Musings on the Path

I often describe myself as small-U universalist, I\’ll read any spiritual tradition\’s literature if it speaks to me.  Mostly it\’s mystical Christians (e.g. Meister Eckhart), Sufis, Hindus, and Buddhists.  Broken Heart, Open Heart is published in the Buddhist section of Patheos and quotes from all of these traditions. It deals with a difficult subject, bad times and our relationship to God/Sacred/Mystery. It speaks to me.

Stress is a killer. Both my wife and I were recently at the doctors for infections. These were not isolated events. My wife\’s doctor took her aside after the exam, diagnosis, and prescription and asked, \”What\’s going on? These look like stress reactions.\” Well, they are. We are homeless (living out of a motel) and without jobs (switching careers or at least employers with some heavy consideration of unasked for retirement). I know about stress responses. And that meditation helps reduce stress response, both in frequency and intensity. But I didn\’t know it was possible to consciously switch off the stress response relatively quickly after it was triggered. Stress response on top of stress response is the real killer. Read The Ninety Second Sanity Pit Stop by Josh Korda, the teacher at Dharmapunx NYC + Brooklyn. I have increasing respect for him. Just wish he wrote more than one piece a month.

I have enormous respect for Josh Korba\’s writing. He\’s the head teacher at Dharmapunx NYC + Brooklyn. His critique of secular mindfulness teaching in Mindfulness is Not Enough is right on. As usual, ripping a practice or other bit out of another culture without understanding and bringing the necessary context results in a diminution at best, out right harm often.

For example, tatami, the rice straw mats used in Japan, are replaced annually. They are too expensive to do that in America, so health problems result. Tatami solve several problems and have numerous accommodations in the Japanese culture. Rice straw has a lot of silicon in it and does not break down or recycle easily. Being walked on for a year and then recycled works. Removing your sandals (or shoes) before walking on them keeps them clean. And because most people wear sandals (frequently a good idea in a humid climate), their feet and socks don\’t smell as much.

Without the ethical imperatives in Buddhism, mindfulness practice as stress reduction is like taking drugs to dull the pain of a soul sucking job instead of reforming or boycotting it.

If your faith is not robust enough for jokes, puns, and other forms of playing with it, it probably isn\’t robust enough to get you through hard times.

If you\’re sure the world is coming apart, there\’s plenty of evidence it is. If you\’re sure the world\’s getting better everyday, there\’s signs everywhere. A Buddhist teacher defined humility as seeing things exactly as they are. It\’s a difficult virtue to practice.

There is a vitality, a life force, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and there is only one of you in all time. This expression is unique, and if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium; and be lost. The world will not have it.
It is not your business to determine how good it is, not how it compares with other expression. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open. You have to keep open and aware directly to the urges that motivate you. Keep the channel open.
No artist is pleased. There is no satisfaction whatever at any time. There is only a queer, divine dissatisfaction, a blessed unrest that keeps us marching and makes us more alive than the others.
–Martha Graham

Much of what was
   isn\'t
and much of what is
   is broken.
This world is out of joint
   and I,
I can\'t find my way
   to a better place.

I hear the beat
   of dancing
on the other side
   of awareness,
where life moves
   with a rhythm,
effortless and easy,
   and it\'s not the
dictator\'s lockstep
   but the pulse
of life itself,
   free and
interconnected
   to that which
I can change
   and it
changes me.

Love.