Our Moving into Meditation class focused on the very human experience of not wanting things to be the way they are. Our “not wanting” things to be as they are often adds anguish to life’s inevitable challenges. We explored how We Can’t Get No Satisfaction, the third chapter title of Toni Bernhard‘s book: How to Wake Up: A Buddhist Inspired Guide to Navigating Joy and Sorrow. We drew inspiration from Jack Kornfield’s book, No Time Like the Present: Finding Freedom, Love and Joy Right Where You Are. Jack offers suggestions we can use to free ourselves from ways of thinking that narrow our choices and keep us stuck. Poet Jane Hirshfield ‘s words – imaginative and playful – invoke creative ways of accepting life just as it is.
Category Archives: Moving Into Meditation
Identity & Self
Our Moving into Meditation class focused on the elusive nature of identity. In our mindfulness practice we come to recognize that we are so much more than who we think we are. We considered The Self as Ever Shifting flow, the second chapter title of Toni Bernhard‘s book: How to Wake Up: A Buddhist Inspired Guide to Navigating Joy and Sorrow. Poet Jane Hirshfield invites us to surrender our assertions of identity. She reminds us that we are embraced by the world in so doing. Finally, poet Yi-Young Lee‘s elegant poetry invites us to spread our wings and fly.
Li-Young Lee and his parents, Chinese expatriates, fled from Jakarta in 1959 to escape anti-Chinese persecution. (To learn more about Li-Young you can read Paul T. Corrigan’s Conversation with Li-Young Lee.)
Everything Changes
Our Moving into Meditation class focused on the ever changing nature of life. In our mindfulness practice we break society’s spell of feeling we are being carried away. We experience a wholeness upon savoring each moment with full attention. We drew inspiration from meditation teacher and writer, Toni Bernhard‘s book: How to Wake Up: A Buddhist Inspired Guide to Navigating Joy and Sorrow. Toni contends that by embracing life – as it is – we have the potential to realize well-being. In her article, Meditation in Motion, meditation and yoga instructor Jill Satterfield encourages us to explore full awareness of our bodily experience to wake up and be with what is. Finally, Jane Hirshfield‘s exquisite poetry takes us deeper into our creatureliness.
Mystery & Transformation in Meditation
Our Moving into Meditation class completed our study of Frank Ostaseski’s wonderful book the Five Invitations. In today’s class the 5th invitation to cultivate “don’t know mind” became an exploration of mystery and transformation.
In realizing our selves as mystery we open the door to awe and wonder. We truly live with uncertainty and touch the elemental feeling of fear. Voices of poets, naturalists and writers joined with Frank in encouraging us to be embrace and engage change and impermanence.
Witnessing the Sacred
Our Moving into Meditation class drew inspiration from the end of Frank Ostaseski’s wonderful book the Five Invitations. In today’s class we explored the 5th invitation to cultivate “don’t know mind.” Cultivating this mind state challenges us to traverse the ever-changing ground of uncertainty. It awakens us to what we hold most dear, to what is sacred. We listened to the voices of naturalists and writers Terry Tempest Williams, Rachel Carson and Gary Snyder describe how they encounter the sacred.
Intimacy in Meditation
Our Moving into Meditation class is nearing the end of Frank Ostaseski’s wonderful book the Five Invitations. The book offers some fundamental principles for living a conscious life and for serving others who are nearing life’s end. In today’s class we explored the 5th invitation to cultivate “don’t know mind.” Two essential human experiences – intimacy and vulnerability – characterize this expression of mind. I believe our willingness to be so fully human is also an expression of love. Continue reading
Remembering in Meditation
Our Moving into Meditation class continues to draw inspiration from Frank Ostaseski’s wonderful book about living with the awareness that we’re going to die. His book distills what he’s learned into Five Invitations we can answer in living a conscious life. In today’s class we explored the workings of memory. Our fallible memories inform our life stories. They can keep us rooted in the past while strongly defining our present. Frank suggests that bringing “don’t know mind” to our memories and stories can be profoundly healing. Continue reading
Don’t Know Mind in Meditation
Our Moving into Meditation class continues to draw inspiration from Frank Ostaseski’s wonderful book about living with the awareness that we’re going to die. His book distills what he’s learned into Five Invitations we can answer in living a conscious life. In today’s class we worked with the fifth invitation to cultivate “don’t know mind.” This invitation seems to mirror queries found in the ancient Tao Te Ching. We drew inspiration from Ursula Le Guin’s elegant translation of the “Book About the Way and the Power of the Way.” She described it as “. . . the most lovable of all the great religious texts, funny, keen, kind, modest, indestructibly outrageous, and inexhaustibly refreshing. Of all the deep springs, this is the purest water. To me, it is also the deepest spring.” Continue reading
Shadows & Light in Meditation
Our Moving into Meditation class drew inspiration from the symbolism of darkness and light. We used contemplation and movement to explore the different feeling states we have in association with darkness and light. We used the breathing practices of Chandra Bhedana and Surya Bhedana to tune into the darkness and light in our experience and psyches. Zen poet Jane Hirshfield’s poem evoked imagery to further the journey. We also discussed the concept of the shadow in Jungian psychology. Continue reading
Being Held in Meditation
Our Moving into Meditation class continues to draw inspiration from Frank Ostaseski’s wonderful book about living with the awareness that we’re going to die. His book distills what he’s learned into Five Invitations we can answer in living a conscious life. In today’s class we continued working with the fourth invitation. Frank encourages us to create the inner safety we need in order to feel our fears. In his beautiful poem Everything is Waiting for You, poet David Whyte challenges us to open ourselves up to the world. We explored the following guided meditation to feel the abiding support of the earth as if we were held in loving arms.