In my early years, my grandfather would sit in his big green chair and lecture someone until he was in a full-blown tirade over the topic. It was the family joke that once he was in that state, you could get up leave the room, go into the kitchen, make yourself lunch, and return to find him still spewing, without a clue that you’d ever left his presence. He was literally lost and in another world of his own making. Continue reading “Engaged or Lost in Conversation” »
Recently we had a Zen teacher visit our local sangha to give a talk, and she mentioned that when we all meditate together, we can experience the oneness of our existence. As I listened to her, I felt a ring of familiarity in me, but not in the same context. Continue reading “Seeing Through the Ego” »
That’s right. I said it, I said it, I said it! Master Yoda is every bit as real as Jesus Christ, and perhaps even more so. It doesn’t matter whether there is evidence that Jesus really existed in the flesh, or if he was really the son of God. He may have been real, or he may not have been. Continue reading “Master Yoda Is Every Bit as Real as Jesus Christ” »
If you have any interest at all in meditation, or its benefits, please take the time to watch this video. My wonderful meditation teacher Shaila Catherine talks about her book Focused on Fearless, and the meditative methods that she teaches in the book. She has been gone on a four-month silent retreat, and I’ll be so glad when she gets back!
If the video above is not working, try this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D51WotfbpCE
The methods she describes are in her book, shown below:
Focused and Fearless: A Meditator’s Guide to States of Deep Joy, Calm, and Clarity (Paperback)
by Shaila Catherine (Author) “CONCENTRATION is a central feature of a contemplative life, cultivated through formal meditation practice and also through any of a variety of other daily activities…” (more)
Landing in a hospital bed for a week because of a failing digestive organ got me to thinking a lot about my dietary habits. This is not new for me, though. For the last several years I have yo-yo’d between dropping the junk food in favor of more healthy fare, and bounced right back to eating cheese puffs for breakfast. Continue reading “Who’s in Charge Here Anyway?” »
One morning I took Cannon outside to do his business, and discovered my neighbors digging holes in the cement of their carport adjacent my side yard. Nearby they had a pile of wood and bags of cement. Mind you my side yard is about three feet wide, where I have two trees and had just planted four new bushes. It’s a small, narrow plot that runs along the side of my house. To step off the dirt off my yard is to step on their carport. Continue reading “Making Peace in My Own Backyard” »
I stepped away from Buddhism for about a year because I had felt really put off and a bit freaked out by the practice of mindfulness and the concept of not-self. What I found difficult was how much Buddhist teachers advised us to let go of the thinking process, iterated how many problems that thinking creates. My ego rebelled, and I ran. Continue reading “Making Way for My Muse” »
People come to Buddhism from many angles: wanting to learn meditation, mindfulness, or compassion. We’re drawn in through a need of self improvement. But unlike most self-help instruction, Buddhism does not cater to those who want to pamper themselves and coddle their fragile egos, their wants and desires. On the contrary, Buddhism chases those delusions right out of our heads. Continue reading “Buddhism Is Not for Wimps” »
I seem to be lucky or blessed to have a naturally happy disposition. It takes an unpleasant event or situation to send me into the land of grumpiness or pessimism. Even so, sadness and despair are no stranger to me, and during these times, I have reached outward, trying to grasp at something to bring that happiness back. Sometimes it’s a good book to help me forget, sometimes it’s food, sometimes it’s new stuff, or new friends. It never works. Continue reading “Trying to Hop on the Horizon” »
The other morning I awoke earlier than usual. I rolled over with the intent of going back to sleep, but saw a spider crawling around a small area of my bedroom ceiling. Within a few minutes, it was drifting downwards, dangling by a web too thin to see. A bit later it crawled back up to the ceiling, and then back down. Up and down it went for about half an hour, until eventually it got its footing back on the ceiling and scurried away behind the window blinds somewhere. Spiders are fascinating creatures. Their webs are sheer feats of marvelous engineering. Continue reading “Relating without Reacting” »
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