Many thanks to all the people who sent in suggestions in response to my last newsletter. Below are a few highlights, and I plan to keep updating this from time to time. Bike path, Auckland, New Zealand Speaking of New Zealand, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says New Zealand is on the ‘right side of history’ asContinueContinue reading “Readers suggestions for taking action in relation to climate change”
Author Archives: Jill Shepherd
Insight Meditation Society 2020 Registration Now Open
Just letting you know that the Insight Meditation SOciety in Barre, Massachusetts, has just announced its 2020 retreat schedule and registration is now open. Based on previous years, most retreats tend to get fully booked within a few days, so if you’re interested in practising at IMS, best to register as soon as you canContinueContinue reading “Insight Meditation Society 2020 Registration Now Open”
¿ Hope ?
I arrived back in New South Wales just as the 16th Sakyadhita International Conference for Women in Buddhism was happening in the Blue Mountains, and I was fortunate to be able to attend a keynote address by Roshi Joan Halifax on the theme of “Wise Hope.” Her reflections on the differences between optimism, pessimism and whatContinueContinue reading “¿ Hope ?”
Retreat as rebellion
Resisting the tyranny of productivity Over the last few months, I’ve been having conversations with students – and with myself! – about what feels to be the increasingly relentless busyness of our lives. People often say to me that they don’t have time to meditate every day, and they certainly don’t have time to goContinueContinue reading “Retreat as rebellion”
Christchurch mosque shootings
Again and again and again we need to understand … HATRED NEVER ENDS THROUGH HATRED. BY NON-HATRED ALONE DOES IT END. THIS IS AN ANCIENT TRUTH. The Dhammapada: Teachings of the Buddha translated from the Pali by Gil Fronsdal 2008 Whether you are a Muslim, or an ally, this is a moment to show upContinueContinue reading “Christchurch mosque shootings”
April 2018 full moon – Retreat and post-retreat practice
Before and after A couple of years ago, I wrote a post titled “Retreat and pre-retreat practice”, which explored ways to navigate some of the anxiety and other challenges that often come up before we go on retreat. This month, I’m writing about another aspect of retreat practice that doesn’t always get a lot ofContinueContinue reading “April 2018 full moon – Retreat and post-retreat practice”
January/February 2018 super blue blood moon – Buddhist visual art and architecture
This month, I felt the need for some inspiration of the senses, so I’ve decided to set up a webpage dedicated to visual art that’s either been created by practising Buddhists, or features images or sculptures of the Buddha, or evokes meditative states. Below are just a few samples I’ve found recently. There are largerContinueContinue reading “January/February 2018 super blue blood moon – Buddhist visual art and architecture”
January 2018 full moon – re-set
Sydney Insight Meditators 2018 New Year’s retreat Making positive changes The New Year is traditionally a time to try to make positive changes for the year ahead. And yet most of us have had the experience of starting out with a rush of good intentions, only to find ourselves collapsing back into old habits veryContinueContinue reading “January 2018 full moon – re-set”
December 2017 super moon – impermanence, vastness, and intimacy
Impermanence This month’s full moon post is a little late, because just this morning, I finished co-teaching the last six weeks of the three-month retreat at IMS in Barre, Massachusetts. The ending of any period of intensive meditation practice is poignant, but even more so when it’s been a longer retreat. As this retreat wasContinueContinue reading “December 2017 super moon – impermanence, vastness, and intimacy”
New neuroscience research on the lasting benefits of meditation
Dan Goleman and Richie Davidson are both well-known names in the fields of psychology, science journalism and neuroscience, and they have recently co-authored a book laying out their most recent research on the benefits of meditation. Altered Traits: Science Reveals How Meditation Changes Your Mind, Brain, and Body Daniel Goleman and Richard J. Davidson, publishedContinueContinue reading “New neuroscience research on the lasting benefits of meditation”
September 2017 full moon – Taking A Stand
