Homework

1. Sit every day. Try sitting for a minimum of 15-30 minutes per day. More if you are able. Please practice your meditation in silence.
2. Formal Practice: Standing & Walking: Practice standing meditation at least once in your day. Practice walking meditation at least once during the day as you move through the world.
3. Gratitude Practice: Text or e-mail your 2 or 3 buddies from the workshop 3 things you are grateful for each day. Can be anything!
4. Intention: Remember your intention, dedication or vow. If you haven’t completed writing it please do so and store it in a special or safe place. Read it as often as you wish and/or read or recollect your intention before sitting & throughout your day.
5. Pause. Stop-Tune into your heart. That is where love, wisdom, grace & compassion reside. With loving attention, feel what matters most to you. Yes, there maybe anxious thoughts, worry, grief, trauma, but don’t let your heart be colonized by fear. Take time to quiet the mind & tend to the heart. Go out or go to a window & look at the sky. Breathe in & open yourself to the vastness of space. Sense the seasons turning. Breathe out & rest in loving awareness. Practice Steadiness & Equanimity-Learn from the trees. Learn from Nature-They are still in the center of it all- They are nature-You are nature. Be still in the center of it all. Do this as often as you like.  -Jack Kornfield with tiny changes
6. When the Buddha spoke about the Four Noble Truths, he stated what they were: the truth of suffering, the truth of the origin of suffering, the truth of the cessation of suffering & the truth of the way out of suffering by means of the eightfold noble path.
7. The 1st activity in relationship to the Four Noble Truths:
   Is the instruction to understand suffering, to study it, to get to know it really well. Some will complain that, by studying suffering, dukkha is kind of pessimistic. But the purpose of focusing on suffering is to understand it so that we can be free from the causes of suffering, so that we can be truly at ease or happy.a) Explore Dukkha, the meaning of dukkha. The truth of dukkha. Contemplate the First Noble Truth- that there is discontent, unsatisfactoriness, sorrow, anguish, in life. The Buddha said, Come & see, take a look at the nature of the body, heart, mind-investigate for ourselves. “one abides contemplating dhammas –here, the first noble truth- internally, externally, and both. So we investigate how we actually experience dukkha, internally, in ourselves and externally, in the world”How do you experience Dukkha? Birth is Dukkha,, sickness is Dukkha, Aging is Dukkha, Death is Dukkha. Pain, grief, despair are Dukkha. To be separated from the pleasant is Dukkha. To be united with unpleasant is Dukkha. To not get what one wants is Dukkha. Check it out—Is this so? “whatever is felt is Dukkha” (unsatisfactory, unreliable, uneaseful-due to the changing nature of all things)b) Ask: what allows me to open to Dukkha? What stops me from opening to Dukkha? Remember: we can open to the painful experience in the mind & body-we are investigating & realizing the 1st NT for ourselves The Buddha said, “Here one knows, as it really is-“this is dukkha”. Remember this exploration brings two great results. It is the gateway to awakening & the arising & nourishing of compassion.
8. Just start to contemplate the Second Noble Truth. Explore the cause of dukkha, which is craving. What is craving & how do we experience it?  Thirst-craving-clinging, grasping, desire-endlessly wanting – something more or different from what’s there. This is the human condition. That’s what moves us forward: Thirst-craving, grasping, clinging & desiring something that isn’t there) .”Oh,, as soon as I HAVE  this kind of craving-grasping, PURSUING very quickly after that, I HAVE You can ask yourself: What allows me to open to, to get to know Craving? What stops me from following Craving? (we will explore this more next class)
9. Please text or e-mail or call your buddies once a week and share what you have leaned. Don’t forget this is the middle path and it’s ok to HAVE FUN!

1. Sit every day. Try sitting for a minimum of 15-30 minutes per day. More if you are able. Please practice your meditation in silence.
2. Formal Practice: Standing & Walking: Practice standing meditation at least once in your day. Practice walking meditation at least once during the day as you move through the world.
3. Gratitude Practice: Text or e-mail your 2 or 3 buddies from the workshop 3 things you are grateful for each day. Can be anything!
4. Intention: Remember your intention, dedication or vow. Read it as often as you wish and/or read or recollect your intention before sitting & throughout your day.
5. Practice Pausing!
6. The 1st activity in relationship to the Four NobleTruths:
   Is the instruction to understand suffering, to study it, to get to know it really well.
   Continue opening to Dukkha and learning about Dukkha!NEW HOMEWORK BELOW:
7. **The 2nd activity is to contemplate the 2^nd Noble Truth: Continue to explore the cause of dukkha, craving, clinging to sensual pleasures, for becoming or  renewed existence & for on-existence.  The activity is to begin to abandon, let go of that craving, that compulsivity. It’s humbling to pay attention to what goes on in the mind. Explore clinging & your responses to clinging: (some ways below)
   • Clinging to sensual pleasure. Do you see that relationship? If desire for sensual pleasures arise, is it harmless & pain free or does that desire cause you suffering? Do you crave the avoidance of discomfort or to be comfortable?
   • Be aware of clinging to views, opinions & to stories. Stories: “who I am, what happened to me, what is going to happen to me, what needs to happen to me, who other people are, what they are like.” These are stories, views & opinions. Investigate, when they are present, if your response adds to your suffering.
   • Get to know clinging to self-identity, self-image—the whole megillah we build up around this idea of self. Is there attachment? You are not expected not to have a self or not to be a self. But the clinging to self, the attachment to self, is one of the causes of Dukkha. Is this so?
   • **What is your response to the cause of Dukkha? Who’s fault is it? Who did this? This shouldn’t be happening to me! Let’s pretend this isn’t happening or trying to fix things, in order to make it go away. Get to know the ways that you compound suffering. Is it possible, that there is another response to craving, to wanting something to be different then it is? Is it possible that Dukkha & it’s causes can be to responded to- with kindness, tenderness, caring, coming close to Dukkha, offering ease or spaciousness? The heart of the teaching is the encouragement to understand, realize, our capacity for creativity, growing inwardly, heart-fullness, for inner ease, freedom, to walk this path to liberation!
8. The 3rd Noble Truth states that there is an end suffering. The truth that dukkha can come to an end. There is the cessation of sorrow in clear seeing. The ease that comes from releasing, letting go of craving, clinging is the experience of this Noble Truth. Inner freedom appears when we let go, when we live in the reality of the present. Sorrow arises when the mind & heart are caught in greed, hatred, delusion. (Our tendencies are pushing away our experience, grasping it, struggling with it, making something out of it, or becoming it.)  And then we have a moment of clear seeing- we see that we are reacting in habitual ways, we let go or let things be. Freedom appears in their absence. Freedom manifests as ease, love, generosity connectedness, clarity. (just some ways)  Cession is easeful! It is an end to craving, clinging, grasping, attachment even in a moment.  Remember, Ajahn Buddhadasa said, “There’s no difference between the absence of greed, hatred, & delusion for a moment or for a lifetime.” Freedom is only found here & now.-
   We can experience what the Buddha taught: suffering, the cause of the suffering, & the release of suffering. Get to know this direct & immediate experience of freedom!  Check it out!
9. Please text or e-mail or call your buddies once a week and share what you have learned. Don’t forget this is the middle path and it’s ok to HAVE FUN!

