Big-Beautiful-Wonderful
I don’t know exactly what a prayer is. I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass, how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,which is what I have been doing all day. Tell me, what else should I have done? Doesn’t everything die at last, and too soon? Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life? ~~From The Summer Day, by Mary Oliver It’s a gorgeous here, an Indian Summer day that begged me to, as John Muir once said, “Grab a bag of tea and a loaf of bread and hop the...
Read MoreYou May Say I’m a Dreamer, But I’m Not The Only One…
Nonviolence means avoiding not only external physical violence but also internal violence of spirit. You not only refuse to shoot a man, but you also refuse to hate him… ~~Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Hatred never ceases by hatred, but by Love alone is healed. This is an ancient and eternal law… ~~The Dhammapada Perfectionism is the voice of the oppressor… ~~Anne Lamott There has been a great deal of recent media attention about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his famous “I Have a Dream” speech. I absolutely do not want to politicize this blog, but I would like...
Read MoreSpiritual Fruits or Just Nuts?
Today, like every other day, we wake up empty and frightened. Don’t open the door to the study and begin reading. Take down the dulcimer. There are a thousand ways to kneel and kiss the ground. Let the beauty we love be what we do. ~~Rumi I love this picture, taken when the Christ the Redeemer statue was under construction. One of the New Seven Wonders of the World, it was built in Rio di Janiero in the 1920’s and is huge, overlooking the whole city. It captures how I so often feel on the path and I look at it from time to time to remind me of what it symbolizes to me in my...
Read MoreThe Practice of Loving-Kindness
A few people have asked me lately about metta, also known in some circles as maitri. Metta is a practice of loving kindness toward self and others. There are volumes written about metta, it is a basic Buddhist practice in all traditions. Pema Chodron is a well known teacher of this practice and has written many books on the subject. The basic practice is to first practice loving kindness toward the self, to truly make friends with yourself. When you find peace within, you can more readily practice it toward others. The Judeo-Christian version of this is “to love your neighbor as...
Read MoreSeek and ye shall find
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