Linda J - Practices to embody reverence for life - Still Water Sangha

 Linda J offering ideas of holding Mindfulness Training on Reverence for life: 

"Here are some of my aspirations and practices to embody reverence for life." - 

(CSL: in boldface) 

• Maintain awareness of those who are suffering around the world. Seek ways to protect life and reduce suffering for all. Support efforts to bring aid and end wars. 
• consider the mission of United Nations
• 
  
• Engage with clerks, strangers, and neighbors in ways that communicate respect and connection.
• Elderly in transition, phone calls, catching up
• 
  
• Practice metta meditation for all people, all creation.
• 
  
• Make space in my life and my mind for awe. Pause through the day to really see and really feel the amazing creations of Mother Earth. Bow, with my whole heart, in reverence. 
• murmurations
• 
  
• Start anew each morning, noticing when I am taking people or creation for granted. Wake up (again and again) to the wonder of being alive.
• the 'wow' factor every morning
• 
  
• Have reverence for my own body and consciousness.
• yoga, somatics, breathwork
• 
  

from email sent by Still Water Sangha, July 7, 2026

Hugh Byrne: 3 Questions

 Hugh Byrne 

Recorded guided meditation offered to his circle on September 7 Sunday only about 25 people there but the messaging was so helpful recorded voice of Hugh Byrne

The invitation is to meet our experience with a welcoming attitude. The Sufi poet, Rumi speaks of welcoming the guests. He says, "Even if there are a crowd of sorrows. "who sweep your house empty of its furniture, still treat each guest honorably. He may be clearing you out for some new delight." So this attitude of welcoming, welcoming our experience. And Robert Bly said, "Whatever parts of you that you don't learn to love and accept will become hostile to you. Notice when your mind may reject or dislike what's present, and then invite a quality of acceptance. Can I meet this moment, this experience with acceptance? Can you meet this experience, this moment with kindness? It may be wishing yourself well, making space for what's here, or being kind to yourself as you would to a dear friend who's experiencing difficulty. If judgment or resistance comes up, can you meet this with kindness, with friendliness?. You could send yourself a wish. May I be happy? May I be peaceful? You could put your hand on your heart and express a wish for your own well being. And see if you can be interested curious about what you're experiencing. When we bring curiosity to our experience, something important can shift. 

Think of the way when we're angry, we're caught up in a mental story or narrative about what this person said or did, or what you want to say or do to them, and all the bodily tension that may be present. When we're caught up in a strong emotion, the emotion and the accompanying thoughts are what are in charge, in a way. They're leading the way. 

When we bring awareness to our anger, when we become curious about it, we can then notice, oh, there's tightness in the chest. My face is hot. I'm short of breath. I'm having loss of angry thoughts. And we can let go of the story and come back to the direct experience. So this quality of curiosity helps us to step out of identification with what we're caught up in. And just come into awareness. What am I aware of? What am I noticing? So sit for a few minutes and notice your attitude to your experience. How am I meeting this moment? How am I relating to this experience? Whatever you’re experiencing right now, can you accept this moment just as it is? This experience, just as it is? Can you meet it with an attitude of kindness, making space for it? Can you bring a quality of interest, of curiosity to your experience? 

So the first question is, what am I aware of right now? The second question is, how am I meeting this moment, this experience? 

