Just sitting

November 21, 2009
Tricycle's Daily Dharma
The Paradox of Practice

Just sitting means just that. That “just” endlessly goes against the grain of our need to fix, transform, and improve ourselves. The paradox of our practice is that the most effective way of transformation is to leave ourselves alone. The more we let everything be just what it is, the more we relax into an open, attentive awareness of one moment after another. Just sitting leaves everything just as it is.

- Barry Magid, “How to Change Your Mind,” Tricycle, Summer 2005

Start Close In

Read a wonderful poem today, thanks to Liz Elayne at be present, be here. It's by a poet I'm not familiar with, David Whyte, but it definitely makes me want to read more. Here's the beginning:

START CLOSE IN

Start close in,
don't take the second step
or the third,
start with the first
thing
close in,
the step
you don't want to take.

You can read the rest here. Happy Friday everyone:)

Nothing/Walking

I've really enjoyed Sharon Salzberg's latest blog post on Huffington Post: "The Nothing That Heals Us". Here are the first couple of paragraphs, to give you a taste:

"It's the end of daylight savings time on the east coast, and it just about always seems to be dim. Each day is largely dark, and cold, hinting at the uselessness of endeavor and the insubstantiality of what we ordinarily run around seeking. It's a good time to be depressed.

"This is the way we conventionally view what Buddhists call emptiness, and mystics of many traditions call nothingness or the Void. A really murky day, pointing to the uselessness of it all. But at the heart of personal, transformative wisdom, this emptiness isn't a cold, depressing problem, leading us down to nihilism - seeing emptiness is liberation. It brings us right through the seeming solidity and oppressiveness of our ordinary concerns, into a world where reality is shimmering, translucent, vital, while also being insubstantial, fleeting, and evanescent."

Good reading for those of us who are feeling quiet these days. You can read the rest here.

And when you're ready, I'd love it if you would come on a walk with me!

Amazing afternoon with Mike Snider

As a special birthday weekend treat, I got to hear Mike Snider speak yesterday. Earlier this year, I was lucky enough to get to do a weekend intensive and hang out with the lovely, funny, deeply compassionate Jon Bernie. When I got back to Tennessee, I was browsing the Resources page on Adyashanti's website, and was blown away to see someone listed in Tennessee. I contacted Mike to see if he had any kind of regular Satsang and he sent a kind reply that he tended to work one-on-one with folks, that there was a group in Nashville that had invited him to come speak and he would let me know if anything came of it, and that I was welcome to email him with anything that was going on for me that he might be able to help with -- a really generous offer.

He kindly followed up a couple of weeks ago saying that he was coming to town after all and I was surprised and delighted to see that he'd be speaking at the 12South Dharma Center, where the Shambhala group I used to sit with met, so it was a venue I was familiar and comfortable with and sort of meaningful, since I'd been having feelings of being flakey and always looking for something new in my practice. Nice to have it confirmed, if only in my mind, that this wasn't something entirely different.

When I walked into the center, I immediately recognized Mike. There were those same kind, beautiful eyes Jon has! And he has that same huge heart and sweetness. And great sense of humor! You can listen to a bit of one of his talks here (scroll down to "Mike Snider in Palo Alto") and get a feeling for his sense of humor here:



He played the banjo to open up (he had just played the Opry the night before, that morning, and was headed back that evening), gave a short talk, and then opened it up for dialogue. Oh, I was in heaven! The room was packed, which surprised him. He expressed interest in coming back and I think we all are hoping he does. What a great day!

Great quote from Chogyam Trungpa

Ocean of Dharma Quotes of the Week
November 14, 2009

REMAINING HUMAN

Going along with mindfulness requires a great deal of trust. Probably the beginning meditator will not be able simply to rest there, but will feel the need for a change. I remember someone who had just finished a meditation retreat telling me how she had sat and felt her body and felt grounded. But then she thought how she should be doing something else. She went on to tell me how the right book had "just jumped" into her lap, and she had started to read. At that point, one doesn't have a solid base anymore. One's mind is beginning to grow little wings. Mindfulness of body has to do with trying to remain human, rather than becoming an animal or fly or etheric being. It means just trying to remain a human being, an ordinary human being.

From "The Four Foundations of Mindfulness," in THE SANITY WE ARE BORN WITH: A BUDDHIST APPROACH TO PSYCHOLOGY, page 27.

This quotation really resonates today. How often my mind grows little wings:) But these days I'm wanting more and more to just be in my body and be an ordinary human being. Wonderful confirmation here. Oh, Chogyam Trungpa:)

Feeling quiet

I don't know if it's getting over my cold or the season, but I'm feeling really quiet these days, sort of emptied out. Right now my big desire is to finish up the projects I'm working on by the end of the year and then spend the winter lying fallow. I just want to rest and replenish. So, anyway, here are some quiet things that have been good company lately.

Loved this little Argentinian movie. It streams on Netflix if that increases your interest. They call it "Intimate Stories" there. Oh, and they show it with subtitles:)



Also am absolutely loving Jon Bernie's talks that they've posted lately, including the Q&A portion. Could that man possibly have a bigger heart? I would love to replace my neurotic inner dialogue with the compassion Jon shows everyone in satsang.

And I'm also loving Jen Lee's recent podcasts. She has such an intimate way of talking and I love what she has to say. Along those same lines, really enjoyed Susannah's interview video on Danielle LaPorte's blog today. Love these inspiring women!

Movie of the Week - TransAmerica

This movie knocked me out!



And Dolly even wrote a song for it:) You've got to check it out!