Non-Striving
This Yoga Journal story illustrates beautifully the practice of non-striving. The Breath of Life ~ Evan Weselake Buried under an avalanche, an avid backcountry skier finds that the one thing he can do is all that stands between him and oblivion. There were 21 of us skiers zigzagging up British Columbia’s Mt. Traviata on that […]
Mindlessness
This story has been circulating around the “inter-webs” for a while now, mostly as a joke pointing at old age, but I think that at any age, we can relate to this and see it as mindlessness. I decided to wash my car. As I start toward the garage, I notice that there is mail […]
Pema Chodron ~ Loving Kindness
Pema Chodron’s Shambala pocket classic Awakening Loving Kindness begins: There’s a common misunderstanding among all the human beings who have ever been born on the earth that the best way to live is to try to avoid pain and just try to get comfortable. You can see this even in insects and animals and birds. […]
Aikido Story "Another Way"
During the day of mindfulness meditation practice I read an excerpt by Terry Dobson published in How Can I Help? compiled by Ram Dass. Terry Dobson was riding on a train in Japan, when a drunken man boarded. Although he knew that aikido is the art of reconciliation, in his youthful eager way, he wanted to engage in physical combat […]
Pain is not a punishment. Pleasure is not a reward.
October 2010 at the Craneway Pavilion in Richmond CA, Pema Chodron shared a story about Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche. He blessed a bride and groom at a wedding ceremony by taking out a paper fan and hitting them gentle over the head, back and forth saying to each, “pain is not punishment, pleasure is not a […]