1. Sit every day. Sit 15-30 minutes per day. More if you are able. Practice in silence.
2. Formal Practice: Standing & Walking: Practice standing & walking meditation
3. Gratitude Practice: Text, e-mail your buddies 3 things you are grateful for daily
4. Intention: Remember your intention, dedication or vow.
5. Practice Pausing!
6. The Fourth Noble Truth-The way out of suffering is to follow the Noble Eightfold Path, which consists of Right/Wise View, Right/Wise Intention, Right/Wise Speech, Right/Wise Actions, Right/Wise Livelihood, Right/Wise Effort, Right/Wise Mindfulness & Right/Wise Concentration. To follow the Noble Eightfold Path is to practice the Buddha Path to liberation from suffering. “The safe and good path leading to happiness is the Noble Eightfold Path.”– the Buddha (MN 19.26)
7. Wise View: “What is right view? Knowledge of suffering, knowledge of the origin of suffering, knowledge of the cessation of suffering, knowledge of path leading to the cessation of suffering – this is called right view.” – The Buddha (MN 141.24)
   The 4NT’s are perspectives we can adopt for finding greater freedom & happiness.
   • If we want to suffer less, it helps to notice when we are suffering (1st NT);
   • it is all too easy to be distracted from suffering by other preoccupations. It is also useful to discover the attachments that create the suffering (2nd NT) so we can begin to let go of them.
   • The point of view that it is possible to let go of these attachments fully and so end the suffering (3rd NT) gives direction and encouragement for the practice to do so.
   • And finally, knowing a way to create the appropriate conditions for freeing ourselves from our clinging (4th NT) orients us to the practices that help.
8. Reflections: Take time to reflect on these questions.
   Inventory of views: Spend the first week noticing the primary views, orientations, or beliefs you live by. What role do these have in your life? What is your relationship to them? Do you believe them? Why? Which views do you have that are not beneficial for you? Which views are beneficial?
   Keeping ease in view: The second week notice the times you have a relative sense of ease. Notice how a sense of ease might be different from relaxation. Notice also the small moments of ease that might appear briefly throughout your day, perhaps even in stressful times. If you know how to bring more ease into your life, this week, do what you can to do so. What do you learn from this focus on ease? What does it highlight about your lack of ease?
   Reflecting on Liberation: The third week: Notice, what beliefs do you have about Liberation or Awakening? Are any of these beliefs obstacles to practicing on the path of liberation? How important is the possibility of reducing or ending suffering for you? Are you motivated by other goals that may interfere with over-coming suffering? What ordinary or small experiences of liberation from suffering do you have in your daily life? What role can these have in supporting your practice?
9. Please text or e-mail or call your buddies once a week and share what you have learned. Don’t forget this is the middle path and it’s ok to HAVE FUN!

The Four Noble Truths – April-Homework- ****Read HW- Practices have stars ****

• *Sit every day. Sit 15-30 minutes per day. More if you are able. Practice in silence.
• Formal Practice: Standing & Walking: Practice standing & walking meditation
• *Gratitude Practice: Text, e-mail your buddies 3 things you are grateful for daily
• Intention: Remember your intention, dedication or vow.
• *Practice Pausing!

 **** NEW HOMEWORK BELOW: Read & Reflections HW have stars****

1. **NEW HW:** Reflections & Practices: Take time to reflect on these questions.
   Lust & Renunciation: The first week:
   • Give yourself time to notice & reflect on the role of lust in your life.
   For this purpose consider lust as any strong desire or compulsion for sensual pleasure of any kind. How much time do you spend thinking about & wanting sensual pleasure? What forms of sensual pleasure are you most motivated by?
   How does your desires for sensual pleasure affect you?
   • Spend an equal amount of time considering what benefits might be available to you if you let go of attachments to sensual pleasure you may have.
   What helpful intentions might you want to use to replace intentions connected to sensual pleasure? When you do pursue sensual pleasures, what other wise intentions can guide this pursuit? In what ways can ease & simplicity help you understand the benefits of renunciation?Ill-Will & Goodwill: The second week:
   • Give yourself time to notice & reflect on the role of ill-will & aversion in your life. How frequently are you aversive? In what conditions are you more likely to be aversive? How does aversion & ill-will affect you & your behavior?
   • Also reflect on your relationship to goodwill, kindness, & loving-kindness.
   How often do you have goodwill for others? Are you motivated to have more goodwill? Spend time actively intending goodwill to others. How does this affect you?Hostility & Compassion: The third week :
   • Give yourself time to reflect on how hostility appears in your life? It may be useful to consider expressions of anger & irritation towards others or yourself as forms of hostility. Do your actions and/or words cause harm, even in minor ways, to others? If so, spend time reflecting-how does reflecting on this affect you?
   • Also reflect on your relationship to compassion. What role has compassion had in your life, both in receiving it & in having it for others? During this week, look for opportunities to have compassion. Spend time staying with any compassion you might be feeling. How does it feel to be compassionate? How might it benefit you if you cultivated more compassion?
   
   **Loving-kindness & Compassion: The fourth week:
   • Loving Kindness Practice:
   Practice a period of Loving kindness meditation every day. In addition, as you go about your day, periodically intend loving- kindness toward people you encounter. Find ways to act on intentions of kindness toward others.
2. • Compassion Practice:
   Look for opportunities to act compassionately. Notice how this affects you. In what ways can you act compassionately so that you feel more easeful & perhaps less clinging? How can compassion serve as a support to your inner freedom?
3. **Please text or e-mail or call your buddies once a week and share what you have lerned from above.
4. **Please HAVE FUN!

