So it’s important to question our perception of concentration, and our attitude towards getting it. The ‘getting it’ approach doesn’t work in terms of appreciation of the present – but the present is all that we can directly be aware of. We’re directly aware of the present moment through feeling it and being affected by it – and… Continue reading
Category: Quotes
Quote for the Week
Mindfulness practice (sati) enables us to go beneath the surface level of our moment-to-moment life experiences, which are clouded with emotions and habitual thinking, and allows us to see the truth of what is happening. In daily life, mindfulness helps us see clearly what needs to be done, what we are capable of doing, and… Continue reading
Quote for the Week
While our brain has a flight/fight/freeze mechanism, it also has a compassion network, which includes mirror neurons that allow us to register what it’s like for another. We can sense that others want to feel loved and loving, safe and happy. When we feel that connection, it enables us to act on behalf of each… Continue reading
Quote for the Week
The Buddha taught that practice should be like a well-tuned string instrument. If the strings are too loose, they won’t play a sound. If they are too tight, they will break. Practice should be nourishing, not draining. The Noble Eightfold Path: Right Effort ~ John DeCastro
Quote for the Week
Balancing our means of support with the lifestyle we are fashioning constitutes a broad, personal economy that each of us is constantly creating with our actions. The way we live not only reflects our understandings about what we are doing in this life, but also reveals the intentions that flow from such understandings. Unburdened w\With… Continue reading Quote for the Week
Quote for the Week
The truth that we really can and do directly influence our lives through our own actions is a profoundly liberating statement. When our motivations and intentions come from harmlessness and goodwill, we are likely to act wisely. Wise Action ~ Heidi Bourne
Quote for the Week
There is a subtle joy that emerges simply from yielding; from letting go the urge to be happy in a certain way, to celebrate the season in a certain way. This is familiar from meditation: as soon as I stop trying to relax, I can relax. As soon as I stop trying to feel joy,… Continue reading Quote for the Week
Quote for the Week
The guideline Attune to Emergence is an invitation to make impermanence itself the object of practice, to attune to the rising and vanishing of experience. It encourages us to step into “don’t know mind,” placing ourselves at the edge of where we don’t know what is going to happen next, internally or relationally. Attune to… Continue reading Quote for the Week
Quote for the Week
One of the most powerful ways to stay grounded in any conversation is to set a clear intention ahead of time. Intention is about how you wish to be in the interaction, rather than aiming for a specific outcome. What values do you want to embody this holiday season? What’s your purpose for getting together?… Continue reading Quote for the Week
Quote for the Week
A crucial part of our practice, speech is something we can engage with even on days when we cannot sit in formal meditation. Our practice with speech includes the words that we direct to ourselves (perhaps with an unkindness we’d never use with others) and the words that we write in texts and emails and… Continue reading Quote for the Week