Mother’s Day Quotes, Women’s Retreat, Special Sale

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Wabi Sabi – The Power of Imperfection

It’s Summer Bucket List Time

That’s right, it’s already August and fall is racing towards us.  Now’s the time to get serious about how you’re going to spend the precious summertime and get busy with both the inner and outer work of growing and developing in your truth.  Live.  Love.  Laugh.

Here is reflection from Joan Borysenko from her Pocketful of Miracles book.

“August is the month during which nature celebrates her maturity.  The hatchlings in the nest have found the wings to fly and the boughs of the old apple tree are heavy with fruit.  The Godseed within our hearts is also ripening so that we become more flexible, more tolerant of the shades of gray that characterize life on planet earth.

Every interaction becomes an opportunity to encourage, to be kind as we acknowledge the Godseed within all.  As the pumpkins ripen on the vine, mellowing in the shortening days and colder nights, the vine itself begins the dying time.  It’s purpose is complete.

August  reminds us of the impermanence of all things.  All that seems so dependable will someday pass away.  In that poignant knowledge we mature  into a deeper appreciation of all we have, of all we love.

Listen to the voices of the Ancient Ones that call from the roots of the oaks and willows:

Nature is setting seed,
storing the energy of the light
for future generations.
Likewise, our souls are coming to spiritual maturity -
a flexible, gracious attitude that finds intense joy
in the very impermanence of life.”

I challenge you now.  Take time to consider what’s important to you now.  Yes, everything from spending more time swimming, visiting friends and family, and eating summer’s fresh produce to the deeper things, like helping others, being kind, and doing some soul-searching.

August 1 is the anniversary of my Mother’s passing.  Every day, I miss her loving smiles and cheerful encouragement.  She taught me to live life to the fullest and to enjoy family and  friends.  Yes, life is impermanent, so let’s remember what’s important in our own precious life and treasured relationships.

Please share your comments about your bucket list – from the insane to the simple to the spectacular.

Meditation is a form of mental martial arts.

Joan Borysenko says…

Meditation is a form of mental martial arts.  If we resist thoughts, they will overpower us.  But if we just step lightly out of their way, letting them come and go like birds flying overhead, we can use their energy to further focus our minds.

The nature of the mind is to think and create, so the mind naturally wanders during meditation.  The demoralizing thought that only your mind wanders while other meditators are sitting there in bliss is a major reason why people give up on meditation practice.  All people think when they meditate.  What distinguishes the novice from the skillful meditator is the attitude of detached awareness that the skillful meditator maintains toward thinking.

Is this true for you?  How do you handle it when your mind is restless?

New Year Meditation

Take a moment now to breathe in the Holy Present.

We stand here at the threshold of a new year. The past is fading behind, and the future is a bright light just ahead. Let us gently and gratefully release the year gone by.

Take another moment now to breathe in the Holy Present.

Bless it all: the good and the bad, the pain and the joy, the teachers and the lessons learned. It is over now and only love remains.

Take another moment now to breathe in the Holy Present.

Amen. Om

by Jacob Glass (adapted by J Lusk)

To Hiss or Not to Hiss

There was a saint who asked a snake not to bite but to love everyone.

The snake agreed.

But then many people threw things at the snake.

The next time the saint saw the snake, he noticed that the snake was all battered up. So, the saint asked “What in the world happened to you?”

The snake replied, “You asked me to love everybody and not to bite, and this is what happened.”

“I didn’t say not to hiss.”

Doesn’t Ramakrishna’s story have a lot to consider?  How many times have we tried to “be good” but it came back to bite us.  Setting boundaries, especially during the holidays can be quite helpful.

I remember telling this story while teaching a yoga class while we were doing the cobra pose.  It seemed quite natural to hiss during the yoga posture so we did. Hissssssss!

The next week, one person said that she tried hissing at work and asked “Do you want to know what happened?”  Of course I did.  She said that she spoke up about something that had been bugging her and it lead to her getting a promotion!”  Obviously, she hissed quite skillfully.

My meeting with the Dalai Lama

My notes from hearing the Dalai Lama on May 14, 2010 – Indianapolis, IN

The Dalai Lama was in Indianapolis to speak on Facing Challenges with Wisdom and Compassion.

It was at the Conseco basketball arena. Just like a basketball, the sound bounced around making it hard to hear clearly.  It reminded me of the acoustics when we heard Thich Nhat Hanh in Chicago.  Too much echo.

