♦ MINDFULNESS Meditation with Buddhist Insight, Changes Our Whole Relationship to "Reality" Itself

♦ A Therapy for Maverick Minds - offers compassionate relief thru "Mindfulness" as an alternative • One-to-one Individual Counseling for Non-Ordinary Gifted people • Rebels, Artists, Activists, Atheists, Intuitives, Fugitives, Creatives • smart, savvy, cerebral, verbal, quiet, funny, sincere people --yet so Unhappy • Difficult to Communicate Feelings • Stress Wounded Spirit • "Mindfulness" cultivates a cure-able, stable, calm, kind, kewl, loving, fearless, insightful Big Good-Hearted Mind

GRATITUDE

GRATITUDE ~

It has been a few days since I sent my last gratitude list - but that is not because I don't have much to be grateful for. The outpouring of assistance from friends and those who simply saw the post about my mom last week and have sent support and offers of care is overwhelming. Mom is doing pretty well too.
I have been spending the last several days navigating various ways to help my mother with the assistance of many others. It has been heartwarming (though time consuming).
Before I leave on retreat tomorrow, I wanted to leave a gratitude list. My mom and dad are in good hands and Bill and the girls will be around. Mom's friend returned to L.A. and is visiting daily.

GRATITUDE: For the community in which I find myself

that has taken me in with open arms;

For an outpouring of support and love and care and very real practical assistance;
For my parents;
For my children and my husband;
For remembering to practice self compassion;
For the reminder that whatever I am feeling, I may hold that too with kindness;
For my sisters in the Dharma and my Nefesh community at the synagogue - your warmth cracks open my heart;
For the wisdom that comes with remembering to breath;
For beautiful Southern California weather;
For delightful relatives visiting from Germany and reminding us of the love around the world;
For the integration of all my spheres of existence;
For loving kindness.

I will be on retreat from tomorrow late morning through Thursday evening next week. So I won't be on line or have my phone accessible. I will see you and hear from you on the other side. Until then, keep breathing and remembering you too are not alone.
~ Leslie 5/16
_______________________

Do You have a gratitude list ?

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WHAT is THERAPY ? Two People Sit Down and Empathicaly Work On One of Them ---Together

It is all about
EXPLOR--
ATION
------------
"We shall not cease
from exploration
And the end of
all our exploring
will be to arrive
where we started
And know the place
for the very first time" ~ TS. Eliot 1927
-----------------

♦ MINDFULNESS
INSIGHT PRACTICE
Theravada Buddhist
Satipatthana Insight
Meditation Tradition
-------------------------------
Beginner's Instruction
Guided Meditations to
AWAKEN AWARENESS
♦ Mentored Dharma Study
- with a Senior Practitioner
-------------------------------

Cultivating
The Forgiving-mind

“Sure,
FORGIVENESS Hurts”
often RAW --Yet here's
Wise Forgiving Words
of Skillful Caring Words
reflecting The Dharma
-------------
Towards
FORGIVING the
Unconscious in "Him"
or "Her" or "Them"
or several Others,
or All of Humanity
_________________

"NON-ATTACHMENT"
The BUDDHIST IDEAL
Absence of 'Attachment'
is NOT necessarily
in any way whatsoever --
the absence of a profound,
profound Loving."
________________
Bhante Ananda Maitreya
Sri Lanka Sangha Nyake
__________________

" WHY ARE You
SO UNHAPPY ? "
...........................
Because 99.9 per cent
of Everything you think,
and of Everything you do,
is for yourSelf –-
and There Isn't One"

~ Wei Wu Wei ~
-------------------------

"FORGIVING ALL
OUR FATHERS" --
Buddha was No Patriarch
He was an Early Feminist
------------------------------

MINDFULNESS
is ” Mind-FULLY "
Living Your Mind
Fully Present --
in The Present
------------------

"FORGIVING
OUR FATHERS --
Who Didn't Forgive
His Father - Because
He Didn't Forgive
His Father - And
Who Didn't Forgive
His Father...
-------------------------

