By Laureen Osborne photo by Bonnie Bluhm For seven years, I helped take care of my two elderly parents while trying at the same time to run my own business. My mother suffered with a rare form of dementia from which she eventually died in 2000. Eighteen months later, my…
Search results for “is nothing something”
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The Small Red Heart
By Lisa Boken Many times after driving from one place to another, I realize that I don't remember most of the trip. I often eat a plate of food so unconsciously that I wonder where the food has gone when I awaken to an empty plate. Here's a "day-in-the-life" example: I have plenty…
A Long Enduring Mind
By Svein Myreng When we take up the practice of mindfulness, it feels wonderful. We enjoy a new calm and serenity, see trees and the sky more vividly, and find pleasure in a community that values friendliness and equanimity. This is the "honeymoon" of mindfulness practice, to be enjoyed fully. But it doesn't last in…
The Queen of the Night
Aurora Leon and Felipe Viveros share about bringing spirituality into conversations about racial equity and inclusion during the “Science, Spirituality, and Action” retreat at Plum Village, France.
On Karma
By Barbara Casey For over six years Barbara corresponded with a prison inmate named Claude. He had been convicted of aggravated assault, which means that he did someone serious harm. In a letter to her, Claude asked Barbara for insight about karma, and she asked some dharma teachers to respond…
The Fourteen Mindfulness Trainings and Sangha Building
Sister Annabel, True Virtue THE EIGHTH MINDFULNESS TRAINING:TRUE COMMUNITY AND COMMUNICATION Aware that lack of communication always brings separation and suffering, we are committed to training ourselves in the practice of compassionate listening and loving speech. Knowing that true community is rooted in inclusiveness and in the concrete practice of…
Mentoring
Reflections from an OI Retreat at Deer Park By Caleb Cushing, Jerry Braza, and Chau Yoder “Because of his or her experience, he or she is a refuge for younger sisters and brothers for whom the practice is still something new.” Throughout the weekend, we focused on how mentoring builds…
Beach Cleaning Meditation
By Penelope Thompson Several months ago, our small sangha met at the beach for a morning of mindfulness. First we sat together, then we did forty-five minutes of "cleaning the beach meditation." After that we shared our experiences together and ended with walking meditation. The experience was extraordinary for all of us, and we have…
Cultivating Our Blue Sky Nature
Skillful Means for Emotional Healing In the mid-1990s, John Bell began leading workshops on handling stress for the young people and staff in the YouthBuild programs throughout the United States. At the workshop, John introduced them to meditation and to methods of emotional healing. John has been exploring ways of…
Zero And One
By Elizabeth Wood For me personally, the story of Thay's visit to Moscow last September began two nights before his arrival. I dreamed I was trying to hold the numbers zero and one together in my mind. As I woke up, the dream felt like a koan. Emptiness and form, zero and one, how…