And the third question is, what is a wise and kind response to this experience? What is a wise and kind response to this experience? Often bringing an attitude of kindness, acceptance, and curiosity to our experience will be enough for a wise and kind response. Nothing more may be needed, just simply to meet your experience with open hearted acceptance. But at times, an additional step, or steps may be called for. Let's say you're experiencing bodily pain or discomfort, and you've been practicing simply being aware of what you're feeling and meeting it with compassion and acceptance. But you might still find yourself experiencing resistance or frustration or judgment. You might be wanting to be present, but you're wanting to be present might make you feel more and more tight. You might kind of feel you're at war with yourself. Then you might ask, what is a wise and kind response? to this experience, to this moment? And it might be to consciously shift your posture. and to open to your experience in a new, more relaxed posture, say, moving from a cushion to a chair, for example. or stopping meditating if you're really tired, taking a short nap, with the intention of coming back to the meditation when you feel more rested and fresh. Or if you're dealing with a painful emotion and it's very intense, it might be wise to shift your attention to something more calm and peaceful. Not as a way of avoiding the difficulty, but to help you come back into balance and build resilience. So that then you can come back to the difficult feeling when you feel ready. Are a wise and kind response might be to send yourself a wish of loving kindness or compassion. May I be happy? May I live with ease? May I accept myself as I am. So you can sit for a while with this question. What is a wise and kind response to this moment, to this experience? And it may be simply to be aware of your experience and meet it with kindness and acceptance and interest. Or there may be a need, or a may be helpful to take a more active response. What am I aware of right now? How am I meeting this moment? What, if any, is a wise and kind response to this experience, to this moment. This third question will often be particularly important in daily life, where we typically can't simply be aware of our experience and meet it with kindness, if, for example, we're in the middle of a difficult conversation or in a meeting. In this situation, it will be important to be aware of what's present tightness in the body, anger, whatever, and to meet our response with kindness. But we may also need to respond to someone or to a situation. The question then is, what's a wise and kind response right now? What response will be supportive of freedom and well being? In the middle of a difficult conversation where we see ourselves being pulled into an angry reaction, a wise and kind response might be to ask the other person if you can come back and talk about it later." Talk about the issue that you're having some difficulty around. Or if you've just received an email that comes across as judgmental or overly critical, you might choose to put it aside and deal with it later. It's So bringing these three questions to your experience, at any time in meditation and in daily life. What am I aware of right now? How am I meeting this experience? And what is a wise and kind response? You might set for a few minutes with these questions as you open to your experience. We'll finish with Martha Poslethwaite's poem Clearing. Do not try to save the whole world or do anything grandiose. Instead, create a clearing in the dense forest of your life and wait there patiently until the song that is yours alone to sing falls into your open cupped hands, and you recognize and greet it. Only then will you know how to give yourself to this world so worthy of rescue.

Guilt & Emotions & awareness

June 2, 2025

There is no point in feeling guilty. 

Guilt is from the
past; it is a concept. The feel-
ing of guilt is happening now,
so it is an object. Our aware-
ness should be on the mind's
reaction to this object. 

Cold Mountain: silence, retreat, repose, quiet, awareness

 

      Couvent des Jacobins, Toulouse, May 2025

   Cold Mountain Verse 1

   (translated by Burton Watson)

In my first thirty years of life
I roamed hundreds and thousands of miles.
Walked by rivers through deep green grass,
Entered cities of boiling red dust.
Tried drugs, but couldn’t make Immortal;
Read books and wrote poems on history.
Today I’m back at Cold Mountain:
I’ll sleep by the creek and purify my ears.

 

🔹 Comment:
The final line — "I’ll sleep by the creek and purify my ears" — suggests a profound turn inward, where silence and the natural world cleanse the mind. This is an implicit homage to the sound of silence, where water replaces noise and the mind returns to quiet attention.

From ChatGPT, May 29, 2025: Thread on Cold Mountain Silence Awareness

Here are a couple of verses by Han Shan (Cold Mountain) that resonate deeply with the theme of silence in service to mindful awareness, especially in the context of his solitude, introspection, and the quietude of nature.

---

Cold Mountain Verse 1

(translated by Burton Watson)

In my first thirty years of life
I roamed hundreds and thousands of miles.
Walked by rivers through deep green grass,
Entered cities of boiling red dust.
Tried drugs, but couldn’t make Immortal;
Read books and wrote poems on history.
Today I’m back at Cold Mountain:
I’ll sleep by the creek and purify my ears.

🔹 Comment:
The final line — "I’ll sleep by the creek and purify my ears" — suggests a profound turn inward, where silence and the natural world cleanse the mind. This is an implicit homage to the sound of silence, where water replaces noise and the mind returns to quiet attention.

