Dharma week 24-30 April: Who are we in the world? "Nothing to worry about" doesn't mean "everything is going great." It just means, "Worry doesn't help." In these times of transformation, we need all the help we can get. This week, we will investigate what is true about who we are in the world--from the outermost to the innermost realms of what we are. The facts of life from mutual influence and the demands of these crazy times, to deep awakening to what is. Email shahar(AT)o

Is it self-indulgent to commit to so-called inner work? Is it avoidance if we devote ourselves to so-called outer work? (Drawing by Jaya, Copyright Jaya Julienne Ashmore, 2019.) I've been hearing these questions frequently in recent weeks. In the face of ecological turbulence, for example, where do we reach for our response? What do we do and from where do we find a real willingness to be here and meet our situation fully? I'd like to share and get real with these and oth

Kathleen Dowling Singh: ~Dying is safe. ~Our fear of death is grounded in a strong sense of the 'I'" ...a transformation from perceived tragedy to experienced grace. I realized that what I had been witnessing in the process of dying was grace, all around, shimmering and penetrating. I became aware that all of the observed qualities of the Nearing Death Experience point to the fact that there is profound psychoalchemy occurring here, a passage to deeper being. There appears

"Freedom" Saturday, 17 November, online--this weekend! 5:30-7 pm Spanish time Half an hour each of meditation, Dharma teachings, and dialog and inquiry. Have fun with meditation, silence, community, and the inner power that shakes us free from a pervasive sense of trouble and not-enoughness. Discovering the well of goodness in us, that comes forth not from demand and stress, but through enjoying a love of life and radical honesty. Email shahar@opendharma.org --with "17 N

Sweet Honey in the Rock introduce their miraculous singing of "Wade in the Water," with this invitation/warning: "If you want change in your life, and you're avoiding the trouble, you can forget it. So Harriet would say, Wade on in the water." The sound system in my car, blessedly, only plays CDs and the radio, so I am visiting decades past, through my CD collection. Singing along to Sweet Honey in the Rock "Beatitudes" and "Peace"-- I found "Wade in the Water" responds to t

Celebrating the craziness of just being yourself, and yet wooing the divine. Celebrating Kabir's kind of craziness. The swan of our inner life or soul will fly away alone some day, says Kabir, so find what's worthwhile to find--woo and marry and celebrate that. Sing it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FpWAKSGZZ6A&list=PLYQZAsoWq_KSzBnNKonHDmWCdpgIiFKY4 It's the kind of speech no eye can see Kabir says, Listen to the word spoken in every body ~Kabir (transl. L

Bringing it home, all the threads that weave a retreat: the radiance, quietness, intensity, transformation, upheaval, support, friendliness. Simplicity and nuance and messiness. Depth and surprise. Freedom and discipline. Seriousness, confusion, discovery and playfulness. Application form here: https://form.jotform.us/72048609552156 2 live meditations a week Recordings available Participate in whatever ways fit you this month: ~Join live or just listen to the recordi

I am delighted to let you know I am offering a Streaming retreat the weekend of November 2-4...less than 1 month away. It is the first online retreat I have offered since March, 2016! Below please find the basic information, including the full schedule, expressed in Spanish time. Streaming Weekend Retreat - November 2-4, 2018 with Jaya Ashmore ~The support and flourishing of a deep rest retreat while at home. ~An international practice community online ~Live teachings fr

Ask the world to reveal its quietude- not the silence of machines when they are still, but the true quiet by which birdsongs, trees, bellworts, snails, clouds, storms become what they are, and are nothing else. ~Wendell Berry Thanks to Kane for sharing this excerpt #poetry #WendellBerry #nature #ecology #silence #meditation #nonduality

Trungpa! (VCTR = Vidhyadhara Chogyam Trungpa Ringpoche, below...) (painting by Jaya) RK: Where does the sense of enlightenment or sacredness come from? Is it sacred because it comes out of the ultimate alaya? VCTR: You could say that. Ultimate alaya at least holds the potentialities of the whole thing. We could say that samsara came out of some kind of freedom. That is the basic logic of why anyone can attain enlightenment. RK: In meditation, is our approach to identify with

"Many African-American midwives in rural southeastern US of the 20th-century were proud that they could'“plow like men, and pick cotton by moonlight.' They said they were uneducated but that midwifery put their 'big minds' to work." (pg. 63, Listen to Me Good, Margaret Charles Smith and Linda Holmes.) About 11 years ago, while pregnant, I wrote and article called "Call Me A Pregnant Woman" to bring up questions about midwifing big mind and birthing insight: "Gautama Buddha s

Knowing we are okay, even in all our weirdness and tenderness, can give rise to the joy and confidence that makes our spiritual path come alive. Even for especially difficult trauma and pain, okayness can be a good ground to heal from. This half-hour podcast will go live at 12:30 pm European time on Monday, December 18. And you can listen to the podcast any time after that, too: http://tobtr.com/s/10468245 #DharmatalkBlogradio #mystery #meditation #traumahealing

In the Himalayan foothills, I got to use Tom Riddle's GoPro camera to walk through the woods to the lake--Tomji's idea, and camera--and talk about meditation on a walk. A few tips for standing and formal walking meditation, and then the beloved walk down to the lake at Sattal Ashram. Thanks again,Tom, for the inspiration and follow-through. We started this project in April 2016, and went through several iterations before ending up just doing a fresh take at the end of the 2n