The Four Noble Truths – June-Homework- ****Read HW- Practices have stars ****

JULY CLASSES ARE FRIDAY JULY 9^TH and FRIDAY JULY 23^rd

• *Sit every day. Sit 15-30 minutes per day. More if you are able. Practice in silence.
• Formal Practice: Standing & Walking: Practice standing & walking meditation
• *Gratitude Practice: Text, e-mail your buddies 3 things you are grateful for daily
• Intention: Remember your intention, dedication or vow.
• Practice Pausing!
   **** NEW HOMEWORK BELOW: ****  HAVE FUN?!

Mindfulness of Wise Speech & Wise Listening Practices:
One of the most challenging but also rewarding areas of Wise speech & Wise Listening. Speaking & Listening can have a relationship to our bodies, our emotional lives, our beliefs, our ideas, our preferences, & the ways our life experiences have conditioned us. Please spend this month being mindful of these areas when you speak and/or Listen. It might be helpful to keep a journal recording what you notice. You might find the following on-going sequence helpful during this month:

• Day one: focus noticing what is happening in your body as you speak/listen.
• Day two: focus on how you feel emotionally when you speak/listen.
• Day three: focus on noticing what motivates you to speak/listen. Why do you say what you do? Are you interested, curious while listening?
• Day four: Be mindful of what you are paying attention to when you speak/listen. Are you focused on your/their words? Or body language? Do you pay attention to those who you are talking to or listening to? How well do you notice your body as you speak/listen?
• Day five: Keep your attention anchored in your body as you speak/listen. Notice how this affects your speech/listening.

Week One: Mindfulness of Truth, This week’s exploration of truthful speech has two parts, listening well & speaking honestly.

• Spend the first few days of this week devoted to listening to others more carefully than you usually do. How does this affect what you say?
• Spend the rest of the week noticing what it is like to be honest & what it is like when you are anything less than honest.
• Perhaps in most conversations this is not a particularly important issue because honesty is easy. However, what does it feel like when honesty is not easy? Or when the honesty is an important part of the communication? What does it feel like when you are avoiding honest communication? What motivates this avoidance? If you find yourself saying something that is not truthful, spend time investigating why, how & for what reason you did this.
• Find a person you can talk to about the role of honesty in conversation. You might ask them what they have learned in their life about speaking truthfully.

Week Two: Mindfulness of Relationships
The Buddha advised us to avoid slanderous speech, he also encouraged us to speak so we can unite those who are divided & encourage those who are united. During this week, give special attention to saying things that create social harmony. Avoid speaking badly about anyone. Instead look for natural & appropriate opportunities to speak well about others, including the people you are with. Notice how you are affected by speaking in such ways. As much as possible listen with caring & kindness in relationship to oneself & others.

Week Three: Mindfulness of Intent
During this week notice why you say what you say. What motivations are behind what you say and don’t say? Notice the strength of your impulses to speak. What affects the strength of this impulse?When you are mindful of your motivation and impulses to speak or listen, how does this affect what you say/how you listen?

• When you know you will be speaking/listening to someone, prepare yourself by reflecting on what intentions you might want for the conversation. How does a conversation unfold if you have reflected & set an intention beforehand?
• During some of your conversations this week practice “pausing & softening or resting” before you speak/listen. Don’t rush in to contribute to a conversation. Take a moment to pause and listen inwardly before you speak. Notice how this affects what you say & how you say it.

Week Four: Mindfulness of Quality
The Buddha distinguished between harsh speech & gentle speech. Harsh speech expresses hostility, disrespect. Gentle speech expresses care, goodwill, respect.

• At the end of each day this week, review the conversations you have had. If there existed a spectrum of speech ranging from hostile to kind, where in this range were some of your conversations? What were the conditions that contributed to the quality of your speech/listening? What did you notice?
• Choose some conversations during this week to emphasize saying things that are pleasing, heart-warming, meaningful for the people you are speaking with. Notice how this affects you. How does listening to others speaking words that are pleasing, heart-warming, meaningful affect you.
• Also choose a period during this week to notice how much your speech is self-referential. How often do you use the words, ‘I, me, myself, and mine’? Then reflect on your usage of these words. What was it like to listen to self-referential speak from yourself and/others? What was its impact?

The Four Noble Truths – July-Homework-#1– Next class Friday July 23^rd

• *Sit every day. Sit 15-30 minutes per day. More if you are able. Practice in silence.
• Formal Practice: Standing & Walking: Practice standing & walking meditation
• *Gratitude Practice: Text, e-mail your buddies 3 things you are grateful for daily & something about the HW a couple of times a week..
• Intention: Remember your intention, dedication or vow.
• Practice Pausing!
   **** NEW HOMEWORK BELOW: ****  HAVE FUN?!

Reflections & Practices Wise Action
Mindfulness of Intention regarding action:
The practice of Wise Action is only relevant because of how frequently & easily people harm each other. While you may rarely, if ever, act on intentions to cause harm, do you have thoughts, wishes, impulses toward others that would cause harm if acted on?

1. Do you have impulses for revenge, retribution, animosity toward others?
2. Do you ever have thoughts or fantasies about taking things not given or taking more than offered? Do you scheme of how to get something before someone else does? Do you take advantage of people’s time & goodwill?
3. Do you have thoughts, fantasies, desires for sexual relations with inappropriate people?

During the next weeks  be attentive to these kinds of intentions. How often do you have them? In what circumstances are you most likely to have them? What attitudes do you have toward these intentions? Is there an underlying motivation, need, or personal situation that is fuel for these intentions?
Practice: During the next weeks spend some time putting yourself in other people’s shoes; imagine yourself in their situation. How might this shift the intentions you have toward others?

First Wise Action: Not killing or injuring:
1. Do you have exceptions to the precept not to kill? Do you have justifications or rationales for when it is OK to kill people, animals, or pests? What are these justifications?
2. In what situations are you committed to not killing or not injuring other people or non-human beings? What motivates this commitment?
3. How does it benefit you & your mindfulness practice to be committed to not killing? Are there ways you can expand on this commitment?
Practice: For the Buddha, having compassion for all beings is the alternative to killing or injuring. During these weeks, find ways to increase the compassion you feel toward others.

Second Wise Action: Not taking what is not given:
Are there things you take that are not given? Do you help yourself to things & free time at work that have not been offered? Are there situations in your life where you take in appropriate authority over others, pressure or coerce people to do things they don’t want, or take more of their time than they have offered? Are there any, even subtle, areas where you are liable to take what has not been given? Spend some time reflecting on this behavior. What motivates them? What beliefs support them? How often do you do this because you are feeling lazy, unwilling to do the wise thing?
Practice: Spend some days in these weeks, practicing not taking what is not given as thoroughly as you possibly can. You might go as far as some Buddhist monastics who will not pick up a book on someone’s coffee table unless there is a clear invitation to do so. Don’t force yourself forward in traffic. If you need something & it is not offered, ask for it or examine whether you really need it.
The next several days in these weeks, focus on practicing generosity. Look for opportunities to give things, time, compliments, the benefit of the doubt & other acts of kindness. At the end of the day compare the two days. How were the challenges & benefits similar or different?

