A couple weeks back – or more by now, Mark left me a massive (huge thanks!) comment regarding a prior post of mine and I promised a prompt response. Being a fellow Montanan, Mark urged me to enjoy the glorious MT summer and let the response wait, which I definitely appreciate. Here, now, I’ll try to address some of Mark’s points. This will have to be mostly off the top of my head, but it’s better than nothin’. Justin, Back... Read more

Chocolate by mail! A couple months ago I blogged about a breakthrough I had had on retreat: bringing up some unconscious fears I had been holding onto (or that had been holding onto me). It was a difficult process for me, though deeply freeing at the same time. I commented then, but can’t say often enough that a meditation retreat can be a very powerful experience. On my first long retreat I really wasn’t dealing with any fears/issues of my... Read more

Today was “one of those days” for me; for some reason I woke up on the wrong side of the bed, grumpily trudged off to work, and found myself continuously irritated with simple tasks and obstacles. That is, until about 5:30. That’s when I got to go home for dinner and to prepare this little piece on gratitude. Now, my first thought is (and yours may be similar), “if you’re such a good meditator, Buddhist, spiritual guy, you shouldn’t have... Read more

Wow, it seems like a while since I posted. For now I’ll just say a bit about what I’ve been up to. I’ve been meaning to get back to the topic of evolutionary ethics and Mark’s wonderful comments a few weeks back… Note that Will over at integral options has posted this and probably much more of interest to us both… (still on my to-do list) Pouring myself into studying critiques of Pop Psychology; mainly looking at why pop psych... Read more

This week we get to discuss a wonderful topic: bringing joy to our meditation and meditation to our joy. This is great because meditation, and indeed life itself, can be a source of countless joys. Indeed for most of us it is. Life is good. But it can also be filled with such pain and sorrow. And often-times it is our sorrows and pains that dominate our meditation experiences. I heard one Tibetan Buddhist’s story of an American woman who... Read more

In Buddhism, and increasingly in popular discussion, we speak of karma bringing us someplace or being the cause of certain events in our lives. However, very important in Buddhism (and any other religious tradition) is the place of free will or choice. Our karma may nudge us this way or that, like a negative old behavior pattern we just seem compelled to repeat again and again (perhaps hoping this time will be the last). Yet it is up to us... Read more

Inspired by miss Patia. Read more

Sunset in Bozeman at the Royal 7 Into Emptiness Sensitive soulsFall soFreelyInto Emptiness Into LoveAnd Loss MissingDesiringLongingFor her To fillEmptinessThis fool’s errand What the wise ones knowI supposeIs that there is no fillingThe Emptiness Sevens dance in Missoula lights as Fireworks burst Only befriending itAcceptingThat aloneIs the warrior’s Home The abodeTo share with othersMany windowsMany doors OpenFlowing freelyAloneWith Grace In LoveWith LifeItself Enough. A blue Heron Flies over Missoula’s Mount Sentinel Read more

The sutta* is an address to a householder on the importance of practicing meditation, cultivating the equanimity of the fourth jhana, and being mindful of the nature of sensuality. The teaching consists of a series of comparisons used to illustrate sensuality as being “of much stress, much despair, & greater drawbacks.” Perhaps the most visceral passage is: “Now suppose there were a pit of glowing embers, deeper than a man’s height, full of embers that were neither flaming nor smoking,... Read more

My good friend SJ left today, returning to Bristol after nearly two weeks with me in Montana and Yellowstone. Accepting life as it is, I had a wonderful time with my friend. Of course I had my slips, falling back into memories, conversations, attempts to grasp, to figure out, and so on. But bringing acceptance to these moments brought me back to the present, the ever-full and joyous present. 1. Friends from afar will be my first gratitude item this... Read more