It’s a beautiful day!  Namaste!  First thing every morning, I take some time to commune with  nature.  I see the Tibetan prayer flags blowing in the wind.  They are beginning to fade and to fray around the edges.  All is good!  They are sending out prayers of elemental balance to all that exists.  According to some Tibetan practices, the elemental colors are:  blue for space, white for air, red for fire, green for water, yellow for earth.  Today all flags are dancing in the wind.

I lift my eyes to the open sky that is the space element.  I look deeply into the vastness.  With my breath going in and out, in and out, I soon close my eyes.  On the in breath, I fill with the spaciousness and with the out breath, I allow myself to sink deeper and deeper into this blue space.  It is so big and I affirm, that is me.

I feel the wind on my face and take another deep purifying breath.  This air runs through us all, as well as sweetly caressing our bodies — reminding us to breath.  Thinking of white, I close my eyes and feel the breath going into my whole body and on the out breath, releasing any blockages.  The air carries energy through all things.  Yes, and when I am conscious of every breath, this air element shows me there is no separateness from the air element, either!  It's all the same!  It’s in me and surrounding me.

The Earth is now warming up with the sun.  The sun is of the fire element.  I bow to the direction of the sun in the eastern sky.  I acknowledge fire as an intricate part of life’s energy.  When I feel the sun upon my body and realize, too, this fire energy is within me.  Physically, the fire element heats our bodies to the right temperature for all its processes.  Metaphysically, fire ignites our passions in the direction of love and compassion.  I feel this fire element within me and I see it everywhere in nature.  I am fire!

Looking to the river, I am aware that it connects to all the waters of the planet.  This water element makes up a great deal of our body fluids, too!  It courses through our veins, all our cells are surrounded by sacred water.  Mindfully, I breathe while watching the river gently flow to the ocean.  That makes me think of my blood flowing about my body.  Again, on the out breaths, I remind myself to merge the water within me to the waters of the earth.  We are one!

I look to the mountain ridges that start out low and keep getting higher until I see the peaks of Wai‘aleale (on some days) at the center of the island.  This point is the first volcanic beginnings of Kauai.  While imagining the yellow color, I spread my toes and sink further into the earth.  I do warrior poses and feel so strong.  Thank you, Earth!  Physically, our bones are of the earth; and, metaphysically, we can ground ourselves with the earth for stability in at least every other moment.  I am like the tree!  Feet sinking deeply in the earth and raising my arms up into the sky consciousness. 


                      
                       Namaste to the five elements!
                                     I am smiling!


                                  A haiku for you:
                   
                               those five elements
                       o' space air fire water earth
                               make love endlessly
              
                 Thank you!  Thank you!  Thank you!
 Sometimes, imaginative thoughts lead to realizations!

 

       "Remember to look up to the stars ......

Be curious."

 

                       Stephen Hawking (1942-2018)

Namaste to All ...        

 I am so thankful to have had Stephen Hawking's energy touch my family.  His mind-bending insight into the workings of the Universe deeply captivated my two sons when they were at the age of looking more deeply into themselves and life.  (Does that ever end?)   Stephen Hawking's book A Brief History of Time opened doors of new thought giving more explanation to our existence.

After a visit to CalTech to hear a Hawking lecture, my sons were hooked even more.  They watched this man in action talking of the cosmos in seriousness tinged with his ever-present humor.  At this time, my youngest was majoring in physics in high school.  Eventually, when his creativeness took over, he shifted to writing and drawing.  He became a Berkeley grad with a degree in English never letting go of his keen interest in astronomy and science fiction.

And with my eldest son, Hawking's vast perceptions fanned his interest in mind experience leading him to philosophy and then on to neuroscience.   He possesses a drive not to give up on his other artistic interests.  I do believe Stephen Hawking's determination and expansive views were very influential in both their lives. 

For me, as a lazy Buddhist practitioner (a term I've heard the Dalai Lama use for himself), deep science and spirituality had found a meeting place in my studies.  Both look at life elements very closely, watching the energy, seeing the movement, the impermanence, the sameness of all life, and the intuitive control our minds have over molecules in regard to healing and making change.  For me, this knowing is joyful. 

Hawking looked so deeply and far into space, I do believe that pathway lead him full circle to within.   He intrinsically held a great love for life and it is said that he lived life to the fullest with humor.  He felt "life would be tragic if it weren't so funny."  