Stand Against Suffering: A Call to Action by Buddhist Teachers “‘As long as a society protects the vulnerable among them, they can be expected to prosper and not decline.’ The Buddha, in the Mahaparinirvana Sutta Buddhism does not align itself with any party or ideology. But when great suffering is at stake, Buddhists must take aContinueContinue reading “September 2017 full moon – Taking A Stand”
July 2017 full moon – Gratitude
Just last week, I finished a one-month retreat at the Insight Meditation Society’s Forest Refuge in Barre, Massachusetts, led by Sayadaw U Vivekananda. What a relief it was, to temporarily put down some of the burdens I didn’t even know I was carrying, and to have such a powerful opportunity to “disentangle the tangle” (asContinueContinue reading “July 2017 full moon – Gratitude”
Let’s Stand Up Together – Bhikkhu Bodhi
In response to the intense turbulence of the last few months, and the immense outpouring of messages of resistance and support, adding my own not-so-articulate-or-informed opinions to all of that seemed redundant. I’ve been staying quiet in terms of not posting, but active in terms of looking for ways to resist harmful energies, whichever countryContinueContinue reading “Let’s Stand Up Together – Bhikkhu Bodhi”
December 2016 full moon – Wise Action, Wise Non-Action
The Noble Eightfold Path The Noble Eightfold Path is the Buddha’s prescription for completely curing ourselves of unhappiness. And like any good medicine, it doesn’t only work in one way. It’s a very holistic treatment that works on several different aspects of our lives at once – in fact, every aspect of our lives isContinueContinue reading “December 2016 full moon – Wise Action, Wise Non-Action”
November 2016 full moon – Turmoil
almost super-moon, Newcastle Beach NSW Australia 13 November 2016 Turning towards and turning away Whether it’s global political upheaval, worsening social injustice, natural disasters, personal stress, emotional pain, relational crises, or health challenges, we seem to be in a phase of intense turmoil right now. Many of the communities around the world that I careContinueContinue reading “November 2016 full moon – Turmoil”
October 2016 full moon – Reinstating the Buddha’s Vision of Gender Equity
Friends of mine from IMS recently sent me information about this presentation on a little-known aspect of Buddhist history, the recent revival of full monastic ordination for women. “This presentation was developed by Friends of Aloka Vihara co-founder Mindy Zlotnick. It outlines the history of bhikkhunis (fully ordained Buddhist nuns) from the time of theContinueContinue reading “October 2016 full moon – Reinstating the Buddha’s Vision of Gender Equity”
September 2016 full moon – wisdom and (self) compassion
Emaciated Buddha figure, Spirit Rock The ascetic Buddha Back at the end of July, I was an assistant teacher on a nine-day retreat at Spirit Rock, together with a friend and fellow teacher-trainee, DaRa Williams. One day, as we walked from the teacher housing to the meditation hall, I happened to notice a solitary BuddhaContinueContinue reading “September 2016 full moon – wisdom and (self) compassion”
August 2016 full moon – Seven Factors of Awakening and Equanimity (again)
Seven Factors of Awakening I’ve recently enjoyed leading a couple of longer residential retreats in New Zealand and Australia, exploring the teachings from the Satipatthana Sutta on the Seven Factors of Awakening: mindfulness, investigation, energy, joy or rapture, tranquillity, concentration or stability of mind, and equanimity. When cultivated together and brought into balance with eachContinueContinue reading “August 2016 full moon – Seven Factors of Awakening and Equanimity (again)”
July 2016 full moon – Hatred STILL never ceases by hatred …
Rainstorm near Te Moata Retreat Centre, Coromandel, New Zealand Exactly two years ago in July 2014, I wrote a post based on some well-known lines from the Dhammapada: Hatred never ceases by hatred, but by love alone is healed. This is an ancient and eternal law. 1 Lately, that same post has been getting someContinueContinue reading “July 2016 full moon – Hatred STILL never ceases by hatred …”
June 2016 full moon – Inspiration and taking refuge in sangha/community
Graduates of the Insight Meditation Society and Spirit Rock four-year teacher training programme, 10 June 2016 – photo by Ben Marshall In my last international newsletter back in April, I wrote about inspiration, an aspect of spiritual practice that surprisingly, doesn’t seem to be talked about very often. As I discovered back then, “… theContinueContinue reading “June 2016 full moon – Inspiration and taking refuge in sangha/community”