August Reflections 2022

My husband tells me that I’m the most impatient Buddhist he’s ever met. So, I laugh because there is truth to his observation. I like making plans in advance, organizing and finding resolve quickly while he has always been a “go with the flow” guy. For the most part, we tend to balance each other's scales.

Buddhists often use the ocean as a metaphor when describing meditation. The body is still and grounded, like the ocean floor. Our breath rises and falls like the swells on the surface of the ocean. And, thoughts swim around the edges of our minds like schools of fish. These metaphors provoke a feeling of resting in stillness. Even though there is movement in the ocean I often wonder about sinking below the waves and resting in the stillness below my own thoughts. Floating is the practice of letting go. Can we surrender and become one with the ocean? Stillness certainly does not mean that there is no movement. Real stillness coexists with movement. Thoughts come and go, and our breath rises and falls but we are able to remain calm in the middle of a storm. Meditating is actually the art of waiting. We need to keep at it and I think eventually stillness finds us.

Do you have the patience to wait 
til your mud settles and the water is clear?
Can you remain unmoving
till the right action arises by itself?
—Lao Tzu

I just returned from Tara Mandala last week. This Green Tara Retreat was the first in-person retreat in almost three years. She represents swift-acting compassion and is the most relevant female Buddha in our troubled world. With the presence of Green Tara, we can be more grounded, receptive, and compassionate as we integrate these inherent qualities into our daily lives. Taking time out of our busy lives for retreat is undeniably profound. It offers a shift and a renewal in perspective and attitude. Come with me on retreat this Fall.