As you search for your quiet corner, your world will begin to expand and you’ll notice things that have been around all along. The empty lot on the corner teeming with wildflowers or the morning church bells may enter your consciousness for the first time. River Sunset What is your most receptive sense? [...]
Paying attention to the words we use and the effect they have on others, ourselves, and on our own level of serenity is just the beginning of using this everyday activity to deliver tranquility into each day. Just as we can adopt good and bad habits of behavior, so can we do this with our [...]
I recently re-read Natalie Goldberg’s book Writing Down the Bones, in preparation for a meditation writing retreat with her at the Upaya Zen Center in Santa Fe at the end of this month—a birthday present to myself. I first read it in 1996 when I spent three weeks with her at Ghost Ranch on my [...]
…continued from 7 Steps to Loving What You Do – Discovery 1:5 – Our Ordinariness “Expectation is a premeditated resentment!” When I heard someone exclaim this many years ago, it reached my gut and exploded there sending shock waves of truth to every part of my being. It gave me a keener and deeper understanding [...]
…continued from Becoming Aware 1:7 – Just Sitting Our intention on the Quiet Corner path is to free our inner voice and move toward spontaneity and creative expression. But first it is important to create some structure, which will help our voice and encourage and support our endeavor. Having a structure will first ground you [...]
Physical Spaces Certain places can have amazing power over us. Anyone would agree that the Grand Canyon is a perfect place to sit in rapt silence and soak up nature’s majesty. There are few places as grand as the canyon, but our environment, no matter how grand, affects us. In searching for your quiet corner, [...]
Buddha said of himself and his monks: “When we walk, we know we are walking.” This is a beautiful practice and one of the simplest and most immediately rewarding and instructive. It is both grounding and freeing. The benefits suit our need for immediate gratification, because they begin to appear with the first step. And [...]
A Wild Goose A wild goose Passing the length of the sky Casts a shadow Into the cold water The goose has no idea Of leaving a trace, The water no consciousness Of the shadow sinking through. Zen Phrase The spring flowers, the autumn moon; Summer breezes, winter snow. [...]
We were invited to a July 4th party this year in our new hometown of Germantown, NY, where we met some lovely people who live in the area. The hosts, Alex & David, are the ones who introduced us to this special place in the Hudson valley. The food that evening was all vegan, homemade [...]
Our Ordinariness …continued from 7 Steps to Loving What You Do – Discovery 1:4 – Follow the Leader Do you compartmentalize your life? Do you have a work persona that is different from your leisure persona or the persona you bring to your intimate relationships? Who is the self that you bring to work each [...]
