Ideas & such
I love the way Catherine speaks to the problems we all have, as well as coming to some kind of terms, gracefully, when things happen: A New Normal: Ten Things I’ve Learned About Trauma by Catherine Woodiwiss I wasn’t really expecting painful things to happen to me. I knew that pain was a part of…
Want to start a movement? A key piece – the first follower. Derek Sivers explains:
You already know that monks like me love parables, those tight little stories that tell the story so much better & completely… Kevin Aschenbrenner from Victoria, BC in Canada gets it, and wrote up his thoughts in this weekend’s Times-Colonist. Check out what he has to say!
There are a number of places the discussion begins – sometimes we have an idea, sometimes we just gotta do something , and all the possibilities in between – but I love that amazing place where you say the thing my heart was ready for, and my mind embraces, and my legs are ready to…
This is a snippet from one of the dharma talks of Ajahn Chah (more familiar to some, affectionately, as Luang Por), with a reminder to let go, let go, let go… One purpose of morality or virtue is harmony with our spiritual friends. This should be our aim, rather than just trying to fulfill our…
Seekers sometimes think about giving it all up when they’re hurting, and it seems to make sense – an escape to the French Legion, or longer hours at the office, or looking for a new lover to replace the one who just made us hurt by leaving – it feels like this will fill the…
I guess we all have our heroes & heroines ‘mongst the folk who tell stories with words that resonate with us…one of our favourites in my little monk community is Sister Teresa (also more famously known as St. Teresa of Avila, and even more famously as a really cool nun). In this snippet from her…
Let me get this straight (this is me, talking to me): You don’t have to understand things to feel OK about life? What? I don’t understand. It’s kinda like this. Stay with me on this one. Just yesterday, I was talking with a friend who had 56 different problems that she and I were trying…
Ever since you added meditation to your practice, dear monk, you’ve noticed the shift, both subtle & large. You always hope & dream & even say, “I wish everyone did this!” Here’s a start, hey: Meditation transforms roughest San Francisco schools David L. Kirp At first glance, Quiet Time – a stress reduction strategy used…
Those of you who know me know that I am a huge fan of Howard Zinn (he made his transition in 2010, but his clear, easy-to-read writing will live in folks’ hearts for a long time, and hopefully will shape the way we do things.) That’ll be clear as you listen to this short video, as…
When I talk to friends in the United States about all the gun-related deaths in the country, they say, “That’s just the way it is.” When I talk to friends in Canada about all the gun-related deaths in the US, they say, “That’s just the way it is, there.” And I believe it. I reside…
Long ago, in my first year of teaching high school in New Orleans, I can still remember writhing with angst (that’s the way I talked then, too) when the kids would ask me something I didn’t know. They would ask, “Well, what year WAS it that Shakespeare wrote Hamlet?” or “Did they make YOU study…
I remember when I was a wee urchin that one of my uncles, ages ago, said to me & my fellow urchin noisy brother, “You know where it says in the New Testament, ‘suffer the little children to come to me’?” Brother & I went to Catholic school, Episcopal church, Boy Scouts, occasional monk school…
If you’re like me, you may have observed the incredible technological advances of the past 150 years or so & said, appropriately, “Wow!” Electricity, space travel, medicine, ground & air travel, ways to carry goods, communications from phones to satellites & everything in between….all in a very brief span of time. Have you ever wondered:…
One of the awesome things about living in a small community on a small island with small numbers of people with large hearts is the wonderful gifts we give each other. On San Juan Island off the coast of Washington (the state, not the city) & just across the water from Victoria (the city, not…
The other day my friend Nalalie sent this over, when someone one asked, “How come people put their hands together & bow to each other?” Good start – there’s a bit more to it than that! Here’s a little explanation, if you were wondering: NAMASTE, Friends..! : Why do we do Namaste? Indians greet each…
Seems to me that it’s something everyone struggles with – finding the wellspring of love & devotion & allowing for a natural & easy flow, without shaping that flow with a litany of “you should,” “you should,” and “you really should!” Steven suggests a way to move forward while being gentle with your evolving spirit:…