---

Cold Mountain Verse 2

(translated by Gary Snyder)

Men ask the way to Cold Mountain
Cold Mountain: there’s no through trail.
In summer, ice doesn’t melt
The rising sun blurs in swirling fog.
How

Awareness in the morning

 

May 26, 2025
 

Many people start their day without realizing they are aware. 

So here's a suggestion: As soon as you wake up, while

still in bed, consciously breathe in and out for four or five minutes. 

The mind will become alert, and you will know you are aware. 

Then, with awareness, get up.   

Watching, aversion, and attachment

 

May 12, 2025 

If we think something is good,

we attach to it, and that's craving.

If we think something is bad, we re-

sist it, and that's aversion. When you

are continuously aware, we call that

watching. You are watching when

you are continuously aware.

To subscribe to The DailyTejaniya, click here.

Daily Tejaniya - on Craving & Awareness

 April 15, 2025

 

If we ask ourselves very simply, very
 honestly, "Why is awareness not continu-
ous in my life? Why does it not become na-
tural?" It's because in a sense we want to
have craving, aversion and delusion in our 
  lives. We want to live with them, we are
  comfortable with them.

 

To subscribe to The DailyTejaniya, click here.

Difficult Thoughts

 

A Practice to Work Through Difficult Thoughts

Lisa Ernst shares a practice to offer kindness to your difficult thoughts.

LISA ERNST

8 JULY 2024

Perhaps everything terrible is in its deepest being something helpless that wants help from us.” -Rilke

Last year as the lockdown wore on, I began to have recurring, dark thoughts that seemingly arose out of nowhere. They disturbed me to the point that I repeatedly tried to get rid of them through any means possible. But despite my best efforts, they persisted.

When working with difficult thoughts during mindfulness practice, we’re often encouraged to find the place in our bodies where we feel the corresponding sensations. This is very effective at helping us to stabilize our attention in the present moment. Yet, even for me after decades of practice, sometimes the mind is so busy — the feelings so challenging — that finding this balance point is difficult. Or, I may find it briefly then get caught again in the rapids.

The seemingly dark thoughts were calling me to pay attention and listen to a part of myself that felt isolated and alone.

When this happens, I’ve learned to soften my approach and offer compassion to the thoughts themselves. This may seem counterintuitive, but the practice calms me as I stop struggling. During the lockdown, I realized the seemingly dark thoughts were calling me to pay attention and listen to a part of myself that felt isolated and alone. I saw that these thoughts were linked to a traumatic time in my life when I was completely isolated and lost in depression. The Covid lockdown reactivated this sense of disconnection in a way that needed my loving attention and compassion. Soon the dark thoughts abated.

With this practice, you’re directing kind awareness toward persistent mental activity and creating a more patient relationship with yourself. Here are a few steps to support this practice:

1. Take several conscious breaths and allow your body to settle.
2. Intentionally bring the difficult thoughts to mind.
3. Imagine the thoughts are like a stone sinking to the bottom of a lake. In this case, let them sink into your heart. This may take some patience, but see if you can slowly let the thoughts move into your body.
4. Put your hand on your heart and offer some words of compassion and kindness:

I see you
I care about you
May this suffering be a kind and wise teacher
May I be filled with loving-kindness
May I be held in compassion

As you do this practice, you may discover, as I did, that these tenacious thoughts represent a part of you that longs to be seen and acknowledged. Kind awareness, even toward unwanted thoughts, goes a long way when other approaches are unworkable.

LISA ERNST

Lisa Ernst is a meditation teacher, artist and founder of One Dharma Nashville. In her teaching, Lisa emphasizes both transformational insight and everyday awakening as an invitation to embrace all of the path’s possibilities. Lisa has been meditating for 30 years in the Zen and Vipassana traditions. She received dharma teaching authorization through Trudy Goodman in the Thai Forest lineage of Ajahn Chah, Jack Kornfield, etc.