Third Wise Action Not engaging in sexual misconduct:
One way or another sexual desire & expression is part of everyone’s life. It is well worth reflecting deeply about one’s own relationship to one’s sexuality.
The questions that follow are meant for your own private reflections:

• What role & influence does sexual desire have in your life? Is the influence beneficial for you? Are you comfortable with your sexuality? If not, what would it take to become comfortable with it? What is your understanding of sexual misconduct? What forms, if any, of thinking, fantasy & private, solitary activities do you think involve sexual misconduct?
• If you are involved with any of these, what might be satisfying & realistic ways of substituting these with appropriate sexual conduct?
  
  Practice: During these weeks, spend some time bringing a heightened sense of respect to the person or people you have sexual feelings or thoughts about. Spend time practicing loving-kindness toward them. What effect does this respect & loving-kindness have on your sexual desires & thoughts?

Study Non-harming:–It’s a bridge to our connectedness with all of life!
Practice: During these weeks, spend some time, having a heightened dedication to not causing any harm. Try to avoid even unintentional ways that you might be causing suffering. After you have completed this, spend time reflecting on these experiences. What are some of the lessons you learned by practicing non-harming?
Please look at the sense of” I”  & your own pain.
Remember.. We’re talking about non-harming now. One part is that we see that we have aggression, hatred, & greed, & it comes from fear, & that’s generated from pain. What’s the route of that? Maybe the route is deep but very simple. The sense of “me,” of “mine,” of separateness. See how you separate yourselves. Who in the world do you consider “we” & who do you consider “them”. Wherever there’s that sense of  “us” & “them” it’s like an extension of “I”, “me”, “mine”- it’s now “we”, “us”, & “them”, & they’re different.& then it becomes possible to harm-Please explore this!
Do your best in the month of July & August practicing non- harming.

• *Sit every day. Sit 15-30 minutes per day. More if you are able. Practice in silence.
• Formal Practice: Standing & Walking: Practice standing & walking meditation
• *Gratitude Practice: Text, e-mail your buddies 3 things you are grateful for daily & something about the HW a couple of times a week..
• Intention: Remember your intention, dedication or vow.
• Practice Pausing!
• Review the moral-ethical discipline of wise speech, wise action, wise Livelihood-Occupation (See June, July 1 & july 2 HW’s)
   **** NEW HOMEWORK BELOW: ****  HAVE FUN?!  (see you in September)

1. Wise Livelihood means the way one lives is more than one’s job or occupation. It includes such lifestyle choices as what we buy, consume, use for housing, & rely on for financial support. It also includes how we parent, care for one’s family, friends, neighbors, co-workers, or live in retirement.
   (see below *** for questions to contemplate)
2. It also includes how we spend our time- what we are preoccupied with, where our minds/hearts dwell. This question of where & what out hearts & minds are preoccupied is the most important! When walking the Eightfold Path the question regarding Wise Livelihood is whether or not the way we live moves us toward more compassion, ease, freedom. Is it nourishing? Does it support the development of ease, insight? Does it help us become kinder, more compassionate, wiser, happier people? Does it help others?
   This is what I want you to explore, reflect upon- throughout your days.
3. Behind these questions is the fundamental question that guides us along each step of the Eightfold Path: Is what we are doing causing harm to others or suffering for ourselves? When this is applied to Wise Livelihood, we ask whether the way we live or the way we earn a livelihood, where we occupy our hearts & minds causes harm or suffering. If it does, then we remember that this is in cross-purposes with a path meant to end harming & suffering.
4. Do Your dharma, your work.
   Do your duty always, but w/o attachment
   This is how a person reaches the truth,
   by working without anxiety about results.
   The ignorant work for the fruit of their actions,
   the wise must work also but w/o desire or attachment,
   pointing their feet in the path of the Dharma, giving their heart to it, working w/o attachment.
   Let them show by example how work is true practice.Below are two questions to ask, to contemplate, to practice with:
   a) How can I make “this work” what ever it is more conscious?
   b) How can I make “this work” more of a loving service?*** From HW #1 (above)
   What we produce:
   The primary activities we engage in to sustain our life are Wise Livelihood. The production aspect includes what we create or do- that provides us with the financial & material support for our life.

• What is the work or main activities you engage in that provide you with your financial & material support? If you are employed, what do you “produce”? If you are a homemaker, what are you “making”? If you are retired, how are you spending your time? If you are a student, are your studies directed toward being able to do something that will provide you with livelihood? What is this?
• What is your relationship with what you produce? What attitudes do you have toward your work? Does it inspire you? If so, how? Is it meaningful? If so, how? Does it help you on the path? Does it benefit others? Can you think of ways you benefit yourself & others through your work that you might be overlooking? What values do you express through the work you do? What values do you wish you would better express at work?

What we consume:
What do you consume, use, buy, or spend your time with in order to sustain both your life & your lifestyle? What motivates the choices you make in what you consume? How are you affected by what you consume? What values are expressed in these choices? What values do you wish were more a part of these choices? Does what you consume make you a better person? Does it benefit others in any direct or indirect way?

Work & the Eightfold Path:
Consider how you can practice each of the first 4 factors of the Eightfold Path (Wise View, Wise Intention, Wise Speech & Wise Action) in your “work”.

Consumption & the Eightfold Path:
Consider how you can practice each of the first 4 factors of the Eightfold Path in what you consume, use, buy, or spend your time. For Wise View, what happens when you look at your consumption through the lens of the Four Noble Truths?  For Wise Intention, how can you benefit from greater compassion, goodwill, & renunciation in your non-work related activities? For Wise Speech, how can you do these activities with kinder & more honest speech? Are your patterns of consumption aligned with Wise Action?

• *Sit every day. Sit 15-30 minutes per day. More if you are able. Practice in silence.
• Formal Practice: Standing & Walking: Practice standing & walking meditation
• *Gratitude Practice: Text, e-mail your buddies 3 things you are grateful for daily & something about the HW a couple of times a week..
• Intention: Remember your intention, dedication or vow.
• Practice Pausing!
  
