It was 5:57 am. I stared at the screen, mouse hovering over the “refresh” button. Only 3 minutes until registration opens. I took a deep breath at 5:59, then, as the clock turned to 6:00, hit “refresh” to reveal the sign-up link. Click, type, click, click, lurch of the heart as the page loads… I was in! In three months, I will head to the other side of the world…
“The most important thing in learning the jhanas,” began Dharma teacher Leigh Brasington, looking out to a roomful of eager meditators draped in a rainbow of shawls and jackets, “is to not have any expectations.” Well, I certainly checked that box. When I signed up for this retreat, titled “Jhanas and Insights”, taught by Leigh Brasington and Rachael O’Brien, I only had a vague intention to improve my concentration. My…
A reminder from The Noble Search sutta dropped into my mind as I sat down to meditate. It came from this passage: And what is the noble search? Here someone being himself subject to birth, having understood the danger in what is subject to birth, seeks the unborn supreme security from bondage, Nibbāna; being himself subject to ageing, having understood the danger in what is subject to ageing, he seeks…
That’s it. That’s the story. A simple act that I would recall again and again as the answer to why Plum Village is my home tradition. It happened when I was with a small group of Plum Village practitioners, ranging from senior monastic Dharma teachers to lay people who only met their first Plum Village monastic this week. We had just finished offering a mindfulness music event – music, poems,…
It is a paradox that even though the desire for enlightenment, for happiness, etc. may have inspired our journey on the Path, we eventually need to let go of grasping – for special meditation experiences, happiness, enlightenment itself – as we get closer to the truth. I have heard this in various ways from various teachers throughout the years: “My desire for enlightenment was a hindrance to my practice.” “When…
The bell sounded three times to end the sit. I slowly opened my eyes. My body felt light as air – just moments ago, it had felt no different from air itself, its boundaries dissolving into the empty space of the room. My mind hummed with ease, clarity, and tranquility. Slowly, very slowly – as if this peace was a skittish kitten ready to dash at any moment – I…
A story of less than 100 words once restored my dwindling faith and kept me on the Path. I have had about a year of meditation practice by then, and even went on a short retreat to deepen my practice. The events at that retreat, however, had left me extremely confused. While my heart was stilled by the quietness of the small temple and the peaceful countryside where we practiced,…