Practicing Patience

Originally recorded: 2020/05/06

… Patience is an invitation to be present for what is so, here and now. It’s not waiting for something better. It’s the presence for each moment unfolding.

Zen Master Suzuki Roshi, when he was alive, said that patience isn’t even the right translation of this word, a better word is: constancy.

Our meditation, our love relationships, our political activism, our work in community, our care for our body and families, all ask for a constancy, a willingness to be present for what is.

So what’s a helpful thing to do with our impatience? Notice the impatience. WOW! That’s humbling. I don’t know about you, but I’ve been humbled by my impatience for many years.

In part, it is understanding that difficult times are the most fruitful times in practice because that’s when the practice of patience comes most into play. It’s natural that we want to turn away from difficulty. No one wants to go toward pain, nobody.

We distract ourselves, we deny and blame others, we rush around in a futile attempt to fix it somehow. To be able to practice patience we have to do the opposite, we have to turn toward the difficulty and embrace it like an ally.

Impatience doesn’t mean passivity, there is an active quality to patience. It has a persistence to it, a gentle persistence with connecting to experience. A constancy. A steadfastness….

The Long Road to Freedom

Originally recorded: 2020/05/20

… For us to grow in generosity of spirit we have to undergo, in some way, what Nelson Mandela had to undergo. We have to be refined. We have to refine our almost natural response to resist what’s happening.

Ram Dass shared these words from an Indian sage, “Light your incense, ring your bells, call out to the Gods, but Watch out! For the Gods will come and they will fire up the forge and put you on the anvil and beat you and beat you until they turn brass into pure gold.” This is the refinement that Mandela underwent. This is the refinement for us all….

So like in Nelson Mandela’s case, when you are imprisoned, it’s normal to experience great difficulties. But these experiences can, with the right way of thinking, lead to great inner strength.

When we can go into our wounds, sometimes we return with precious gifts. We might find something that might heal that wound; or we might find something that will give us resonance with other people’s wounds….

Othering

Originally recorded: 2020/02/26

With all the things that are happening in the world, so much is happening in the world. Can we look at it from this perspective of what the Buddha has to teach? How do we open to suffering? It’s easy in some way to shut down and not ask this question….

How can we open to this, to not shut down? Instead of locking ourselves away in reaction and fear, can we bring wisdom and compassion to it? How do we open our hearts to the suffering that’s there. The biggest tool is mindfulness. To recognize when we’re shutting down. What’s making us push away? What’s taking us to reactivity? Why do such things happen? What does the Buddha have to say about why such things happen?…

So I’d like to explore the tendency we have as human beings to create a sense of “other.” We create an identity around views and beliefs. We create an identity around a view that someone is "other. We create a sense of self and other. Different, or other than, us. It's very natural to do this, but when we see the extremes of othering, which we do a lot of, we see a lot of those extremes, this is where suffering is caused.

Meditation Practice During COVID-19

Archived talks and guided meditations.

Having the courage and conviction to practice meditation can be challenging even if you’re on a beautiful sandy beach island retreat. Living in community with social distancing to protect ourselves and our loved ones from a viral infection can easily increase the impact of anxiety and fear and provides (whether we like it or not) tremendously fertile ground for insight.

Now more than ever we need to practice mindfulness in these times of uncertainty and rapid change. To support your effort I have included some talks that may be helpful.

Until we meet again, practice and watch your behavior, watch your mind. These are the teachings that bring liberation. It is my hope that we will resume our public gatherings soon in Aspen and Carbondale, CO but that depends entirely on the movement of this virus and the comfort level of the Aspen Chapel and Roaring Fork Aikikai. I will keep you informed as things progress.

I will always have fears, but I need not be my fears, for I have other places within myself from which to speak and act. — Parker J. Palmer

With love, Lisa