   **** NEW HOMEWORK BELOW: ****  HAVE FUN?!  (see you in October)

Wise Effort, Mindfulness, Concentration are the factors of the path focused on our inner activities, what we do with our minds & hearts. Attention to & care with our inner, mental actions. What guides this care is the intention to avoid what causes harm & to engage in what is beneficial. Discerning mental actions that are skillful from those that are not is at the heart of Wise Effort. With wise effort-mental actions are the thoughts, impulses, feelings & states that arise & persist dependent on our intentions & reactions. Only by recognizing whether or not these are helpful-beneficial can we choose which thoughts, impulses, feelings or states to cultivate & which ones to not cultivate & where we want to put our efforts. In practicing wise effort we exercise the choice to support the path of liberation.

Please recollect, that effort takes many forms & we learn to explore them. The seeds of awakening lie within us, their cultivation relies upon our commitment & dedication. Wise effort is made not to carry us to some other place, but to return us to the simple truth of this moment. Wise effort involves equal parts of cultivation, letting go & understanding- what is needed in this moment, to open us to wakefulness!
Please practice one wise effort for a week, then move to the next one.

The Wise Effort of Preventing is the effort to avoid the unskillful, unwholesome, states of body & mind that have not arisen. Wise avoidance is neither aversion nor rejection, but the recognition that not all experiences or circumstances in life are conducive to our well-being. We are invited to turn toward our lives & explore where we are fostering pathways of sorrow & where pathways of ease lie.

Reflections: What are your most common states of mind, trains of thought, desires, intentions that you would be better off without? Under what circumstances are these most likely to occur? What do you need to avoid, lessening the likelihood of these occurring? In what skillful ways can you avoid the circumstances that tend to bring them up?
Practices: Avoiding. For one week choose one thing to avoid which can be a catalyst for the arising of unskillful states in you. Notice the benefits & costs of practicing avoidance. What do you learn about yourself through doing this practice?

The Wise Effort of Overcoming is the effort to learn to release ourselves from the confusing, unskillful, unwholesome states that drive separation, confusion, complexity in our hearts/minds– (Greed, anger, hatred, jealousy, obsession) Kind attention & tenderness are the efforts that transform. Wise effort is the effort to heal & clarify.

Reflections: When you have an unskillful mental state, what are your most common ways of overcoming that state, of causing it to go away? Are your methods healthy or unhealthy? Do your strategies come from wisdom or from aversion? How does your wisdom cast light on the practice of overcoming or abandoning unskillful states?
Practices: Notice when you are thinking unskillful thoughts, e.g., thoughts of resentment, ill-will, greed, covetousness, frightening imaginations of the future, or negative opinions about others. Once you notice them- practice either – engaging, exploring, investigating, & embracing them gently in your body, heart, mind & life OR letting go of these thoughts. Do what you can to stop these trains of thinking. Do your best not to add to them or get stuck in the spin cycle. If you can’t stop, knowingly, gently bring your attention away from these concerns. When you are no longer having the unskillful thoughts notice how this is for you. How does this affect your overall ability to think & evaluate wisely?

The Wise Effort of Arousing is the effort to foster, nurture, enhance the skillful, beautiful, wholesome qualities of our being that are present within the heart & mind. For us to trust in our own capacity for healing, transformation, freedom, we are asked to honor, foster, enhance the loveliness within ourselves.

Reflections: Make up a list of 3 beautiful states or attitudes that you think are worthwhile for you to cultivate. What are the circumstances that tend to evoke these states or attitudes in you? In what circumstances is it appropriate to intentionally arouse them? What wise ways do you know for arousing these states & attitudes? When is it beneficial to do this & when might it be counter-productive?
Practice: Choose one skillful state to spend a week cultivating. This could be, for example, kindness, friendliness, joy, gratitude, compassion, generosity, calm, spaciousness or equanimity.

The Wise Effort of Maintaining is the effort to encourage, inspire, cultivate the emerging or appearance of the healing, lovely & wise qualities of heart & mind that lie dormant within us. We remind ourselves that calm, ease, kindness, friendliness, compassion, generosity, gratitude, joy, spaciousness, balance, equanimity are possible & we cultivate them (these are just some examples)
Reflections: What are some of the causes & conditions that cause you to lose skillful states that you are having? If you are calm, how do you lose it? If content, what causes it to fade? If you have goodwill for others, what undermines it? In contrast, what supports the continuation of these skillful states? What values, priorities & intentions do you have that can support the continuation of skillful states; which ones undermine them?
Practice: Choose a skillful state that you value & which you can evoke. Establish the skillful state prior to entering a situation that will be challenging for maintaining the state. Experiment with making effort to maintain the state throughout the situation. Afterwards, reflect on the effort you made. What can you learn about your effort? Was it wise effort? Were you able to find an appropriate way to maintain the skillful state? During this time period, do this three times.

Wise Effort is to awaken understanding! Remembering, we are invited to engage with our lives just as they are again & again… Just this…

Sending Boundless love to all of you!

INFO AND RESOURCES FOR SEPTEMBER 13th MEETING

This month, we’ll examine white supremacy culture, and what goes into building anti-white supremacy culture.
To make the best use of our time together, we’ve asked you to please download and read Tema Okun’s article on the characteristics of white supremacy culture. IN ADDITION, please listen to this podcast in which Dan Harris interviews Resmaa Menakem (1 hour 18 minutes), and read Lyla June’s essay “The Vast and Beautiful World of Indigenous Europe”.

Just like last month, we’ll meet for two hours, with breaks. We’ll sit together; check-in about how race, racism, and whiteness have been in our awareness recently; connect about the personal challenges we face in confronting white supremacy; and set intentions for our individual work of uprooting racism and systemic oppression. As always, all are invited, regardless of their level of experience investigating race and whiteness. We look forward to seeing you there!

INFO AND RESOURCES FOR OCTOBER 11th MEETING

This month’s topic: what is action?

• Other than supporting (allying with) BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of Color*) what is the work of white people? What actions should we initiate-what actions are we responsible for? *There are pros/cons with this acronym that the article linked to discusses however the term is current in equity/inclusion work.
• At this moment in time, white people hear conflicting messages about what they should do, but how do we discover and do our work?

And because Tema Okun is a white woman who’s been doing this work for decades, prior to Sunday, please listen to this interview with her on the Finding Refuge podcast with Michelle Johnson.

INFO AND RESOURCES FOR NOVEMBER 8th MEETING

Our RESOURCE is the letter from the Sangha Life Committee about upcoming Sangha Circle meetings starting in January 2021. Please read before Sunday.