But- Did WE Have
'GOOD ENOUGH
FATHERING' ? ? ?
--------------------------

We've ALL had to have
biological Fathers, or
else we just wouldn't
be here: Question Is ?
Did we actually have
ONLY GOOD ENOUGH
PARENTING
FATHERING ?
-------------------------------------
ONLY JUST 'WHAT IS' --
GOOD ENOUGH - Accept
---------------------------------
ONLY"GOOD ENOUGH
FATHERING" --
"GOOD ENOUGH
MOTHERING" --
"GOOD ENOUGH
FAMILIES" --
"GOOD ENOUGH
MEDITATIONS ?"
"GOOD ENOUGH
ANYTHING"? --
But Not Great

Actually, 'Good Enough'
Can Be a Better Bet than
PERFECT -- Voltaire said:
"Do Not Make Perfection
the Enemy of The Good".
-------------------------------

How's About
JUST "GOOD ENOUGH
MEDITATIONS" - they
can be easy going, so give
u Judging-mind a break...

Silent Meditation offers
the very necessary deeper
"immersion-time
experiences" so often
missing in shorter
daily meditations..

You gradually build-in
a Consistent, Ongoing
"Working-Relationship"
with meditation practice
itself- becoming Friends

So you can strengthen,
cultivate and stabilize
an aware, sweet, street
wise, Dharma-informed
intellect, a peaceful
body-stillness, and
a compassionate,
calm equilibrium and
emotional renewal,
in a supportive space --

To continually Re-awaken
Yourself to being present:
"Present in THIS moment"
Be Silent - Allow a gentle
Inner Sanctuary of simple
sustained mindfulness
and deeper inner-inquiry.
-----------------------------------
Good Enough Forgiveness
Meditations CAN work for
us, our Fathers, our Family,
Mates can be Numberless -
with Self Compassion for
One's Self given necessary
Attentive support FIRST
-- For many of us this could
be the first, SANE, positive
beginning, and as ongoing
deep inner work - to give
ourselves adequate time
to practice Forgiveness
techniques on our own
at home....
-------------------
INSTRUCTION
( Start with 3 short sitting
of 5 min. - then go to a sit

of 15 min after short ones.
--then increase meditation
over time to 25 minutes.

Do 30 minutes for a Year !

Find a Basic Happiness

in Peace and Quiet )
---------------------------
Using Gentle Observation
approaches learned here,
will lead us confidently to
any Present Moment is

a Mindfulness Big Day,
whether or not we make
the trip Home -- actually
or just in memory.
----------------------

FORGIVENESS
has been around...
FORGIVENESS
is aged, sagely
and wise.

"Forgiveness is giving up
all hope for a better past.
There is no future
without forgiveness."
~ Desmond Tutu
-----------------------
"Forgiveness is Possible –
How we can start using
this timeless Forgiveness
practice to transform
emotional wounds into
an authentic healing,
a way out of our pain.
-----------------------------
As Compassion arises
More Naturally, we see
how Forgiveness can
be practiced as a 'Gift'
we give -not only to others,
but ultimately to ourselves.
-------------------------------
Forgiveness has the
Awesome Power to
ripen forces of purity
such as Love.
-----------------------
Forgiveness creates the
space for a Life-Renewal,
--- a life now free from
bondage to the past.
--------------------------
Forgiveness dissolves
separation, relieves us
of the twin burdens of
lacerating guilt and
perpetually unresolved
outrage or numbing...

It is not so easy to access
that hurt-place inside of us
that can truly forgive,
that can love again.

Remember, it is much
more difficult to forgive,
than NOT to forgive !

We are held prisoner
by the 'resentment',
the pain, the shame,
the anger, confusion,
doubt, overwhelming
sense of betrayal --
our present life just
cannot be fully lived.

Unwelcome Inheritances
we carry in from the past--
functions to close my heart
thereby narrows my world.
Yet 'Forgiveness' does not
mean condoning a harmful
action, or denying an
injustice done.

Forgiveness should never
be confused with being
passive toward violation
or abuse.
-----------------------------
"The CORE-intention
of true 'Forgiveness’
arises directly out of
the Greatest of Practices -
Compassion for Ourselves
– so that we can create
the spacious, wide open ,
contributing conditions
for an unobstructed love."
~ JackKornfield / Akasa Levi
---------------------------------

Forgive
and be free.
Forget that
you have forgiven --
and be even freer !

~ The Buddha
----------------------

A cultivatable ‘capacity’
for Forgiveness needs
to be available in order
for us to truly Love.
And there's certainly
an endless abundance
of authentic every-day
‘Practice Opportunities’
when ‘working’ on real
Forgiveness that Forgives
----------------------------------

"A Change of Heart
Changes Everything"

~Lucado
-----------------------

Tightly Holding

onto Resentment is

letting someone else
punish us.