At the moment of awareness ~

This Wed., July 3, our Dharma discussion will focus on this passage from “The Sun My Heart” by Thich Nhat Hanh:

"Our thoughts and feelings flow like a river. If we try to stop the flow of a river, we will meet the resistance of the water. It is better to flow with it, and then we may be able to guide it in ways we want it to go. We must not attempt to halt it. 

"Keep in mind that the river must flow and that we are going to follow it. We must be aware of every little stream that joins it. We must be aware of all the thoughts, feelings, and sensations that arise in us-of their birth, duration, and disappearance. Do you see? Now the resistance begins to disappear. The river of perceptions is still flowing, but no longer in darkness. It is now flowing in the sunlight of awareness. To keep this sun always shining inside of us, illuminating each rivulet, each pebble, each bend in the river, is the practice of meditation. To practice meditation is, first of all, to observe and to follow these details. 

"At the moment of awareness we feel we are in control, even though the river is still there, still flowing. We feel ourselves at peace . . . . Being at peace doesn't mean our thoughts and feelings are frozen. Being at peace is not the same as being anesthetized. A peaceful mind does not mean a mind empty of thoughts, sensations, and emotions. A peaceful mind is not an absent one."

Smiling,

Warren & Marion

Inability to Sitting quietly alone in a room

All of our suffering, and mankind's suffering stems from our (man's) inability to sit quietly alone in a room. 

~ Blaise Pascal

suggesting that we sit to be with our experience: '~ being with our experience...saying 'yes' to what is. ~' Eckhardt Tolle

'to uproot the landmines of the earth we must first uproot the landmines in our heart.' ...out of our own experiences, and especially the ones we don't sit with, we create the larger, the grander suffering in our hearts...

'we need to open to our experience. What am I aware of right now?.  can I make space for it.  Dorothy Hunt...Peace is this moment in the heart space without judgement. 

This is all just pointing to the importance of our meditative practice.

'All wisdom is plagiarism...all ignorance is original.' -  Gil Fronsdal  

When we meet our experience without awareness, things get bad and worse.

Taking refuge in what is true...rather than being in denial. fears, joys can come and go...they are impermanent...Blake's: he who binds to hiimself  a joy does the winged life destroy, but he who kisses the joy as it flies lives in eternity's sunrise....that's freedom of the heart. 

with wisdom we be present ..being with our experience...s/ clinging...E Tolle: you can always cope with the present moment, but you can't cope with a mind projection about the future.  

Thisi s the root of equanimity: welcome the guests...let them come and go.  with steadiness, we can then touch a fearlessness...being w/ our own experience wholeheartedly. 

'Create a clearing....wait in the dense forest of your life...until your song...'...then back to the world so worthy of rescue...Martha Postlthewaite's poem.

The first wing of the bird for flying: the wing of awareness (insight, clarity)  --the second wing is the wing of compassion (The Buddhist Heaart practices) (this is our relationship with others, our caring for others...responding to the cries of the world). We cultivate an attitudinal commitment of kindness towards the world, to others, to ourselves, committing to kindness...   

20th century Indian teacher: wisdom tells me I'm nothing, Love tells me I'm everything... and between the two, my life flows.  (With that is the image of the body of the bird...afloat in the airy space).

Hugh Byrne - April 3, There was a time ~ Muhyiddin Ibn Arabi

There was a time I would reject those
who were not of my faith.

But now, my heart has grown capable
of taking on all forms.
It is a pasture for gazelles,
An abbey for monks.
A table for the Torah,
Kaaba for the pilgrim.
My religion is love.
Whichever the route love’s caravan shall take,
That shall be the path of my faith.

"There Was a Time," by Muhyiddin Ibn Arabi, from The Interpreter of Longings (Turjumdn al-Ashwdq). Published here as presented at this link. The source might have been an edition edited and translated from the Arabic by R. A. Nicholson. © Dar Sadar, 1348/1929.