In light of the SL Committee’s work to help create a multicultural CIMC, we come to you with a question: how do we create warm, embodied culture within the White Awake Sangha (WAS)? What work do we want to do among ourselves?

We’re listening to Resmaa Menakem:
“We will not end white-body supremacy- or any other form of human evil- by trying to tear it to pieces. Instead, we can offer people better ways to belong, and better things to belong to. Instead of belonging to a race, we can belong to a culture. Each of us can also build our own capacity for genuine belonging.”

It’s both/and work. We do the internal work within WAS, and participate in the Sangha Life Circles to learn and listen for what’s needed to build a genuine welcoming culture at CIMC. But we have to begin the work within WAS.

Our framework is the same: meet in community for two hours, with breaks, meditate, connect in small breakout groups and in the larger group, review where our hearts are in this moment and set intentions for our individual work of uprooting racism and the work of building community at CIMC.

• How has perfectionism shown up in your life this month? As you think about the ways perfectionism has shown up for you – or about perfectionism in general – what bodily sensations, emotions, or images arise?
• How would you apply the antidotes to perfectionism* to the contexts that came to mind in response to the first question? What other opportunities to apply these antidotes exist in your life?

As usual, we’ll meet for two hours, with breaks, breakout groups, and opportunities for open discussion. All are invited, regardless of their level of experience investigating race and whiteness. Our goal is to build community as well as resilience, capacity, and commitment for the work of fighting systemic oppression in our hearts, communities, and (most especially) our beloved Center. We look forward to seeing you there!

*antidotes to perfectionism: develop a culture of appreciation, where the organization takes time to make sure that people’s work and efforts are appreciated; develop a learning organization, where it is expected that everyone will make mistakes and those mistakes offer opportunities for learning; create an environment where people can recognize that mistakes sometimes lead to positive results; separate the person from the mistake; when offering feedback, always speak to the things that went well before offering criticism; ask people to offer specific suggestions for how to do things differently when offering criticism; realize that being your own worst critic does not actually improve the work, often contributes to low morale among the group, and does not help you or the group to realize the benefit of learning from mistakes

INFO AND RESOURCES FOR JANUARY 10th MEETING

• How has perfectionism shown up in your life this month? As you think about the ways perfectionism has shown up for you – or about perfectionism in general – what bodily sensations, emotions, or images arise?
• How would you apply the antidotes to perfectionism* to the contexts that came to mind in response to the first question? What other opportunities to apply these antidotes exist in your life?

As usual, we’ll meet for two hours, with breaks, breakout groups, and opportunities for open discussion. All are invited, regardless of their level of experience investigating race and whiteness. Our goal is to build community as well as resilience, capacity, and commitment for the work of fighting systemic oppression in our hearts, communities, and (most especially) our beloved Center. We look forward to seeing you there!

Addendum (1/11):

After the events of Wednesday, January 6, we decided to pivot from using our first breakout group to explore perfectionism and claim some space for embodied anti-racist practice time to register our physical responses to Wednesday’s attack on the Capitol.

The prework for today’s White Awake Sangha is to listen to this Minnesota Public Radio news program hosted by Angela Davis with guests Resmaa Menakem, BraVada Garrett-Akinsanya, and Qorsho Hassa.

The prompts for the first breakout room will be as follows:

• Recall the images and sounds of a predominantly white angry mob storming the Capitol in support to Trump’s attempts to overturn the election.
• Notice if the muscles are relaxed or tight, the quality of the breath, deep or shallow? What’s the heart rate like, has it sped up, slowed down or stayed the same?
• You may experience sensations, impulses, emotions or images in your body. If you did, please describe them.
• Or you may not feel anything. If so, what does this lack of feeling feel like… numbness, blankness, perhaps like you’re not quite in your body?
• Notice if you have the impulse to fight, flee or freeze? Or if you want to shut down and override what you’re experiencing?
• Is there a movement or sound your body would like to make that might help you discharge some of the unwanted energy? Please explore this movement or make this sound.
• Notice any felt shift in your body. Do you still feel like you did at the beginning, or did something in you settle or become more present?

• How has urgency shown up in your life this month? As you think about the ways perfectionism has shown up for you – or about perfectionism in general – what bodily sensations, emotions, or images arise?
• How would you apply the antidotes to urgency to the contexts that came to mind in response to the first question? What other opportunities to apply these antidotes exist in your life?

As usual, we’ll meet for two hours, with breaks, breakout groups, and opportunities for open discussion. All are invited, regardless of their level of experience investigating race and whiteness. Our goal is to build community as well as resilience, capacity, and commitment for the work of fighting systemic oppression in our hearts, communities, and (most especially) our beloved Center. We look forward to seeing you there!

INFO AND RESOURCES FOR MARCH 14th MEETING

This month, we’ll continue our year-long investigation of white supremacy culture, working in an embodied way with defensiveness and its antidotes (described below). In breakout groups, we will discuss the following questions, which many of you will get to explore a second time:

• How has defensiveness shown up in your life this month? As you think about the ways defensiveness has shown up for you – or about defensiveness in general – what bodily sensations, emotions, or images arise?
• How would you apply the antidotes to defensiveness (as shown below) to the contexts that came to mind in response to the first question? What other opportunities to apply these antidotes exist in your life?

As usual, we’ll meet for two hours, with breaks, breakout groups, and opportunities for open discussion. All are invited, regardless of their level of experience investigating race and whiteness. Our goal is to build community as well as resilience, capacity, and commitment for the work of fighting systemic oppression in our hearts, communities, and (most especially) our beloved Center. We look forward to seeing you there!

*****

Defensiveness in white supremacy culture (as described by Tema Okun):

• The organizational structure is set up and much energy spent trying to prevent  abuse and protect power as it exists rather than to facilitate the best out of  each person or to clarify who has power and how they are expected to use it
• Because of either/or thinking (see below), criticism of those with power is  viewed as threatening and inappropriate (or rude)
• People respond to new or challenging ideas with defensiveness, making it  very difficult to raise these ideas
• A lot of energy in the organization is spent trying to make sure that people’s  feelings aren’t getting hurt or working around defensive people • white people spend energy defending against charges of racism instead of  examining how racism is actually happening
• Leaders perceive calls for change as personal attacks (because if they were  leading in the “right” way, then nothing would need to change); their defensiveness creates an oppressive culture where people feel they cannot  make suggestions or when they do, these are ignored

Antidotes to Defensiveness:

• understand that structure cannot in and of itself facilitate or prevent abuse
• understand the link between defensiveness and fear (of losing power, losing face, losing comfort, losing privilege)
• work on your own defensiveness
• name defensiveness as a problem when it is one
• give people credit for being able to handle more than you think
• discuss the ways in which defensiveness or resistance to new ideas gets in the way of the mission
• support yourself and others to avoid taking things personally

INFO AND RESOURCES FOR APRIL 11th MEETING

This month, we’ll use our time together to honor and mourn those murdered in Atlanta, and to explore our embodied responses to the recent surge of anti-Asian violence and Mel Cherng’s letter to the CIMC leadership. We’ll also reflect on our own relationships (as white Buddhists) to Asian and Asian American individuals and communities, and to the Asian lineages that have preserved Buddhist practices over the centuries.

