Faith

In our retreat this last Saturday we had a great conversation around Doubt and Faith.  (Well, actually, it was pretty much just me talking about Doubt and Faith.) Buddhism speaks of "verified faith."  You may hear a teaching about, say, how life is imbued with impermanence.  Rather than take this on blind faith, you might actually explore and examine your inner experience to see if this is so.  If this is verified in your experience, a sense of faith in this teaching becomes stronger.

All of this comes from your own investigation and experience, not solely from outside you.

 

Here are some great images you might enjoy that can shore up a sense of faith in our essential goodness.

 

Meditation. In nature.

We had a full day out of the woods here at Riverbend Park on Saturday. Sitting meditation, walking meditation, open-eyed meditation, and lots of other forms of meditation were shared among our group of 20.

Many people commented on how easy it was to open awareness into space when that space is filled with such sound and beauty.

Even though it was almost 90°, we settled ourselves on top of a hill deep in the woods and any little breeze that came through cooled us off under shade from high trees. A wonderful (re)treat.

If you can find a day to "wander like a happy dog," schedule it soon!

20120610-162022.jpg

Buddha and the Body

Back at Kripalu Center for a Memorial Day retreat called "Buddha and the Body," an immersion into 'first foundation' training, culminating with some transformational breathwork. Deeply inspiring folks and a wonderful co-teaching staff.  Ben leads a mindful 'group hike,' celebrating the end of the retreat and  some challenging practices.

Sorting Through History

I'm newly inspired to simplify. Between leading retreats I zipped up to Maine to the family homestead to vista with family.  Since my mother's passing last April and my father now in an Alzheimer's unit since last summer, we're left with the task of sorting through decades and decades of stuff.  My parents were not renowned for their capacity to let go of things, so the siblings been chipping away at the attic, closets and a a few outbuildings.

My main contribution will be to digitize slides.  My grandfather was an engineer and was heavily into photography back in the days of cameras with separate light meters.  I've found some amazing images, many of which are great blackmail material.

If you are interested in scanning photography to high quality digital archiving, I'll post more later.

One thing's for sure.  I'm paying someone to torch my journals right after I die.

 

 

 

,

Yoga, Breathing and Meditation

,

 

Last month I went back to my roots.   I spent ten days with Larissa Carlson directing a ten-day training called "Exploring the Energy Body:  Teaching Pranayama and Meditation."

This professional training program is designed for certified yoga teachers working toward their 500-hour professional degree.  I felt right at home with these 55 dedicated and time-tested yogis and yoginis.

I've always felt that sincerity in practice is one of the highest attributes we can cultivate, and these folks brought not only authenticity, but deep dedication to their practice.

We weren't easy on them. Each day started early and ended late, with hours of pranayama, kriyas, bandhas, asanas and meditation of various forms.

 

As meditation has taken more of a front seat in my own practice, I'd moved away from formal asana and breathing practices and I felt renewed and reinspired to kick back into the willful breathing techniques.

We'll be offering this again next year and I look forward to the adventure.  If you're working toward your 500-hour degree and want an immersion into practice as the core foundation of your teaching, this is a great event.

 

Slow Mo Beauty

The hummers are back and actively buzzing each other on the feeders out back.  They are really hard to photograph.  Some of the slow motion photography here is just amazing.  Not just of hummingbirds, but with all the species that have to do with pollination.  Amazing meditation in motion. http://youtu.be/xHkq1edcbk4

 

(Thanks, Bob.)

 

,

Transforming from the Inside Out

,

As more people engage into yoga and meditation, stories of transformation abound. I head up to Kripalu Center to co-lead a ten-day intensive training for yoga teachers on Exploring the Energy Body:  Teaching Pranayama and Meditation.  While I'm more of a meditation guy, I have experienced how yoga changed my life and am happy to get back into a yoga immersion scene.

Here's an amazing story of rehabilitation and transformation through yoga:

http://youtu.be/qX9FSZJu448

 

 

,

Back from Retreat

,

Seven days of sustained, intensive practice.   A meditation retreat is a Transformation Zone.  

20120507-104438.jpg

Such depth and deep change over the course of days of continuous practice.

For me, the retreat is full: I lead two movement classes a day, each day is filled with interviews with practitioners and an evening talk to prepare and share keeps things lively and amazing.

There's nothing like a week of dedicated, sincere practice with like-minded people.

Do catch one if you can. The next one is in the fall.

20120507-104408.jpg

 

, ,

The Power of Questions

, ,

 

 

This week's talk was on "The Power of Inquiry."  (If you missed it, it's available on my podcast).

The questions we ask ourselves can dramatically reframe our experience.  They can be used in the realm of self-improvement and problem-solving as well as inquiring into the nature of the self and accessing the non-dual.

All inquiry questions require a particular internal attitude:

  1. Drop all expectations of 'getting it right.'
  2. Inquire with a sincere desire to know the truth
  3. Be prepared for unexpected
  4. Look for a 'feeling tone' or an experience that is outside the linear mind

The Five-Problem Solving Questions have gotten me out of jams quite a few times.  Credit to Tony Robbins, who turned me on to this.  As promised, here they are.  The following is my personal adaptation:

  1. What's great about this situation?  What could be great about it?
  2. What's not perfect yet?
  3. What am I willing to do to resolve this situation?
  4. What am I no longer willing to do to resolve this situation?
  5. How can I resolve this situation and have a great time doing it?

 

While questions can help us in the relative, they can open up a sense of what lies beyond the mind itself.

Ramana Maharshi claimed that sincere inquiry into two questions could help reveal your true nature:

  1. Who am I?
  2. What do I really want?

 

Inquiry requires a curious blend of not just a high degree of sincerity and openness, but an intensity and desire to know what is true.

 

For more on inquiry meditation, check here.

 

 

Piliated at the Feeder

Piliated Woodpeckers are pretty rare, except on our property, where we've got a few battling for pecking rights.  If you haven't seen one, they are huge and prehistoric-looking, about the size of a crow. We've got six large dead trees near the house that support all species of local woodpeckers.

This one surprised me ... I've never seen one on the bird feeder.  It must have thought it found heaven.

The next morning I woke up around 4:00AM to the sound of the wind chime frantically shaking.  I ran downstairs to find a young raccoon wildly swinging on the cage.  It managed, despite  that frenzied rocking, to clean out the entire feeder.

 

,

April 9th at UUCA

,

We are honored to have the Monks from Gaden Jangste Twawa  Khangsten, India on Monday Night at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington on the 9th.  They will play traditional instruments and chant a Medicine Buddha puja. Stig Regli will lead the opening meditation and introduce the monks.  If you would like to include your name or that of a loved one in the dedication, please send an email to Rebecca Freeman at spc@guyyasamaja.org.

This should be a sweet event.  I'll be teaching on Capitol Hill that night, but will tune in from across the Potomac.

The Fox

One great thing about living in the woods in the natural life around us.  Our bird feeder was buzzing for about six weeks, then suddenly I noticed the owls and hawks hanging around.  All the fat squirrels were replaced by fast, skinny ones and most of the birds vanished. Besides the 15 deer or so who cruise by daily and hang out on the property, we've got a young fox, probably in it's second year, on our property.  It comes by like clockwork.  I've yet to capture a really clean shot, but here are a few quick ones.  You can see it has not yet grown into the size of it's head and still has not shed it's winter coat.