Every Day Zen
Today’s #LongerView, “The Undertow of Thought,” is about bringing the meditative state into every day, rather than escaping into the somewhat seductive and oh-so-subtle mental wandering we do: the what ifs and if only. It’s like an undertow, as we learn to swim with rather than against it. As always, I provide the swinging bench.... Continue Reading →
“Bloom where you’re planted.” I can still see the poster. Standard blue-sky, sunshine background while in the fore, a yellow daylily, red tulip, or purple iris. I never bought the philosophy or the poster but I never forgot the words. From decade to decade they revisit, and this past week, I was glad to see... Continue Reading →
Chasing after the world brings chaos Allowing it all to come to me brings peace. Zen Gatha* I tire of the chase. My dreams are fraught with places of peace past--roadhouses--where like Blake, I see a world in a grain of sand. I don’t know how else to allow the world. I really don’t. So,... Continue Reading →
I submitted a poem for publication that was not ready. It was barely a poem, far from what it could be, but my focus was making a deadline, and I did. I am testing my theory of aiming for even, meeting each day’s energy, high or low, and finding the middle within. Evening it out,... Continue Reading →
This week’s #LongerView, “Monday Morning 9 AM Social,” is about creating community and not knowing where to begin but rather that doing nothing, beginning with what is. My neighbor, Grace, and I decide to stop talking about community and get a better sense of where we live and with whom. We choose a monthly calendar event... Continue Reading →
“There’s just so much wrong with you” a rheumatologist once told me. Finally, I thought, we are getting somewhere. Yes, we were. He dropped me as a patient. And it was freeing, at first, believing nothing could be done when there is just so much wrong. Some aspects of my health--diet and lifestyle--improved, but what... Continue Reading →
It’s #MemorialDayWeekend and the #LongerView is in search of the American identity and asks the question, “Are We Americans?” As usual, all questions and no answers. After all, it’s the questions that are always to hand. Take a seat on the swinging bench and think about America for a moment, please. We know we have... Continue Reading →
Tonglen. To breathe in the way of the world, as it is, and release in its stead, compassion. Why bother? I ask this question frequently, often in despair, clinging to my equanimity. Time was when I would wander to Waverly Park to walk pond’s edge but now I sit at Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche’s pond, one... Continue Reading →
“We can’t expect the world to get better by itself” (Gwen Ifill). Yet, we do. Far too often, I have announced my rhetorical resignation as, "But what I can do?" As if I were Sisyphus, pushing the boulder to the top of the hill only to have it roll down again. It held no appeal... Continue Reading →
I call my life practice keeping it even, meeting each day's energy one dose at a time. It’s an ongoing balancing act between letting go and looking more closely. No experience stays any longer than necessary. But is it a cheerful practice? I never considered the question until Pema Chödrön offered yet another challenge. “Apply... Continue Reading →
