The Occupy Wall Street movement questions the hegemony of the 1%, and seeks to empower the 99% instead. Our practice, likewise, questions the hegemony of the ego, and seeks to empower the 99% of us.
We situate the transformation of the judgmental mind in the context of the path of awakening - distinguishing reactive judgments from nonreactive discernment, clarifying why working with judgments is important and pointing to several ways of practicing with the judgmental mind.
We explore the metaphor of the "spiritual journey" to help illuminate phases of our practice, using three reference points: 1. Mary Oliver's poem, "The Journey" 2. The journey of the Buddha and 3. Our own individual journeys.
An exploration of the many ways equanimity brings balance to our lives. Groundlessness to the Brahma Viharas, and liberating insight to our mindfulness practice.
We usually approach ethical conduct (sila) from either righteousness (morality) or idealism (I must never harm any living thing!) but not often from stability and unification of heart. From the heart we just see what is appropriate to do and do it within the context of connection and nonharm. When we transgress we learn and move on and never expect anything miraculous or perfect in any way. We simply live within the fullness of our humanity, and that is enough.