Stephen Hawking never said he was a Buddhist.  I believe he didn't need that label.  He obviously had no attachments to his physical form and flowed through his life.  I liked what he says here stating his dislike for aggression which is one of the three poisons that Buddhism talks of:  

       "The human failing I would most like to correct is   
       aggression. It may have had survival advantage in   
       caveman days, to get more food, territory or partner
      with whom to reproduce, but now it threatens to destroy
      us all.” Likewise, he said about empathy that it’s the 
      quality he “would most like to magnify .... It brings us 
      together in a peaceful, loving state.”

Stephen Hawking's energy will always be here.  Blessings to this remarkable human being on his new adventure.  I would like to dedicate a poem to him ... 

 creative insight
aha! prismatic cosmos
reflections of me

to be fully expressed
dancing with life and love
in the rainbow mist

a colorful gathering
and melding of all that is
I am here and now 

Thank you for being on the pathway
of awareness!

  



 

                                  Namaste to all of you! 

I awoke early this morning with an old song going through my head.  Written in the mid-sixties by Stephen Stills, you may remember the one called "For What it's Worth."  It's a great song.  Please take a couple of minutes to listen and read the lyrics.
  

Fortunately, the young adults of today are still trying to understand and make since of the dualities of life.  And when their voices are heard, they help to make change.


Today I am writing this post to honor all the victims of the Parkland, Florida shooting -- the ones who lost their lives as well as the ones who were wounded physically and mentally. I am bowing to all the young people of Florida who are speaking their minds and sending out a ripple of awareness all over the country saying we are fed up and something isn't right with this gun situation.   I am bowing to all of them around the country for being brave.  I say right now, "Power to the young people!" for wanting change.

I am reminded of the book Shambala: The Sacred Path of the Warrior written by Chogyam Trungpa,  another Tibetan Buddhist teacher.   Looking at the duality that is relative in our everyday life (for example ... night/day, love/hate, cold/hot, guns/no guns) he tells us that we need to be fearful, tender of heart, or sad to enable one to "open up, without resistance or shyness, and face the world."  The fear  transforms into fearlessness.  

In watching and listening to the high schoolers that are facing the world and speaking out, it looks like their fear transformed them into fearless "spiritual warriors."   Chogyam Trungpa says:

“Warrior-ship here does not refer to making war on others. Aggression is the source of our problems, not the solution. Here the word “warrior” is taken from the Tibetan “pawo,” which literally means, “one who is brave.” ... "And now here is my secret, a very simple secret: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly, what is essential is invisible to the eye."

I am glad that these activists are out there carrying signs, going to D.C., speaking to political officials -- letting it be known that things are not acceptable.  We need this and I believe we should do all we can to empower this mission of calling for change.  

Some think that simple prayers, thoughts and meditations may not help in the big picture.  But that is not true when you have a inkling of the cosmic energy that runs throughout the whole universe -- through all of us including our actions, thoughts and words.   If you are of the right mind and practice with compassion, it can help to raise the consciousness of all. 

I go along with the thoughts of the Dalai Lama that world peace starts within.  And Gandhi's words:  Be the change you want to see.  And then there is Thich Nhat Hanh suggesting that each step must be peaceful in obtaining peace.   These three spiritual leaders are known to be activists for peace, equal rights and freedom.

           So I tell myself:  Don't talk about it.  Be about it!

Our hearts have been wounded again and we are open and vulnerable.  Is it time to recognize yourself as a spiritual warrior?  I am looking toward more active efforts leading to higher consciousness for all and raising the vibe of the planet.  Meanwhile, I will continue to be the best person I can be and do Tonglen meditation as I have talked about in the preceding post -- the meditation is something I can always do.  

At this time, I'm making a request to all of you concerned ones and spiritual warriors to keep your peaceful ways going  and to continue seeking change through rational and compassionate actions in service of a higher goal.  

                          Thank you to all the fearless ones 
                for being here on the pathway to awareness! 
                                        

 

                      Namaste!  I am bowing to everyone!  

I have been talking about and practicing Tonglen meditation for a couple of years.  With all of the tension in the world, I am now making an effort to introduce Tonglen to my friends and family.  Developed by Tibetan Buddhists, this meditation with its unique breathing technique, offers us a chance to feel more helpful in situations.

It has helped me get through lots of physical pain as well as the anxiety caused by illness and now it is helping with the frustration of  dealing with environmental, political and social issues.  It is a different technique in that you take in negative energy and send out positive energy.