-----------------------------

The “Act of Forgiveness”
is an act of
mercy to yourself !"

-------------------------

METTA ~
Metta Bhavana
The Relationship
Your Heart Longs For...
Already Exists within You !

---------------------

In the Stillness –
SPACE
for a rebellious spirit.
~ Noah Levine

---------------------------

Why are you so Unhappy ?
Because 99.9 per cent
of everything you think,
and of everything you do,
is for yourSelf –
and there isn't one.
~ Wei Wu Wei ~
----------------------

" Buddhist practice literally
has 'Nothing' to offer you –
other than WHAT IS HERE
in THIS very moment.
That’s all. 'Accompli'
God(s), Goddesses,
religion, entities
and the ego-self
can certainly
attract you with so,
so, so much more! "

~ Henri Van Zeyst
------------------------
----------------------

Remember ~
Whatever 'IT' is –
IT's just a “Thought”

-----------------------

Love exists only
in the True Friendship
Love is True Friendship
set on Fire !
~ Jeremy Taylor - 1657 ~
------------------------------

Wisdom-Dharma guides us
in the practical necessity
of creating our uniquely,
clearly spoken relationship
'The Language of Kindness
and Skillful Actions' arising
from a Compassionate ---
and yet - a Complete-view
of 'What Is' --and How to
do this in a warm, natural,
flexible yet uncontrived,
uncompromised way?
---------------------------

The Way You Do
One Thing --
is more than likely
The Way You Do
Everything !
------------------
How do we DO a Thing ?
"Do" Relationship in Life ?
-- with a Satisfied feeling of
Good integrity, while at the
same time do a Buddhist
Practice of cultivating an
Awakened Non-Attachment
---------------------------------

"NON-ATTACHMENT"
The BUDDHIST IDEAL
Absence of 'Attachment'
is NOT necessarily at all --
in any way whatsoever the

the absence of a profound,
profound Loving."

Bhante Ananda Maitreya
The Balangoda Sri Lanka
~----------------------------

"Mind-FULLY"
Mindfulness Meditation
is coming soon to a
Ready Mind near you !
------------------------------

The Most common
Attachment-Mistake
in creating one's own
personal suffering
is to take the
Impermanent
for Permanent."

~ Buddha
-------------------

Did I Know Yet,
At Any Time ---
That IT is ALL
Just a Made Up 'Story'
--- Made Up ---
in Someone's Herd
Just Like My Father
Told Me It Was --
When I was Seven 7.
--------------------------

Rilke's -- "LOVE THE QUESTIONS INSTEAD--. Dicken's "BEST of TIMES, WORST of TIMES"

♦ " Be Patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart.
Try to love the 'Questions' Themselves like locked rooms and like books that are written in a foreign language. Do not, just right now, seek for the Answers.

The 'Answers' which cannot now be given to you - because you would not be able to actually ‘Live’ them.

And the point is to ‘Live’ everything - experiencing everything.

At present, you need to Live the Questions Themselves. Perhaps you will then gradually, without even noticing it, live along some day into the True Answer."....
( Your Own Answer )

Rainer Maria Rilke's
"Letters To a Young Poet"
~ Paris 1908

---------------------------

These Alarming UNCERTAIN TIMES---------------------------------Charles Dickens wrote in 1859 ~ "We Live in The Most Alarming of UNCERTAIN TIMES"------------------------------MINDFULNESS CANHAVE YOUR BACK-------------------------- • It Was The Best of Times It Was The Worst of Times • It Was The Age of Wisdom It Was The Age of Foolishness• It Was The Epoch of Belief It Was The Epoch of Incredulity • It Was The Season of Light It Was The Season of Darkness• It Was The Spring of Hope It Was The Winter of Despair,• We Had Everything Before Us We Had Nothing Before Us• We Were All Going Direct To HeavenWe Were All Going Direct The Other Way • In Short, That Period Was Just LikeThe Present Period. ------------------------------Sir Charles DickensA Tale of Two Cities a British novel (1859)----------------------------

The Gift of Wiise Words - PONDER - CONTEMPLATE - QUESTION

GRATITUDE