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 BuddhaContinue reading “September 2016 full moon – wisdom and (self) compassion”
Category Archives: Wisdom – pañña
January 2015 full moon – resolution and determination
“The days and nights are relentlessly passing; how well am I spending my time?” (A question that the Buddha advised practitioners to contemplate frequently) 2015. Each year this changing-of-the-calendar-numbers seems to arrive a little more quickly. Each year, it seems that somehow there is less TIME … and so at first reading, the above reflection can seem to reinforce a senseContinue reading “January 2015 full moon – resolution and determination”
July 2014 full moon – Hatred never ceases by hatred …
Hatred never ceases by hatred, but by love alone is healed. This is an ancient and eternal law. quoted in “The Places That Scare You: A Guide to Fearlessness in Difficult Times” by Pema Chödrön 2001 Hatred never ends through hatred. By non-hatred alone does it end. This is anContinue reading “July 2014 full moon – Hatred never ceases by hatred …”
Brene Brown on shame, vulnerability and compassion
Australian echidna not enjoying having its photo taken Recently I’ve offered a couple of retreats and courses exploring the theme of “Transforming Poison into Medicine – working with the mind’s difficult energies.” That phrase about “poison and medicine” was borrowed from a chapter in a book by Pema Chodron, an American nun in the TibetanContinue reading “Brene Brown on shame, vulnerability and compassion”
Welcoming the New Year
Greetings from snowy Massachusetts! I intended to write this post a few days ago, but I’ve been under the weather with a combination of jet lag, a head cold, AND a gastro bug. So I wasn’t exactly the life of the party on New Year’s Eve, but being forced to take time out has givenContinue reading “Welcoming the New Year”
Jill Shepherd: insight meditation 