Dear Friends,
I shared with you back in January that I have been practicing with mild depression for several months, mostly (I believe) a result of the oral chemo medicine I take daily to control my leukemia. Although there are times when we need to embrace our darkness and find out where it is coming from, other times it's enough to shift our mind to release the mood.
Read MoreDear Friends,
I have a new mantra that I have been using with my in-breath and out-breath:
Inhaling, I am awesome. Exhaling, I am not exceptional.
I started using this mantra because I noticed my inner voice sometimes says the opposite. I find myself toggling between I am not doing this right, I am not doing anything right, and I am the only one doing this right.
So my new mantra reminds me that I am wonderful just as I am and I am just one of the many wonderful beings that share this planet with me.
The Three Complexes
Thich Nhat Hanh (Thay) teaches what he calls the three complexes: the superiority complex, the inferiority complex, and the equality complex. Some of us are more likely to live in the superiority complex thinking we are the only ones who get it. Some of us live in the inferiority complex, thinking we are simply not capable of being as wonderful as other people.
Read MoreWhen we are able to ride the ups and downs of life, it gives us the spaciousness to help others also ride the waves. I am not a surfer, but I know that if I were trying to learn to surf, I would benefit most from an instructor who has had enough practice to stay up on her board.
In the same way, our regular mindfulness practice can help us serve the world because we won’t need to spend as much of our attention focused on balancing on our own board. Equanimity allows us to trust the world and its inevitable waves and manifests as more energy to listen to someone else’s suffering and the ability to pause before reacting to other’s words and actions.
Read MoreDear friends,
There’s one lesson I have been trying to learn for over a decade.
It’s something Thich Nhật Hanh said in response to a question I asked during a retreat in 2012.
He said:
“I would suggest that we stop thinking that we have done our part, only he has not done his part.”
This goes on in my head many times a day— whenever I think I am doing it right and “they” are not. Whenever someone does something I don’t agree with. And it makes me feel annoyed. And while feeling annoyed may seem like a small issue, being annoyed (and thinking we are right) is the start of all conflict and perhaps even wars.
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