[Spoiler Alert: This post doesn’t come to a conclusion, or offer an answer, or end with a bon mot. It is an exploration still in process.] It wasn’t my first retreat, but sometime early in my experience of silent retreats I remember sitting in the chapel at the retreat house as one of the monks …
We western enculturated types tend to think of enlightenment as a mental or psychological or spiritual event because we always tend to separate body and mind, body and heart, spirit and flesh. That separation doesn’t serve us well, but it is virtually hard-wired into us, so we live as if we are two (or more) …
We stand on the cusp of a new year. I don’t know about you, but I am getting tired of new years that look just like the old year(s) except more so. Maybe it is time to ask some hard, life-challenging questions. For instance: Am I content to keep re-enacting past behaviors and relationship patterns? …
In the northern hemisphere, the winter solstice – the feast of Yule – is upon us. On December 22, at 08:04 GMT, the North Pole reaches the point at which it is tilted furthest – 23.5 degrees – away from the Sun. As I wrote exactly a year ago: One breath later, we begin to …
Yes, Yes. I know it’s Saturday, but this is a Wednesday-type reflection so we are all going to pretend it is Wednesday. Flipping through a magazine in a waiting room recently, I saw an article titled something like, “The Real Science Behind Star Wars”. I didn’t get to read it because my name was …
In the interests of taking a breather from the current headlines, I would like to reflect just a bit on personal non-violence…and to encourage each of us to take December (and maybe all of 2016) to practice some patience, some compassion, and some gentleness toward our own souls, spirits, minds, and bodies. I suggest this …
This is the time of year when thoughts turn to gifts: giving and receiving. Most of us in the parts of the world where Christianity and/or Judaism have a presence are busy thinking about what we can buy (or, less often, make) as gifts for a list that might range from only one or two …
There are seasons of our life in which it is easy to be thankful, and seasons when it is difficult. However, gratitude – like love – is not really an emotion; it is a practice. We all know them: the people whose life is radiant with gratitude. They shine with blessing, and that blessing is …
I know I have been speaking about this for a week or so, but I am intensely curious about what I hear and see around me. We seem to be on or near a fulcrum of resolution (or panic – I think it can go either way). For some reason, the attacks on Paris have …
In light of the events of the past week (month, year, decade, century), I find myself trying to balance between a self-protective human instinct and a deeply held higher value. It is, perhaps, natural to barricade ourselves and our children in the safest place we can find, close our eyes, put our fingers in our …