One of my coworkers has a dog, named Pizza, whose frequent trips to the office are a delight for everyone — he is so cute and loving, always ready to play and help take the edge off a stressful workday. Pizza is my doggie ideal; a fluffy little Schnauzer mix, that is more fur than dog. Until, one day, when he wasn’t… One morning, I heard the jingle of Pizza’s…
Dear Reader – this blog is a direct continuation of the preceding blog, Goodbye Goyard Part 1. If you have not yet read that post then please go back and read it before you start on this next entry. I am looking around myself at all these items I have laid out to consign, each one telling me a truth about myself and about this world. A part of me so desperately wants to hang on to many of these items, a purse I may…
Dear Reader, I am republishing putting this blog, which originally ‘aired’ back in Nov 2018, to put it into chronological sequence. I hope the redux, in its original context, provides additional insight. I was thinking about the upcoming Kathina ceremony, an important holiday in the Buddhist tradition, and decided I really wanted to make an offering to the temple – to the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha – that means something special to me. It’s hard to explain, but I felt like money alone simply wouldn’t do. Sometimes, when I give…
Dear Reader, the next few blogs are reduxes — blogs which originally ‘aired’ back in fall 2018 which I am put it into chronological sequence. I hope these reduxes, in their original context, provide additional insight. I was recently in Boston and took a guided tour of the Black Heritage Trail, a path that links more than 15 pre-Civil War sites important in African-American history; the stories of American abolitionists (folks who…
My friend was antsy to travel, but after asking everyone in our social circle, she couldn’t find anyone who would agree to be her travel partner. Finally, she asked me. She expressed her longing to see the world, and her disappointment that since her divorce, she had no one to join her. She told me of her deep desire to spend time with me, to feel connected. She was so…
A note on timing: The next few blogs are from contemplations that took place during the 2018 Vassa Period. In other words, they are interspersed in time with the ‘fact finding’ activities posted in the previous blog section. In a few, you can clearly see the influence of my ongoing activities exploring impermanence, control and my sense of specialness. Yesterday a friend told me that a mutual acquaintance of ours,…
This blog is the part of a series where I will share a selection of the daily dhamma data collection/ exercises, which I committed to for the 2018 Vassa period. Today’s selection will all be highlights from the month of October, 2018. For more details on the exercise and commitment, please see the this blog. Impermanence Today I saw two twin looking trees in a field. The same type of tree…
This blog is part of a series where I will share a selection of the daily dhamma data collection/ exercises, which I committed to for the 2018 Vassa period. Today’s selection will all be highlights from the month of September, 2018. For more details on the exercise and commitment, please see this blog. Impermanence I had a particularly difficult client for my business and I decided I was going to ask…
This blog is the beginning of a series where I will share a selection of the daily dhamma data collection/ exercises, which I committed to for the 2018 Vassa period. Today’s selection will all be highlights from the month of August, 2018. For more details on the exercise and commitment, please see the previous blog. Impermanence Expected a friend to meet me for dinner but she canceled last min. At first,…
For the 2018 Buddhist holy period (Vassa), which lasts 3 months, a number of folks from my community were making commitments to engage in their practice — or other personal development behaviors — on a consistent daily basis. I had already begun doing the daily impermanent exercises Mae Neecha had recommended to me (see the last blog for further details on this), so as part of my Vassa commitment, I…