Second day of our great adventure into the heart of life. Sometimes I forget about it, forget that this is a retreat, only realizing that I've forgotten when I remember. And then suddenly as I put the key in my door upon returning from a lunch date, the "world" is beyond imagination and yet right [...]
So after sitting this morning and before sitting tonight, it's Monday, with it's usual routine of household tasks, meetings and appointments. And yet today, there's a difference: These activities are my contribution to the retreat that we are plunging into together. A fountain of gratitude gushed forth as I read all your words. With the [...]
Thanks for your enthusiasm about this first Retreat in the Heart of Life. I'm delighted to share this experiment with you all, wherever we each are. We're offering ourselves a superb opportunity to live Zen practice and our entire lives as an endlessly vibrant and creative improvisation. It's not too late to join in; info [...]
"The whole idea of compassion is based on a keen awareness of the interdependence of all these living beings, which are all part of one another, and all involved in one another.'' I come across this quote from Thomas Merton, and it seems so very appropriate for so many things these days, within me and [...]
Sunday afternoon, clear and cold here. There's nothing in particular that I "must" do today. I go about a few tasks, discuss films with my son, hang out with the cat, make arrangements for a future trip, check the updates on the Internet, take a walk to the news stand for the Sunday paper. Following [...]
In response to a number of questions about the coming retreat in the heart of life (Feb. 14-19, see earlier posting), here are some details and explanations: You do this "retreat" wherever you are. If you can and want to sit with others, please come and join us. But coming to those sittings is not [...]
James Joyce's birthday. A nod to Dublin's finest. May he rest in peace. And? No resting in peace in Cairo tonight as clashes are raging in Tahrir Square. So sad. What is so captivating, too, in this unfolding tale in Egypt (and elsewhere in the "Arab" world these days) is the desire to be free. [...]
A retreat in the heart of life Feb. 14-19 in Paris or wherever you are Where are you? Wherever you are, life is there! And Zen practice is nowhere else! Take a plunge into the heart of your life just as it is, with the Wild Flower Zen Sangha. Come join the sitting or sit [...]
All of this upheaval in Egypt that I read about, hear about, seems absolutely incomprehensible and absolutely comprehensible at once. I feel I'm with them and not, so far and right here. In a magazine, I come upon this fragment written by Roland Barthes in 1977: "Each of us has his own rhythm of suffering." [...]
