Undermining fear.

Fight the temptation to fill boredom with busyness. 

Resist the urge to reach for your cell phone.  Relinquish the need to look something up.  Wait to check your email, your social media, your news outlet. 

For a moment, just sit with the irritation of having an open moment.  Witness all the momentum and inertia pushing you to keep moving, keep doing.  Feel all the subtle agitation and static energy that insist on you shifting your attention somewhere else.

In order to avoid the uncomfortableness of the present we consume- food, ideas, news, pictures, entertainment- anything we can fit in that space at that time.
In order to avoid the hollowness of the present we do- all kinds of things.

At the root of all of these lie fear, uncertainty and doubt.  We consume and do all sorts of things just to avoid these unpleasant feelings and perceptions.  Our assumption is that by consuming and doing we might be able to avoid them all together.  We haven't succeeded to date.     
 
Cultivate space in your life.  Carve out intentional moments.  Create boundaries.  This is your battle field. 

As you learn to rest with openness, all the irritation, boredom and anxiousness are undermined.  As you dig deeper, fear and uncertainty have no ground on which to stand.  No longer holding onto any ground, openness gives rise to a natural outpouring of inner wealth and fullness.  A wellspring of generosity, kindness and compassion springs forth with nothing left to hold it back.

Of course, when you share generosity, kindness and compassion you are making yourself vulnerable.  With openness comes vulnerability, with vulnerability comes fear. 

This is the dance.  Dance with openness.  Dance with fear.  And I'm sorry in advance if a couple toes get stepped on. 

Earth Day Meditation April 22, 2014

SIT for a moment of mindfulness and appreciation.
CELEBRATING environmental protection and activism.
HONORING nature and it's inherent peacefulness.
RECOGNIZING our connection to and impact on the earth.
And a REMINDER- of how precious and fleeting the opportunity available to us.

Sit with us 

Tuesday April 22, 2014

6pm

Golden Gardens in Seattle, WA

or wherever you are, near and far.
Hosted by Sit in the City and Siddhearta.

What happens when we rise from meditation is up to you.

Invite your family, friends, neighbors.  Spread the invitation.

For more details email Greg Patenaude at siddhearta@gmail.com

A prism.

When a single ray of white light enters a prism it is refracted and dispersed creating a rainbow-like effect.

Is the source light different than the dispersed light? No.
Is the source light the same as the dispersed light? No.

They differ in frequency, function, appearance and activity.  The degree to which the light is refracted depends upon the prism.  The prism doesn't create colors, it is a lens through which the qualities of the original light can be fully understood.

If your practice is the prism, what is the source light?  What is the refractive index?  What colors and qualities are refracted upon the world?

Are they the same as the source?  Are they different? 

Doubt.

Doubt is a mischievous little thing.  It sneaks up on you unknowingly.  It lurks in the shadows of your mind, waiting for an opportunity to spring up and occupy your mind.

In a way, doubt protects us.  It prevents us from being taken advantage of, from being fooled, again.  It is an intellectual and emotional survival mechanism.  I won't let myself be hurt.  I won't over commit. 

I still hold the reins.

But doubt also holds us back.  What are we holding onto?  We are holding onto our hearts and minds.  We cannot tolerate being that vulnerable, open.  If we really put ourselves out there, we are so susceptible to being hurt, being let down.

So we hold on.

We hold on and we don't let go.  We look for the slightest misstep.  We pounce on every incorrect utterance.  "Aha!  I was right all along."

You should not blindly trust people and be susceptible to their every whim and preoccupation.  But with your own experience as your guide, with reason and logic as your weight, and with confidence as the full measure, it may be time to be willing to be open and vulnerable.  It may be time to trust.  It may also be time to doubt whatever you used to be holding onto. 

Doubt the need to always protect yourself.  Open your heart and mind to others, and you might be surprised what comes back to you in return.

Immersed.

Life gets busy.

You've committed to a daily practice. You read and reflect, expand your knowledge and improve your skills.  You hope and plan, make exceptions and pardon laziness.  You work and dig and plot and scheme.  And you make a little progress.  You can see a difference, all of this is paying off.  Still, you seem to be fighting all this inertia, you know where you want to go and maybe even how to get there, but there is this unseen weight holding you down.   

A retreat is a powerful move. 

Retreat from all the busyness and distraction.  Retreat from the endless turmoil of information and entertainment.  Isolate your mind.  Clarify your intention.  Remove all the excess. 

Immerse yourself. 

To retreat isn't to withdraw or escape.  It is a direct encounter.  Face to face.  Mono y mono. 

Speaking of retreat, Younge Khachab Rinpoche is hosting the annual summer Dzogchen retreat in Madison, WI June 13-20.  For more details, visit: http://youngedrodulling.org/retreat2014.shtml