From being out in the wilderness, I’ve awakened to the reality of how fragile life is in all its form. During the day, I’ve seen bears cause deer and squirrels to flee into hiding. At night, I’ve heard the cries of hungry coyotes and wolves. As one of my teachers once said, the images used […]
mindfulness
Breathless
As a teen, I’d occasionally suffer from intense stomachaches, as result of food allergies or physiological imbalances in the body. Witnessing my battles with stomach pain, my father gave me specific instructions for how to find ease, even though I felt my body was under relentless attack. “When you feel pain, breathe as deeply and […]
Watch, listen, and remember. He is all around us
No one can predict the time of one’s passing. More accurately, no one can predict when one dissolves into the bloom of a flower, or returns to the sky as a cloud that is beyond creation and destruction. It was therefore natural that the Hong Kong Buddhist community’s commemoration for Thich Nhat Hanh on the […]
Mindful of Time
Some time ago—I don’t remember how long because I didn’t think to keep track—a couple of mourning doves came to inspect a flowerpot that hangs from the ceiling of my porch. They went back and forth, inspecting the flowerpot, for a day or two, and then they left. A few weeks later they were back […]
An Unquestioned Gift
Instinct reminds the butterfly they are changing No counting the daysor paying attention to the position of the sun It is always present
Process
Do not process this experience. Just have it. It is not about anything. Not about leaving. Not about having fun. Not about you or anyone. It’s not about needing to participate.
After Meditating On My Front Porch
I again realize that mindfulness is noticingstillness, how the ink on my paper has more than one color of black and feels fluid as silk. And how the hard plastic wheelsof a stroller across the street, scraps the gravel, making soundslike crackling embers. It’s noticing the stillness of a solitary pine needle pulsing in the sighing wind. An […]
Mindfulness Is Not
1. A religion 2. An answer 3. A way to feel successful 4. A way to improve yourself 5. A cult 6. A scientific explanation 7. How the brain should work 8. A way of life for the enlightened 9. Ancient 10. New 11. Good for you Mindfulness is a deliberate choice, each moment, to observe […]
After Breathing
I notice.Everything. How the inkon my paperhas more thanone color of blackand feels delicate as silk. The hard plastic wheels of a stroller scraping the gravel. Like crackling embers,the stillness of a solitary pineneedle sighing in the breeze.An eternal thing, like bloodflowing for its own sake. That spring taskof bringing life again. Or the neighbor’s Calico […]
Stillness
Mindfulness is noticingstillness, how the ink on my paper has more than one color of black and feels fluid as silk. It’s noticing the stillness of a solitary pine needle pulsing in the sighing wind. Andthe acrobatic foraging of a squirrel jumping from limb to limb withunhesitating spontaneity. It’s the neighbor’s Calico slouching,preying, lifting each paw as a […]