With all the information that is out there, you will be able to create a Tonglen practice that works for you.  My aim, here on this page, is to give you a glimpse into this meditation with the assistance of Pema Chodron, a Tibetan Buddhist nun, who has a very real and relaxed manner in teaching.  


Pema says: 

           "Tonglen practice, also known as “taking and 
           sending,” reverses our usual logic of avoiding     
           suffering and seeking pleasure. In tonglen 
           practice, we visualize taking in the pain of others 
          with every in-breath and sending out whatever 
          will benefit them on the out-breath. In the process, 
          we become liberated from age-old patterns of   
          selfishness. We begin to feel love for both ourselves 
          and others; we begin to take care of ourselves and  
          others."


The drawing below shows you the process -- breathing in the negative dark energy which could be an emotion or happening and then breathing out the energy of a desired positive outcome.

This is how I use it.  I will breathe in my unsettling and  anxious feeling.  I look internally to how this anxiousness feels.  And then I will breathe out peace, calmness, serenity.  Next I will do this same process for someone that I know is experiencing the similar feelings.  I will breathe in her anxious feelings with empathy and breathe out calmness. Lastly, I will move on to all those in the whole world who are feeling anxious.  I will breathe in that anxious feeling and then I will exhale with the thought of peace for all.  I spend some time with each area of this meditation.

Now a short video featuring Pema giving us more information and some more clarity.  Remember there are different styles of tonglen.  I suggest you do some research ...

I find this is a meditation that works for me.  You can use it with anger, pain, any negative emotion.  It is engaging my practice to help myself and to help others.  When you start with yourself, it enables you to feel what others are feeling.  A really easy one is to just breathe in fear and breathe out love starting with yourself, then someone else, and ending with the whole planet.  Another one is breathing in ignorance and breathing out wisdom.  It really does ease up the uncomfortable feelings of not being able to do something.
                             


                             Thank you for being here
                                    on the pathway!  

 


 

                          Namaste! I am bowing to you! 

We all love walking!   We love how we can move around freely and easily.  Through a physical situation, I lost that freedom for a couple of years.  That experience served me in fine tuning my awareness of the gift of movement.  My gratitude for walking has increased to the umpteenth degree!  I am still rehabbing and I make a big deal out of mindful walking.  It is such a wonderful experience to pay attention to the miraculous symphony of motion in every step!

        I wrote the following essay.  I hope you will enjoy it!

                      Walking Walking Mindful Walking
 
It’s a beautiful breezy day.  I  am with a new friend who has become one of my favorite walking partners.  Her name is Milly.  She is strong, dependable, and inspiring.  During this time of finding more  physical strength and balance, she has taught me so much about being aware of my body and all its movement during our walks.  I believe her to be a walking master.  I am so grateful that she is always ready for a workout and have come to deeply appreciate all the insights I receive while in her presence!
    
Before beginning the walk routine, I stand still with my feet at hip width apart.  Balancing on my feet, I soften my knees a bit and sink  into the energy of grounding.  I become aware of my breath.  Of course, we are dependent upon breath for oxygenating all our cells, but I recognize its more subtle function — paying attention to its flow, opens the doorway to mindfulness of our bodies and its movement. While watching my breath, I  breathe slowly and deeply — in and out, in and out.  Following my breath, I watch it travel throughout my body opening the connection and calling me to look deeply into my upper body — the neck, shoulders, lung, heart before continuing on to scan through my hips to upper legs, knees and feet.  I look for any sensitive areas to be aware of during this walking practice to avoid injury to my healing body.
      
Besides conscious breathing, my walking practice involves another traditional zen element.  Now forming my hands into the Shashu mudra, I first bring the thumb and index finger of right hand together forming a ring.  This finger gesture also offers grounding.  I place the left hand over the right hand letting the thumb lightly hook into the ring of the right hand.  Keeping my gestured hands very relaxed, I move them over my solar plexus just below the ribcage.   

Honoring the walking experience, I bow to Milly.  So it is with this conscious breathing and pose, Milly calls on me to start.  With my eyes cast down and looking about six feet ahead, we begin with an ever-so-slow stride.  The slowness allows me to create a rhythm and be more conscious of the movements of walking — I am lifting—moving—connecting—lifting— moving—connecting, over and over again.  I take deep and slow breaths and feel my hips shift back and forth with each alternate step.  