Still, I picked up a lot and I’d like to share it with you with the understanding that any misconceptions are on my part, and not on the part of the Dalai Lama.

All people want to achieve, and have the right to happiness and inner peace.

Should there be more Buddhism in America? No.  He said Americans already have the answers for finding true happiness and inner peace by way of the religions we already practice.  Practicing common sense is another viable path.

Different religions rely on different qualities and pathways  to achieve happiness and inner peace.  Some rely on faith, others promote surrender, while compassion is the path for others.  All these qualities, and religions, have the potential to take us to true happiness and inner peace.  We should do our best to respect the different religious paths and know that each has its own benefits that reach out to various cultures, temperaments, and times.   It’s about having respect for all religions.

All humans, no matter the color, culture, sex, or age, have a common connection to compassion that is biological and instinctual. The love of a mother and the instinct of protecting the child are good examples.  Even a mother bird may sacrifice her life for the sake of her baby.  Compassion is instinctual, however, it gets covered up and overruled by the thinking mind.

• Rely on common sense.
• Respect and have compassion toward all.
• We all want and deserve true happiness and inner peace.
• Rely on truth, trust, love, and compassion to lead to inner strength, peace and happiness.
• Practice unbiased compassion – this is compassion that can even reach our enemies.
• A negative mind causes suffering for the self and others.
• Fear and hate interferes with health.
• Compassion has actually been shown to lower blood pressure and stress.  Wounds heal quicker.  For example, a wound on a rat heals faster when it is affectionately licked by another rat.
• The minds ‘intelligence’ can overrule our compassionate, instinctual, intrinsic nature.
• Look for new opportunities and changes that come from things that anger us.
• Have a global interest.  To have global disarmament, we have to start with inner, personal disarmament.  To have global peace, we must have inner peace first.  Go with truth, love, trust, unbiased compassion and inner beauty.  This is lasting.
• He said that everything is/or can be good, very good.  This includes such things as money, technology, and divorce.  It’s the motivation and intent and how these things are used that makes the difference.  Are they used with compassion, openness, acceptance or not?
• Money, objects, technology can be good – very good – if they are used with right motivation and intention and put to good use.
• Put your affections where affections can be returned .
• Don’t put affections toward objects as these things cannot return affection.
• When we are affectionate toward objects, it leads to jealousy and greed for objects.  Objects cannot return affection.
• Inner beauty is higher than outer beauty as it lasts. Rely on truth, trust, love, and unbiased compassion to bring inner peace and happiness.

The Essence of Yoga is Equanimity of Mind

What is Yoga?

The essence of yoga is equanimity of mind.
Equanimity is when your mind is undisturbed.
Losing balance causes numerous problems.

The purpose of Yoga is to bring our balance back and then to maintain it.
When the body is balanced, the mind is balanced.

When the body/mind is balanced, stress fades away,
energy returns, and equanimity is established.

Equanimity gives us the strength of calmness, level-headedness, and composure.

The mind and emotions are like a liquid.
To hold liquid we need a solid cup.
Otherwise, our minds are distracted and our emotions run wild.

We can create a healthy container for the mind and emotions through the body.
Since it is easier to work with the body,
we start with the yoga of the body instead of the yoga of the mind.

One of the easiest ways to balance the body
is by putting it in all the different positions or asanas,
making it more relaxed, freeing it from all the accumulated toxins.
Doing so improves our health in remarkable ways and
causes the mind to become more balanced and have more equanimity.

Triple Truth

Teach this triple truth to all:

A generous heart, kind speech,
and a life of service and compassion
are the things which renew humanity.

~  Buddha

Do it Anyway

Do It Anyway by Sal Spalenger

People are unreasonable, illogical and self-centered.
Love them anyway.

If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives.
Do good anyway.

If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies.
Succeed anyway.

The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow.
Do good anyway.

Honesty and frankness will make you vulnerable.
Be honest and frank anyway.

The biggest people, with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest people with the smallest minds.
Think big anyway.

People favor underdogs, but follow only top dogs.
Fight for the underdog anyway.

What you spend years building just might be destroyed overnight.
But build anyway.

People really need help, but may attack you if you help them.
Help people anyway.

Give the world the best you got and you’ll get kicked down.
Give the world the best you got anyway.