A Mindful Life

We must remain as close to the flowers, the grass, and the butterflies as the child is who is not yet so much taller than they are. –Friedrich Nietzsche

Dave Haxton at MacRaven mentioned that he’d written a prayer to Mani (the moon) awhile back. The other night his wife took a picture of the full moon, and he combined the poem with it. I happen to be very fond of the moon and lunar lore. The prayer is lovely, and the photo is [...]

So don’t be in a hurry and try to push or rush your practice. Do your meditation gently and gradually step by step. In regard to peacefulness, if you become peaceful, then accept it; if you don’t become peaceful, then accept that also. That’s the nature of the mind. We must find our own practice [...]

I read about sallekhana in a magazine, and I was curious to learn more. In this article the author considers the grounds for a voluntary death vis-a-vis an act of suicide as it is understood in the Jain religion. The author argues that there are conditions and expectations which must be in place if a [...]

From Cup of Chicha: My moods, their ups and downs, become obvious when I look at my changing relationship to books. At my best, I’m reading them. At my worst, I’m avoiding them. Usually, depressed but optimistic, I’m buying them; I can easily mistake buying them for possessing them, assign their physical presence intellectual effects. [...]

Standing alone in the quiet gloaming, I breathe the season’s magic. “Winter Sunset” by Shirley Peters ©2003 / The Other Side

We live by our eyes; we use them to communicate, navigate and assess our environment. Without sight we are vulnerable. The eyes perceive various waves of light and send signals to the brain, which interprets these as colors, which we name. The language of color is so complex and specialized that a glossary is required [...]

The truth indeed has never been preached by the Buddha, seeing that one has to realize it within oneself. –Lamkara Sutra

I received an email from a relative on my mother’s side of the family announcing: KATHRYN SACKINGER, the daughter of R. Bruce Sackinger and the granddaughter of William M. and Patricia Sackinger of Fairbanks, Alaska, has become the Champion Speller of the State of Oregon for 2004 and will compete in the National Spelling Bee [...]

Words, even if they come from the soul, hide the soul, as fog rising off the sea covers the sea, the coast, the fish, the pearls. It’s noble work to build coherent philosophical discourses, but they block out the sun of truth. See God’s qualities as an ocean, this world as foam on the purity [...]