Retreat, day 3: Meditating is like being with a toddler having a tantrum. My mind is incorrigible, throwing fits, constantly launching off into fantasy, blame, judgement (usually self-), and despair. I feel besieged, at wits end, and a very familiar sense of failure begins to arise. I catch myself thinking about the scene in the Cate Blanchett Elizabeth movie, where Mary […]
Yogi, go on retreat! Notes from stillness. Read More »
“All rivers flow to the ocean.” “Many paths to the same summit.” In yoga and Buddhist circles, we often hear that although there are many different paths (maybe as many as there are practitioners), that all the paths lead to the same place. This is a common refrain, taught not just by people (like me) who tend to use tools
What are we doing and where are we going? Read More »
I’m grateful, Marisa, for your warm and lucid response to Be Scofield’s article on Eckhart Tolle. You emphasize the balance of inner and outer work well, without favoring one over the other. In reading Scofield’s essay, what I would like to add to the mix is a recognition of a fundamental error in Tolle’s work as Scofield presents it. (I am not
A response to Scofield-Handler on Eckhart Tolle Read More »
Despite having strong personal feelings on the topic and I think a pretty clear head about it culturally, I haven’t written about vegetarianism in modern yoga and Buddhist practice in this forum, though I have in others. I’m inspired to now because of a question that was asked at the end of a training I just finished, and because meat-eating
Vegetarian Buddhist? How unusual. Read More »
I’ve been loving my Sweat and Study classes lately, and the discussions we’ve been having, ranging from formal meditation to how to bring wisdom to conflicts in everyday life. At the heart of these conversations is a desire, expressed by many of the participants, to integrate our practice of yoga and mindfulness into all our activities, work, and relationships. It
The Foundations of Mindfulness Sutra (Satipatthana Sutta) is the core Buddhist text that discusses meditation and the path to Insight. The word “mindfulness” isn’t so exciting sounding, is it? It’s the standard word we’ve inherited from the early British translators for a skill that the Buddha praises as the “direct path for the surmounting of sorrow… and the realization of
Mindfulness = intimacy Read More »
Suddenly today, it feels like spring. There’s a warm breeze through the back door, and the sky is bright clear blue. Lots of pleasant sense contact, mindfulness might note. Yum. Often nowadays, especially in busy periods where I have less time for formal meditation practice (on the cushion, on the mat), my practice gets really simple. (Maybe it should be
As I write these words, on the train coming home from school (Davis), the president is giving his State of the Union address. Since I can’t watch or listen to him speak, I’ll offer my own version. I’m sure this is exactly what he’s saying: Our union is in a dire state. Nothing new. But what does “union” mean, anyway?
State of the Union, 2012 Read More »
As we begin the new year, many of us are making resolutions – often to improve some aspect of our personality or habits. This resolution-making is an aspect of the yogic practice called sankalpa, which is a Sanskrit word often translated as “intention”. Intention is so important on our path as yogis that the Buddha included it as an entire
Resolutions, Renunciation, Ganesha Read More »
Occupy, Karma, Results? Wednesday tens of thousands of people gathered peacefully for the first General Strike in Oakland in 65 years, filled the streets, and shut down the port. People around the world noticed, and many stood in solidarity with the Occupy movement here. Signs appeared in Tahrir Square in Cairo supporting Occupy Oakland! I wasn’t at the port yesterday,
Occupy, karma, results? Read More »
May the forces of delusion
not take hold, nor
weaken my resolve.
(Sharing of Merit)