There are different kinds of realizations. They are not always lightening bolts but sometimes soft and slow, as if snow were quietly falling and settling. Softly and slowly, as we relax into our practice and our life, we can come to see and feel the way we habitually treat life as an enemy to beContinue reading “Snow Day Reflection”
Tag Archives: Letting Go
Determination
“If we could surrender to Earth’s intelligence, we would rise up rooted, like trees.” –Rainer Maria Rilke When most of us think of determination, we think first of imposing our will on the world, insisting on a particular outcome, our vision. Yet real determination appears when we keep going, surrendering what the ego wants, whichContinue reading “Determination”
Soft
The root meaning of heal is to make whole. It doesn’t mean to be made new. Healing often leaves a scar. Illness and mishap and even great tragedy can lead us eventually from the pain of isolation to a greater wholeness. There is such a powerful tendency in our spiritual aspiration to climb up outContinue reading “Soft”
The Power in Obstacles
Last week, a group of us talked about what happens when we face obstacles and difficult situations. We agreed that no one escapes such things, and that often what happens is inside is fear, which has a powerful undertow. Signs at ocean beaches warn swimmers not to try to fight their way out of aContinue reading “The Power in Obstacles”
A Way Out of Hell
The impermanence of life causes suffering, but permanence is hell. When I was young, I had a recurring nightmare in which I was trapped in a grid or maze. I was not alone in the maze. Other people, including friends, were visible and in shouting distance, but we couldn’t move to really face one another. Continue reading “A Way Out of Hell”
One Day This Will Happen
One day this will happen to you: life will surprise you. Life will show you that you have been dreaming, and it will wake you. We each have countless examples. Here is one of mine. Once many years ago, I took my young daughter on a meditation retreat led by Thich Nhat Hanh—a retreat thatContinue reading “One Day This Will Happen”
Tracy Cochran 