Dear Friends, Thank you for being part of this month-long exploration of the five faculties. I really enjoyed having the opportunity to dive deep into the topic, and I hope you found it interesting as well. Special thanks to the teachers and poets who generously post recordings (and sometimes transcripts) of their teachings online for us to follow… Read More »
Dear Friends, Thank you for being part of this month of exploration. I wish to extend my gratitude to the following. If you have appreciated this month of offerings, I encourage you to support the teachers. Jill Shepherd and DaRa Williams, for sharing their hearts of wisdom and making the talks from this retreat available. More talks by… Read More »
Dear Friends, In insight meditation, we often practice cultivating four specific qualities of the heart: kindness (a.k.a. metta, loving kindness, goodwill, friendliness), compassion, joy (particularly joy in the joy of others, a.k.a. mudita), and equanimity (having a balanced perspective). In some circles, my fellow practitioners and I have discussed that this list could include a fifth quality: gratitude.… Read More »
Dear Friends, One last message for this series of emails, to express my deep appreciation and gratitude for being part of this month with me. As the Buddha said to Ananda, “Good friends, companions, and associates are the whole of the spiritual life. ” (SN 45.2) It is inspiring for me to know that there were people from… Read More »
Dear Friends, The closing paragraph of Christina Feldman’s Boundless Heart gives us the big picture of where/why/how these practices from this month matter: The noble abidings of kindness, compassion, joy, and equanimity becomes immeasurable and unshakeable when rooted in profound understanding. Step by step and moment by moment, a home is established in the qualities that ennoble our lives… Read More »
Dear Friends, We’ll look at another couple of ways we can incline our hearts towards joy – confidence and gratitude. Confidence There was some level of confidence that brought you to the practice of meditation – maybe you met someone who inspired you, or read about it, or some other way that sparked your interest. You’ve probably experienced… 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, A poem by Kabir: The small ruby everyone wants has fallen out on the road. Some think it is east of us, others west of us. Some say, “among primitive earth rocks,” others, “in the deep waters.” Kabir’s instinct told him it was inside, and what it was worth, And he wrapped it up carefully in… Read More »
Dear Friends, Today is the last day of the 5 day retreat with Adrianne Ross, so I’ll be back to the land of technology later this afternoon. I thank you for your patience! Meanwhile, here’s a reflection for today! I look forward to catching up with your responses. It’s hard to believe we’re at the end of January!… Read More »
Dear Friends, Generosity is a quality that makes us feel happy, bright, and expansive – whether giving, receiving, or both. Yesterday, one of our participants shared a beautiful reflection about being on the receiving end of generosity. I think this is an important part of this practice of generosity – to be able to receive, with mindfulness, what… Read More »
Dear Friends, A few years ago, Brené Brown shared a quote on her blog from Brother David Steindl-Rast: The root of joy is gratefulness. We tend to misunderstand the link between joy and gratefulness. We notice that joyful people are grateful and suppose that they are grateful for their joy. But the reverse is true: their joy springs from gratefulness.… Read More »
Dear Friends, Well… here we are, at the end of January, and thus at the end of this month-long adventure. I’ll close this month of sharing with a reflection on gratitude from Jack Kornfield: https://jackkornfield.com/meditation-gratitude-joy/ Gratitude is a gracious acknowledgment of all that sustains us, a bow to our blessings, great and small, an appreciation of the moments… Read More »