Live Session Summary, April 3, 2022: The theme of the Live session this Sunday was ‘Three Gifts of Spiritual Practice.’ The three gifts I highlighted were: 1) The heart/mind can be trained: through practice in cultivating skillful qualities—such as compassion, loving-kindness, mindfulness, equanimity, gratitude, and others—and abandoning harmful states, such as greed, cruelty, hatred, blame, we can free our hearts and live with freedom and joy. The Buddha said, nothing can do you more harm than an untrained mind, not even your worst enemy; nothing can do you more good than a trained mind, not even your mother and father. It is very helpful to find a wise and compassionate path of practice—a path with heart—that others have followed to train the heart/mind. But we need to walk the path ourselves… 

2) The second gift is understanding that the deepest peace and freedom must come from our own efforts. No one can bestow on us understanding and peace that can free us—at best, they can point the way. Our freedom has to come from our own seeing of the truth and letting go of clinging that leads to suffering. In the Kalama Sutta, the Buddha taught that we should place trust in teachings not on the basis of logic, convention, texts, reasoning, what we like, or out of respect for a teacher, but on the basis of our own experience. Does this mind state or behavior lead to welfare and happiness? If so, you should follow it. If a mind state or behavior leads to harm and suffering, it should be avoided. Ehipassiko (in Pali language)—'see for yourself.’

3) The third gift of spiritual practice is to understand that the journey to letting go, peace, and the deepest freedom must begin with awareness of our experience here and now. Bringing mindfulness—a kind and non-judging awareness, compassionate curiosity—to our experience here and now is the gateway to the deepest freedom. The Buddha taught that mindfulness is the direct path to freedom—whatever we are experiencing in this moment that we meet with awareness is a doorway to the deepest happiness and peace. No matter where we are, what we are experiencing, however painful or challenging it may be, this moment, this breath, this feeling or emotion is the doorway to seeing clearly and freeing our heart. 

I shared a quote from Viktor Frankl: ‘Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.’ Also William Blake: ‘He who binds to himself a joy // Does the winged life destroy. // But he who kisses the joy as it flies // Lives in eternity’s sunrise.’ And Rumi’s ‘The Guest House’; lines from Dorothy Hunt’s ‘Peace’ (‘Peace is this moment without judgment // This moment in the heart-space where everything that is is welcome.’); and Muhyiddin Ibn Al-‘Arabi’s ‘There was a time I would reject those…’

Wishing everyone a good and safe week ahead. Warmly, Hugh 🙏🏻 🌻

Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche: Meditation and Going Beyond Mindfulness - A Secular Perspective

Quote by Carl Jung: “What is not brought to consciousness, comes to ...”

Quote by Carl Jung: “What is not brought to consciousness, comes to ...”

“What is not brought to consciousness, comes to us as fate.”

― Carl Jung

Christina Feldman - Receiving the Breath: Meditation Q & A

When I try to bring awareness to my breath, I feel instead like I’m interfering with its natural flow. What should I do?

This is not an unusual experience. Throughout our lives, we breathe without effort; then the moment we try to breathe consciously, our breathing suddenly feels blocked, shortened, or constricted. Our bodies know how to breathe without instruction, yet it can feel as if we are having to learn how to breathe all over again.

One reason for this is that you have suddenly become the breather. Your mindfulness of breathing has taken on something extra, a layer of self-consciousness, which brings with it tension and uncertainty. You may be trying too hard. Self-consciousness disguised as mindfulness often manifests as an effort to control the breath. Observe this. There is insight to be gained in seeing how we transfer life patterns of control, anxiety, or self-consciousness into our meditation practice. Learning to undo some of these patterns within our practice is a meaningful step in learning how to release their grip on the rest of our lives.

It is important to remember that there is no “right” breath. If you carry with you the idea that your breath should be deep and full when in reality it is shallow, you immediately get into trouble. At times the breath is deep, at times shallow, at times freely flowing, and at other times it can feel blocked. Your practice is to be with your breath as it is, learning to let go of how you think things “should be.” Mindfulness of breathing is a practice of learning to harmonize your attention with what is, in this moment. Short, long, deep, shallow are all fine breaths. Trust your body; it knows what is needed.

