All night I could not sleep because of the moonlight on my bed. I kept on hearing a voice calling: Out of Nowhere, Nothing answered "yes." ~attributed to the poetess Zi Ye sometime between 6th-3rd century BCE (transl. Arthur Waley) I will be offering a 2-year online Dharma program, starting in late April of this year--2019-2021. We will allow the teachings to emerge from the field of our practice, commitment, friendliness, and silence. Participants will take initiative

"A million invisible helping hands" Drawing by Jaya From Bilal Qureshi's story on National Public Radio in the US, about Guerra and Gallego's film Birds of Passage: Amidst huge changes freighting a culture never previously colonized in Colombia, South America... "...it is the women ... who sense that something is wrong. The Wayúu are a matrilineal society, and in dream sequences and natural omens, only the women foretell the impending chaos. "One of the key omens are the

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

Wendell Berry's words give us an understanding of why it is so hard to describe meditation ... "The mind that comes to rest is tended In some ways that it cannot intend Is born, preserved, and comprehended By what it cannot comprehend." ~ Wendell Berry, from 1979 in This Day The naturalness of deep rest meditation the deeper nature of resting. The resonance of generosity...the sheer ongoingness that giving is and does... Wendell Berry giving into his poems, along

Another old CD coming back to life--Handel's Messiah-- has kept me company driving in the rain this week. Listening and singing along brought me to some kind of intersection-- a Monty Python-esque funny bone, the majestic sweep of harmonies, and a kinship felt in ancient shepherd poetry. Within all the absurdity and vastness, we're not so different after all, so then what? I had not paid as much attention to three passages that stood out this week: "All we like sheep," "Why

"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

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