Dear Friends, In Morning Instructions – Working with Equanimity, Jill sets the stage for practicing with equanimity as a heart quality. One of the ways to cultivate equanimity in practice is with the use of phrases. Jill summarizes some from various teachers that relate to cultivating equanimity with the truth of impermanence:Jack Kornfield: May I learn to see… Read More »
Dear Friends, In the track titled Poem, DaRa reads “She Let Go” by Safire Rose. This poem expresses another way we can bring equanimity to our experience. The theme of the New Year’s retreat I did with Susie Harrington at the beginning of the month was about the stories we tell ourselves – the views we cling to,… Read More »
Dear Friends, My Facebook feed on Friday had the following news: beloved teacher Thich Nhat Hanh has passed away peacefully at Từ Hiếu Temple in Huế, Vietnam, at 00:00hrs on 22nd January, 2022, at the age of 95. We invite our global spiritual family to take a few moments to be still, to come back to our mindful… Read More »
Dear Friends, In Equanimity, Upekkha, Jill illuminates the qualities of equanimity, and the way wisdom is supported by equanimity. It’s another rich talk, so I’ll parse out some of the qualities today, and the wisdom aspects tomorrow. Then we’ll have another couple of days looking at the heart quality of equanimity. I could use a little extra shot… Read More »
Dear Friends, Continuing today with the talk on “The Brahma Viharas for Insight and Wisdom,” this time sharing some of Jill’s imagery when talking about the the many ways a kind heart can be expressed and respond wisely in the world. As Jill mentions, through our meditation practice, we can use a range of techniques to help make… Read More »
Dear Friends, So now that we’ve zipped through four weeks of material, and we’re nearing the end of January, I thought we could take a step back and have a big picture of what we’ve been cultivating this month. 1 – What’s your why – setting an intention can help us stay oriented in our practice and life… Read More »
Dear Friends, A friend of mine welcomed a new granddaughter into the world on Saturday. And at the same time, her 95 year-old mother-in-law is in palliative care. This reminds me of a verse in Sarah Slean’s song “Cosmic Ballet“ Sick woman in a sick bed waitingLight fast fading in her eyesSomewhere else, another light is fallingTurning into… Read More »
Dear Friends, Closing off this month by finishing up the talk by Kamala Masters titled “The Power of Patience.” I like the way Kamala shows a link between equanimity and patience in this talk. Kamala says that in India, she has heard a colloquial translation of equanimity as “seeing with patience.” I like that description. Patience – to… Read More »