Some people come into meditation with a history of breathing difficulties such as asthma. The moment they consciously bring their attention to their breath, the emotional history associated with breathing comes to the forefront of their consciousness. They find themselves struggling with the breath in meditation practice just as they have in life. The fear of not having enough breath to sustain life serves to make each breath an increasingly arduous process. Your meditation should be founded in ease and relaxation. If you have historical associations with the breath that hinder its free flowing, it may be helpful to adopt for a time another object of attention, such as listening. Bear in mind that it is the development of attention that is of primary significance; the object of attention is secondary.

As we begin to practice mindfulness of breathing, we often see ourselves, initially, as the breather, apart and separate from the breath itself. The direction and development of the practice is eventually to bridge this separation until our attention is absorbed fully into the breath. The breath breathes itself, and we experience a place of deep calmness, concentration, and ease. When we breathe, we just breathe. As our practice develops, we learn to let go of much of the emotional and psychological baggage that surrounds so much of what we “do” in life. Essentially, we learn to let go of the “doer.” It is important to be patient with this process. Mindfulness of breathing is a practice of patient intimacy, learning to come closer and closer to the simple process of just breathing.

Without becoming overly strategic or feeling that this is a problem you are required to fix, there are a couple of ways to experiment with letting go of the tension that surrounds your breath. You might experiment with simply focusing your attention in the area of your upper lip and nostrils. Just notice the sensation of your breath entering and leaving your body. Let go of any expectation that your breath should be deeper than it is. Be aware just of the coolness of your incoming breath and the warmth of your outgoing breath. If you notice that there is still tension within your breathing, take your attention just to listening for a few moments. Again, don’t look for sounds, just be receptive to the sounds near and far that come to you. Then return your attention to your breathing once more. See if that same quality of receptivity that you brought to listening can be brought into your awareness of breathing. Sense if it is possible just to receive your breath. Your body is breathing; trust it, let it be just as it is.

7th Moon, 29th sun - Yi - Year of the Ox - I had a dream -- written by Lu Yu (1125-1210)

7th Moon, 29th Sun, Yi- Year of the Ox: I had a Dream Last night in which I met a stately man, and at First Sight we were like old friends. He had written pages of lovely poems Long Ago, all perfectly pure and simple. I started reading through them, But woke Before I finished. To record What happened, I've written This in Long Lines: 

The traveler is an instant friend, utterly clear and true.
Even before we dip out wine, we share kindred thoughts.

The pillow is cold, but I don't understand it's all a dream 
In the clear night. I just savor that vision of an old sage.

Star River tipped, Dipper sunk, ancient histories empty, 
Mist scatters, and clouds leave.

Our two bodies are mirage, and mind is perfect clarity. 
It sees through this illusion.
Awake you can't avoid it: all things the same bittersweet.

- Lu Yu (1125-1210), Translated by David Hinton, in 'Mountain Home - The Wilderness Poetry of Ancient China', 2014

self-regulation, procrastination, and negative emotions

Understanding the relationship between self-regulation, procrastination, and negative emotions. Poetry, verse to help stimulate self-awareness.

Staying with negative emotions.

Rumi's poem 'The Guest House'

Guest House

The Guest House

This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.

A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.

Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they are a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still, treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.

The dark thought, the shame, the malice.
meet them at the door laughing and invite them in.

Be grateful for whatever comes.
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.

— Jellaludin Rumi,
translation by Coleman Barks

Fwd: 40404: @Zen_Moments: Discretion in speech is ...

Discretion in speech is more than eloquence. ~ Francis Bacon

m.twitter.com/Zen_Moments

Watering the Horse

Watering the Horse

How strange to think of giving up all ambition!
Suddenly I see with such clear eyes
The white flake of snow
That has just fallen on the horse's mane!

-- Robert Bly

Awareness

Let us not look back in anger, nor forward in fear, but around in awareness. ~ James Thurber