"Sounds like a new age to me." That was a response I received from a recent Facebook posting I made regarding Pope Francis' historic U.S. visit. Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could help connect the dots as we hear the Peoples' Pope's loving message today, so resonant with the timeless evergreen healing words of the Dalai Lama and Desmond Tutu, Martin Luther King, Jr. and Mahatma Gandhi, Dag Hammarskjold, Dorothy Day, Reinhold Niebuhr, and so many others who can no longer be seen merely as like voices crying in the wilderness? It is our wilderness, and we must do all we can to protect and save...
I awoke and found it was a new year. Who new? Every day can and even should be a highlyday, miraculous to be-hold-- if we are open, attentive and attuned.
If I only open eyes to hear and ears to feel it, see the light shining as shadows, even thru my selfness, my inner divine heart unfurls wide as the universe; then all is well and all will be well in this agitated yet splendid world.
Happy high holy days, friends and foes alike! May you be joyous and well. Put down the entire project for a moment, take a breath, and awaken fresh and renewed.
I know now that there is no unequivocal good...
Loneliness is like the cancer of the modern world, to parse Mother Teresa. We are not alone. We are all interconnected, interdependent and interwoven -- inter-being, to use venerable Thich Nhat Han's felicitous phrase. We are all alone here together, with all beings, all things great and small, visible and invisible.
In my latest book, Make Me One With Everything, I share the following story which was relayed by a Tibetan Buddhist teacher, and illustrates to me the incredible value of inter-meditation in our fragmented, plugged in, tuned-out & cacophonous times.
After spending several days with His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai in Atlanta, a few years ago, this way of meditating on Him and with Him simply came to me and I eventually wrote it down. May it be beneficial!
CO-MEDITATING WITH THE DALAI LAMA
1) Think clearly of His Holiness the Dalai Lama (looking up to Him)
2) Visualize and image-in Him right before you & with you, eye-to-eye, heart to heart,
And/or look at His picture
3) Remember the splendid Guru-Lama (and his enlightened qualities)
As the Compassionate Buddha
and his pure, clear, warm and simply loving presence
4)...
I love summer here in buddhifull New England, with all its abundant greenery, outdoor sports, beaches and other getaways. Yet while I am trying my best to slow down the pace and enjoy the natural abundance surrounding me, I am also taking some time to reflect on the turbulence of our times. I’ve come to believe that good ole boy Winston Churchill wasn’t too far off when he said “Never let a good crisis go to waste.” We must seize this moment and Remember to Remember what’s important to our individual and collective hearts and minds, bodies and souls. Right now, during this pivotal learning...
As I travel on book tour around the country this month my meditation practice is challenging, but oh so necessary. I thought I’d share with you my metta practice. Metta (maitri) is the practice of loving-kindness meditation and friendliness taught by the Buddha approximately 2,600 years ago. It is an important component of the Buddhist wisdom teachings and their daily practice as applied in life. I have taken the basic sacred phrases from the Metta Sutra (Loving-kindness Scripture) and added many of my own over the years as they come up for me in my own prayer and chant life; you are welcome...
Tricycle Online Retreat featuring a weekly segment each Monday in June (1st, 8th, 15th, & 22nd) on Surya's new book"Make Me One with Everything". Learn the true meaning of Inter-Meditation: How to Co-Meditate with Everyone and Everything All the Time!For the full video please go to http://goo.gl/IJ1nrz
The Buddha taught us to really see how interconnected we are – humans, animals and the entire world around us. As you meander thru your day, having a cup of coffee, sharing a meal with your family or friends, or simply exercising, don't forget our brothers and sisters in Nepal. We can all make a difference, big or small.https://goo.gl/hBIk5rIf all you can give is as short prayer, it's still a way to interconnect and assist.
"What did the Dalai Lama say to the hot dog vendor?
'Make me one with everything.'
It's a joke---and a pretty good one---but there's more to it than that. Becoming one with everything by seeing through separateness and rigidity is the heart of what I call inter-meditation. Inter-meditation means meditating with---the practice and art of intimacy and union with whatever is, just as it is. It is the yoga of convergence, connection, co-meditation, and spontaneous oneness. It's a path we can take to overcome all our illusions of duality."
I call my new book Make Me One with Everything: Buddhist...
Easter is coming, the light is rising, and the weather here in snowy New England is starting to bring the real promise of spring. It’s the season of rebirth and fresh beginnings as the flowers are starting to break free and the song birds are coming back. Walking beneath the weeping willows around my pond, I feel the good earth growing up green and wild all around me, and rejoice in feeling part of it.