To prepare for our time together, please read the following prompts and reflect on one or two that feel alive for you over the next couple of weeks:

1. Explore the bodily sensations, emotions, and thoughts that have arisen in response to the March 16th shooting deaths of 6 Asian-American women and 2 non-Asian people in Georgia.
2. What do you know about: The Asian lineages from which your practice(s) is (are) derived? Asian American Buddhist communities? The Asian American community at CIMC? You might take some time to investigate these communities. What, if any, is your relationship to these communities? What sensations arise with these contemplations?
3. Attend to the sensations, feelings, images, or ideas that arise when you reflect on the fact that Asian cultures birthed, raised, protected, and cultivated Buddhist teachings and practices, long before there were “white” Buddhists.
4. What sensations arise when you contemplate or engage in devotional or merit-making practices?

Please also spend some time with the following resources:

https://tricycle.org/trikedaily/asian-american-erasure-buddhism/
https://tricycle.org/podcast/japanese-buddhism-internment/
https://www.lionsroar.com/weve-been-here-all-along/
https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/04/05/5-facts-about-buddhists-around-the-world/
https://www.pewforum.org/2012/07/19/asian-americans-a-mosaic-of-faiths-overview/

Additionally, we’d also recommend listening to this episode of the podcast Code Switch in which the hosts interviewed Connie Wun, an organizer at AAPI Women Lead, a group serving AAPI survivors of violence against women, gender non-conforming people and girls. This will be helpful in diving deeper into the larger historical and systemic context in which violence against Asian-Americans in the US is happening.

This month, we’ll continue our year-long investigation of white supremacy culture, working in an embodied way with valuing QUANTITY OVER QUALITY and its antidotes (described below). In breakout groups, we will discuss the following questions:

• How has valuing quantity over quality shown up in your life this month? As you think about the ways valuing quantity over quality has shown up for you – or about valuing quantity over quality in general – what bodily sensations, emotions, or images arise?
• How would you apply the antidotes to valuing quantity over quality (as shown below) to the contexts that came to mind in response to the first question? What other opportunities to apply these antidotes exist in your life?

Note: If you are not working in an organization to apply these definitions, substitute “my internal conditioning” for organizational structure. Or think about how you see these characteristics at CIMC, or your other community, faith or civic groups.

As usual, we’ll meet for two hours, with breaks, breakout groups, and opportunities for open discussion. All are invited, regardless of their level of experience investigating race and whiteness. Our goal is to build community as well as resilience, capacity, and commitment for the work of fighting systemic oppression in our hearts, communities, and (most especially) our beloved Center. We look forward to seeing you there!

***********

Valuing Quantity over quality in white supremacy culture (as described by Tema Okun):

• All resources of organization are directed toward producing measurable goals
• Things that can be measured are more highly valued than things that cannot, for example numbers of people attending a meeting, newsletter circulation, money spent are valued more than quality of relationships, democratic decision-making, ability to constructively deal with conflict
• Little or no value attached to process; if it can’t be measured, it has no value
• Discomfort with emotion and feelings
• No understanding that when there is a conflict between content (the agenda of the meeting) and process (people’s need to be heard or engaged), process will prevail (for example, you may get through the agenda, but if you haven’t paid attention to people’s need to be heard, the decisions made at the meeting are undermined and/or disregarded)

Antidotes to valuing quantity over quality:

• Include process or quality goals in your planning
• Make sure your organization has a values statement which expresses the ways in which you want to do your work
• Make sure this is a living document and that people are using it in their day to day work
• Look for ways to measure process goals (for example if you have a goal of inclusivity, think about ways you can measure whether or not you have achieved that goal)
• Learn to recognize those times when you need to get off the agenda in order to address people’s underlying concerns

This month, we’ll continue our year-long investigation of white supremacy culture, working in an embodied way with WORSHIP OF THE WRITTEN WORD and its antidotes (described below). In breakout groups, we will discuss the following questions:

• How has worship of the written word shown up in your life this month? As you think about the ways worship of the written word has shown up for you – or about worship of the written word in general – what bodily sensations, emotions, or images arise?
• How would you apply the antidotes to worship of the written word (as shown below) to the contexts that came to mind in response to the first question? What other opportunities to apply these antidotes exist in your life?

As usual, we’ll meet for two hours, with breaks, breakout groups, and opportunities for open discussion. And this month, White Awake Sangha member Alex Baskin will lead us in InterPlay practice. InterPlay uses creative, active approaches for unlocking the wisdom of the body. A portion of our time will be spent with these guided forms of movement and breath. All are invited to participate in InterPlay practice at their comfort level.

Everyone is welcome at the WA sangha, regardless of their level of experience investigating race and whiteness. Our goal is to build community as well as resilience, capacity, and commitment for the work of fighting systemic oppression in our hearts, communities, and (most especially) our beloved Center. We look forward to seeing you there!

*****
Note: If you are not working in an organization to apply these definitions, substitute “my internal conditioning” for organizational structure. Or think about how you see these characteristics at CIMC, or your other community, faith or civic groups.

Worship of the written word in white supremacy culture (as described by Tema Okun):

• If it’s not in a memo, it doesn’t exist
• The organization does not value other ways in which information gets shared
• Those with strong documentation and writing skills are more highly valued, even in organizations where ability to relate to others is key to the mission

Antidotes to worship of the written word:

• Take the time to analyze how people inside and outside the organization get and share information
• Figure out which things need to be written down and come up with alternative ways to document what is happening
• Work to recognize the contributions and skills that every person brings to the organization (for example, the ability to build relationships with those who are important to the organization’s mission)
• Make sure anything written can be clearly understood (avoid academic language, ‘buzz’ words, etc.)

This month, we’ll continue our year-long investigation of white supremacy culture, working in an embodied way with the belief there is only ONE RIGHT WAY to do things and its antidotes (described below). In breakout groups, we will discuss the following questions:

• How has believing in only one right way shown up in your life this month? As you think about the ways only one right way has shown up for you – or about the idea of only one right way in general – what bodily sensations, emotions, or images arise?
• How would you apply the antidotes to believing in only one right way (as shown below) to the contexts that came to mind in response to the first question? What other opportunities to apply these antidotes exist in your life?