I remember to look more deeply into the movement with my inner eye to see into the region of the feet and their more distinct actions as they first touch with the heel, gliding onto the ball, and finally onto my toes of the forward foot.  As I push off with these toes, my other foot is starting with the heel, then ball, and onto the toes.  After keeping my sight there for some moments, I move on to watch my knee. I feel the spacious movement of these joints — the rotating, lifting and stepping out and then alternating to the other.  Traveling up my legs to my hips joints, I smile at the gentle swing of my hips so thankful to my body for this miraculous and synchronistic action of walking.  Hearing the words “walk like a mountain” run through me.  I breathe, straighten my back and lift my diaphragm.
    
Confident of my balance, I know I’m ready to increase my speed slightly, I move out of the hand mudra.  Now my arms are swinging freely keeping in time with the alternate leg.   As I move faster, I don’t forget to pay attention to the movement of all the joints and their part in the walking movements.  Back to the simple thought of lifting, moving, connecting with every step.  And still conscious of the gentle shift of the hips, I watch the appropriate leg and foot action.   Is my left foot coming down at the right angle?  Am I moving with my hips in proper alignment over the appropriate leg?  I am breathing?  So much to be mindful of! 
    
After 30 minutes of walking, I feel it is time to slow it down — I bring my hands back into the walking mudra and I am able to slow my breath and watch it gently travel down my down through my legs looking for irregular feelings.  All is good!  And I concentrate for a bit more on the whole action of stepping out slowly with lifting, moving, connecting and then I again take a deeper look into that action — heel, ball, toes — again and again until I am finished.   I feel flushed, sweaty and good.  I smile and bow once again to Milly and thank her for being here for me. 

Well, now back to real life.  I find the spray bottle and cloth to respectfully wipe down this wonderful machine.  Yes, let the truth be known.  Milly Milly the Treadmill!  Yes, Milly is my name for this constant, no non-sense walking companion. 
    
And dear Milly can be found everyday on the second floor of Makana Training Center on the island of Kauai.  I have grown to really appreciate this machine.  I can just walk with one step at a time and not worry about any obstacles on the pathway.  With Milly’s help, at this point in my workout, I have created a 35 minute walking program that guides me through different paces that are enabling me to walk with more strength, balance and determination.  I call our time together “walking without walking.”  Thank you!

             Namaste to you on this beautiful day!

Thanks to Vayu Romdoni for his Rainbow Monkey

Speaking of monkey minds, that constant chatter within our heads that takes us away from the present moment, is something I've been working on these days.  The realization is ... I allow my ego to disguise the chatter in playful and creative ways to make it acceptable to my practice. This ego tactic is fascinating and I'm trying to understand its part in my life. This will take some contemplation for I like to be present in the moment and to have fun playing with life. 

So I ask myself, "Do you, iris, take yourself away from the moment with too many playful imaginings?"
Probably!  I wrote this haiku in an insightful moment:



                                   rainbow monkey mind
                                    disguises the illusion
                                huh! mindful breath calls




I wonder ... I wonder ... I wonder if I am making any sense trying to figure out the monkey mind and its connection to ego.  Here's another take ... an author I have read, Devashish, puts it this way:  "the chameleon-like ego that holds us in thrall with its false sense of self" is ever present. 

The Buddha contemplated the chaotic mental state and called it "kapicitta." And he explained, "Just as a monkey swinging through the trees grabs one branch and lets it go only to seize another so too, that which is called thought, mind or consciousness arises and disappears continually both day and night."

You may be contemplating these same things. I thank you for being here ... And please, if you have any insight on this, let me know!  Blessings!

       

 

 
                           

Namaste ... I am bowing to you and to all that exists!  It has been an intense time especially the last 24 hours.  "There must be some dislocation of the yin and yang," I say in agreement with the words of Chuang Tsu, the Taoist philosopher.  

Chuang Tsu, China 369-288 bce

The "Okay, enough of the lamenting!" time finally came and in an effort to find the balance and smile, I first looked to nature.  I saw the beautiful blue sky, the gentle river, the mountains extending down to me, and I felt the gentle breeze and the powerful sun warming me.  I breathed it all in consciously attempting to merge the external elements with the internal elements that are us.  My mood lightened as I was brought into the beauty of the moment.  I did sigh with some relief as I was feeling better.  Why not let the fear go and "be here now" as our old friend Ram Dass has taught?

Ram Dass, American 1931- ;-)

Still working on being fearless and strong through these challenging times where others are not of the same thought, I call on all that I have learned.  I close my eyes and follow my breath.  Dissolving into the peaceful feeling, I see that life moves on with its ups and downs.  I ask myself now, do I want to be fearful and angry or do I want to be flowing and happy? 

