108 Days

Day 108!!!

We did it.

Our little experiment is over, my friends. If you learned anything, shrare it. I'll leave the blog here, hovering in cyberspace, for a month or two so people can wander in and read.

Thank you for your comments. I'll miss those of you who were regulars. I hope your practices go well. I appreciated knowing you were sitting, or trying to sit. I appreciated your frankness and fresh thinking.

I hope you all--we all--discover all the secrets to a strong daily practice. Listening to the news this week, I am more convinced than ever of the value of a few people chipping away at sanity while the rest of the world spins out of control. Every ounce counts.

Blessings for your health, your work, your wealth and your practice. Much love to you all. --Lekshe

The Small Road Forward

This was an interesting experiment. One of the most interesting things about it has been that it's more or less impossible to tell how many people are reading, lurking and sitting. There are comments, like little crumb trails to prove that some people do come in from time to time, but like our sitting, mostly one has to come here to poste, day after day, as a kind of act of faith.

I have appreicated the challenge.

Not that long

It's not that long until we reach the 108th day. Good time to join in, if you've not been sitting. If you have, good time to appreciate your own effort. There are only two more days.. we're done on April 18th!

Gone!!!

It went from pouring rain to bright spring sun overnight. Perfect example of impermanance...

And all the raindrops different, here and gone. And no flower "existing" between seed and dead, and all the shades of red in between.

Great way to start the day.

Hard to Do

Someone recently told me it was hard to sit, because sitting was causing them anxiety. I have been pondering this. I think this happens sometimes--that anxiety arises when we are meditating. But I think it's good not to assume it's causal. Which is also not to imply that it's not, because of course, it could be!

I used to say that from time to time, I knew when I was sitting in the center of what I should be doing, because all heck would break loose. I think the view was helpful, because it gave me reason and inspiration to continue.. but I am never sure I thought it was true.

You have thoughts on this?

Midnight Sits

Sometimes it happens like this, right? Midnight and it's time to sit. You get up early tomorrow, OK? :)

True

You can't have it all. Where would you put it?

--Mark Twain

Not sure why, but I loved that.

14 Days On the Road...More or Less

Raddisson, Marriott, Comfort Inn. Lowes Canyon Resort. One room after another and in the end, I realize that they all have one thing in common--from the $150 low-ender to the $500 a night resport room--a carpeted floor upon which to sit; a bed-pillow to help me get into a straighter position. I appreciate that. Kind of simple and predictable. Luxury, everwhere.

Hello from Escondito, and Sacramento, and Phoenix and then home to teach in Portland. Then, finally, a day off. Woo-hoooo. Sleep in and THEN sit :)

Sleeping

Would you trade sleep for sitting today? Why or why not? I sometimes do, and if you asked me why, I am not sure I could tell you without really feeling my reasoning was just OK -- not really a well-founded piece of thinking.

Like all sitting decisions, I make this on a case-by-case determination. I used to have rules... but not for some years now.

April 6th

Staying the course.

Can we do it? Can we commit something to ourselves or others and stay the course? It's hard sometimes. The intention is there, and then lost. And then, sometimes, life drives us back to the cushion with inspiration. It can be joy or pain or the sheer force of remembering that nothing else so far has worked any better than this.