If you are not working in an organization to apply these definitions, substitute “my internal conditioning” for organizational structure. Or think about how you see these characteristics at CIMC, or your other community, faith or civic groups.

As usual, we’ll meet for two hours, with breaks, breakout groups, and opportunities for open discussion. All are invited, regardless of their level of experience investigating race and whiteness. Our goal is to build community as well as resilience, capacity, and commitment for the work of fighting systemic oppression in our hearts, communities, and (most especially) our beloved Center. We look forward to seeing you there!

*****

Only one right way in white supremacy culture (as described by Tema Okun):

• The belief there is one right way to do things and once people are introduced to the right way, they will see the light and adopt it
• When they do not adapt or change, then something is wrong with them (the other, those not changing), not with us (those who ‘know’ the right way)
• Similar to the missionary who does not see value in the culture of other communities, sees only value in their beliefs about what is good

Antidotes to only one right way:

• Accept that there are many ways to get to the same goal.
• Once the group has made a decision about which way will be taken, honor that decision and see what you and the organization will learn from taking that way, even and especially if it is not the way you would have chosen.
• Work on developing the ability to notice when people do things differently and how those different ways might improve your approach.
• Look for the tendency for a group or a person to keep pushing the same point over and over out of a belief that there is only one right way and then name it.
• When working with communities from a different culture than yours or your organization’s, be clear that you have some learning to do about the communities’ ways of doing.
• Never assume that you or your organization knows what’s best for the community in isolation from meaningful relationships with that community.

Hi All,

The next monthly Zoom meeting of CIMC’s White Awake sangha will be held Sunday, August 8^th from 5-7 PM (permanent zoom link here).

This month, we’ll continue our year-long investigation of white supremacy culture, working in an embodied way with PATERNALISM and its antidotes (described below). In breakout groups, we will discuss the following questions:

• How has paternalism shown up in your life this month? As you think about the ways that paternalism has shown up for you – or about the idea of paternalism in general – what bodily sensations, emotions, or images arise?
• How would you apply the antidotes to paternalism (as shown below) to the contexts that came to mind in response to the first question? What other opportunities to apply these antidotes exist in your life?

If you are not working in an organization to apply these definitions, substitute “my internal conditioning” for organizational structure. Or think about how you see these characteristics at CIMC, or your other community, faith or civic groups.

As usual, we’ll meet for two hours, with breaks, breakout groups, and opportunities for open discussion. This month, Alex will again lead us in a short session of embodied InterPlay exercises, and as usual, participation is optional. All are invited, regardless of their level of experience investigating race and whiteness. Our goal is to build community as well as resilience, capacity, and commitment for the work of fighting systemic oppression in our hearts, communities, and (most especially) our beloved Center. We look forward to seeing you there!

Warmly,

Beilah, Ben, Valerie, Sherry, Virginia, and Alex (via Gina)

*****

Paternalism in white supremacy culture (as described by Tema Okun):

• Decision-making is clear to those with power and unclear to those without it.
• Those with power assume they are capable of making decisions for and in the interests of those without power.
• Those with power often don’t think it is important or necessary to understand the viewpoint or experience of those for whom they are making decisions.
• Those without power do not really know how decisions get made and who makes what decisions, and yet they are completely familiar with the impact of those decisions on them.

Antidotes to paternalism:

• Make sure that everyone knows and understands who makes what decisions in the organization.
• Make sure everyone knows and understands their level of responsibility and authority in the organization.
• Include people who are affected by decisions in the decision-making.
• Make sure everyone understands the budget (because if you understand the budget, you understand a lot).

This month, we’ll continue our year-long investigation of white supremacy culture, working in an embodied way with EITHER/OR THINKING and its antidotes (described below). In breakout groups, we will discuss the following questions:

• How has either/or thinking shown up in your life this month? As you think about the ways that  either/or thinking has shown up for you – or about the idea of either/or thinking in general – what bodily sensations, emotions, or images arise?
• How would you apply the antidotes to either/or thinking (as shown below) to the contexts that came to mind in response to the first question? What other opportunities to apply these antidotes exist in your life?

If you are not working in an organization to apply these definitions, substitute “my internal conditioning” for organizational structure. Or think about how you see these characteristics at CIMC, or your other community, faith or civic groups.

As usual, we’ll meet for two hours, with breaks, breakout groups, and opportunities for open discussion. This month, Alex will again lead us in a short session of embodied InterPlay exercises, and as usual, participation is optional. All are invited, regardless of their level of experience investigating race and whiteness.  Our goal is to build community as well as resilience, capacity, and commitment for the work of fighting systemic oppression in our hearts, communities, and (most especially) in our beloved Center.  We look forward to seeing you there!

*****

Either/or Thinking in white supremacy culture (as described by Tema Okun):

• things are either/or — good/bad, right/wrong, with us/against us
• closely linked to perfectionism in making it difficult to learn from mistakes or accommodate conflict
• no sense that things can be both/and
• results in trying to simplify complex things, for example believing that poverty is simply a result of lack of education
• creates conflict and increases sense of urgency, as people feel they must make decisions to do either this or that, with no time or encouragement to consider alternatives, particularly those which may require more time or resources
• often used by those with a clear agenda or goal to push those who are still thinking or reflecting to make a choice between ‘a’ or ‘b’ without acknowledging a need for time and creativity to come up with more options

Antidotes to Either/or Thinking:

• notice when people use ‘either/or’ language and push to come up with more than two alternatives
• notice when people are simplifying complex issues, particularly when the stakes seem high or an urgent decision needs to be made
• slow it down and encourage people to do a deeper analysis
• when people are faced with an urgent decision, take a break and give people some breathing room to think creatively
• avoid (when possible) making decisions under extreme pressure

Whenever you feel challenged, call to mind one of the images from today’s talk: either the gold used to repair broken pottery as in the Japanese art of Kintsugi, or the image of the two yellow iris growing up through the shattered glass — symbol of hope, beauty, wholeness.

Trust the transformative process — slow and gradual — of your meditation practice, and of mindfulness practice throughout the day. Our practice is the gold that helps to transform our brokenness and challenges.
Keep recommitting to your practice, refreshing it with each sitting, and beyond

“There is a crack in everything. That’s how the light gets in.” —Leonard Cohen in his poem/song “Anthem.”