Happy, of course!  Happiness for me is following the gentle way of love, kindness and compassion.   In the moments I don't  remember this, the peace can escape me.  What to do now? as I asked myself this morning.  Okay, iris, listen to the wise ones and their philosophies of unity and world peace:   breathe, meditate, go into nature, and do all the things you have learned over the years of spiritual study. 

And that it how it goes.  Before long I am back on the pathway, feeling closer to the right mind and heart.  It is a never ending practice, obviously.



          Here is Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh also known as Osho.

Osho, India 1931-1990

I was reading some of his work today and I would like to share his words.  They help!

“Sadness gives depth. Happiness gives height.  Sadness gives roots. Happiness gives branches. Happiness is like a tree going into the sky, and sadness is like the roots going down into the womb of the earth. Both are needed, and the higher a tree goes, the deeper it goes, simultaneously. The bigger the tree, the bigger will be its roots. In fact, it is always in proportion. That's its balance.”

                Thank you for being on this 
             ever-changing pathway with me!
          Try to remain diligent in your practice.
          I keep remembering that world peace 
           comes from within.  Perhaps, our own
            inner peace will become contagious! 
                            
 

            Namaste ... It is Thich Nhat Hanh's birthday today!

Let's join this group in walking meditation!

I am very happy that Thich Nhat Hanh teachings have crossed my pathway.  So on this day of his birthday, October 11, I am allowing my devotion to him to bring me out of my self-imposed healing cocoon.   I wanted to share this quote which is a wonderful explanation of our beginnings and dependent arising:

“Sometimes people ask you: "When is your birthday?" But you might ask yourself a more interesting question: "Before that day which is called my birthday, where was I?"

Ask a cloud: "What is your date of birth? Before you were born, where were you?"

If you ask the cloud, "How old are you? Can you give me your date of birth?" you can listen deeply and you may hear a reply. You can imagine the cloud being born. Before being born it was the water on the ocean's surface. Or it was in the river and then it became vapor. It was also the sun because the sun makes the vapor. The wind is there too, helping the water to become a cloud. The cloud does not come from nothing; there has been only a change in form. It is not a birth of something out of nothing.

Sooner or later, the cloud will change into rain or snow or ice. If you look deeply into the rain, you can see the cloud. The cloud is not lost; it is transformed into rain, and the rain is transformed into grass and the grass into cows and then to milk and then into the ice cream you eat. Today if you eat an ice cream, give yourself time to look at the ice cream and say: "Hello, cloud! I recognize you.”

 

                   Namaste to You

 

Namaste to All ... Today this page is honoring and reminding me (and maybe you) of the words of our Vietnamese Buddhist teacher, Thich Nhat Hanh.  He brought to us the saying "no mud, no lotus" as a metaphor for the ups and downs of life.
  

Here are some examples of "the mud" of it.  For me, it has been a long time of physical illness with treatments, surgeries, and rehab.  Perhaps, you are going through the difficulty of breaking a particular habituation or having a hard time with starting a new project or have an uneasiness with a job or relationship or dealing with an unusual happening in your life.  All of these challenging situations whether small or large that life brings us are symbolized by the mud. 

Instead of folding up and being angry, frustrated or sad, we can work through the mud.  It gives us an opportunity to make choices, to do some inner and outer work, to make changes in our life, to grow, to blossom, to gain wisdom in mind and spirit.

We can be led to another place of being.  This place is "the lotus" of it.  The lotus flower is a symbol of wisdom or  awareness or rebirth or awakening --- whatever you want to call that "aha" moment where you start to see with a new perception. 

We can keep striving for the uplifted place during that time of frolicking in the mud.  Thich Nhat Hanh tells us without these muddy and not-so-much-fun events of life, there is no chance for the lotus to bloom for this flower grows only in mud.

Thich Nhat Hanh mediatating on the Lotus!

This beloved teacher has his own challenges.  Last November he had a stroke so it had been almost a year of physical and speech therapy.  He has started taking some steps and most recently he has spoken a few words.  His teachings continue as he voiced these words several times:

                                          In out in out in out 
                                          Happy happy happy
                                Thank you thank you thank you


   Here we have the basis of the Thich Nhat Hanh teachings:                       
              Conscious breathing, attitude and gratefulness!

     Thank you to Thich Nhat Hanh for his dedicated 

      teachings and thank you for joining all of us on 
the pathway to awareness!