Happy for No Reason: Young Elk at Play

How cool.

(Thanks, Bob!)

Back from Retreat

The productive gardens at Seven Oaks retreat center.

I’m just back from the IMCW week-long retreat at Seven Oaks.  Seven days of silent practice.  I’m a bit bleary, but inspired.  I was up at 5:45 to lead morning yoga and each day I was fully engaged.  Mornings were filled with back to back interviews and I did a dharma talk, led a metta meditation and afternoon yoga. I’d fall into bed each night pretty spent.

I’ll have links to the talks and possibly a number of my movement classes available in the near future.

We had 67 yogis for the weekend and 43 who stayed on for the whole week.  It takes a special kind of maniac to sit for a week of silent practice.  I have to say this was an inspiring collection of maniacs.

We had over 30 people turned away for this retreat so if you’re interested in the five-day New Year’s Retreat coming up at the end of December, you might want to register now.  We’ll have a repeat gathering of the teachers:  Tara Brach, Pat Coffey, Hugh Byrne and myself.

Doing Time, Doing Vipassana

If you haven’t seen the movie “Doing Time, Doing Vipassana,” it’s incredibly inspiring.  And it’s now on youtube in five parts.

For more on yoga and meditation in the prisons, this Wikipedia link has a lot of information.  If you’re interested in doing prison work here in the DC area, let me know and I can connect you with some very active and inspiring people.

First Fall Mornings

The first frost of the season arrived, quickly disappearing in the morning sunlight.  A few select morning shots for you:

From crystal to vapor.

Flushing a buck.

Dead on the job. I don't know about the resolution here, but you can see ice crystals on the bee's back.

Canadian Thistle in Transition

Morning. Glory.

One of My Homies: Father Thomas Keating

I had the opportunity to meet Father Thomas Keating at the Garrison Institute at a conference a few years ago on inter-disciplinary traditions where I was leading yoga and meditation and could take part in the sessions. He was teaching about “Contemplative Prayer.”

I loved his explanation of how he got started into this.  Someone asked if they could use a room to teach meditation in their church.  Attendance was so high he got alarmed and starting attending.  From his own practice he has managed to articulate what is essentially ‘mantra’ meditation into a format that has made it accessible for countless people.

He has a wonderful transmission.  When he taught at the conference it was clear he was giving a talk he’s given thousands of times, but he used that as a way to personally connect with each person through eye contact.  I was touched and inspired by his friendly and caring nature.

(Thanks, George!)

Happy for No Reason: Classical Music with Shining Eyes

A real treat.  Wait till you have about twenty minutes to enjoy. Benjamin Zander is a passionate, engaging speaker who transmits joy and possibility.

(Thanks, Sheila.)

Happy for No Reason: Home Alone

You never know what your dogs are up to when you’re away from home.

(Thanks, Sylvia!)

Testing the Fun Theory

Can we change behavior by encouraging fun?

Good Mornings

My morning ritual is pretty simple.  Roll out of bed, get dressed, use the bathroom, grab my camera and paraphernalia, roust the dogs and head out into the woods.  I’m either in pitch darkness or with some light from the moon.

The dogs are in full bliss state and it’s easy to tap into their alertness, joy and enthusiasm.

Whatever route I take through the woods and fields to the water, I’m almost always there to catch the sunrise.  My dear Uncle Dave, who taught creative writing most of his life, used to often gripe about how our language doesn’t reflect reality.

“It’s not sunrise,” he would often say, “It’s actually earthturn.”

So here are some choice Earth Turn photos from the past ten days:

Interview with Karen Armstrong

Here’s a link to an interview between Karen Armstrong and Tavis Smiley.  As Don, who passed this on to me, said in his email, “Interestingly, she makes many of the same points the Dalai Lama spoke of in the compassion portion of his teaching Saturday.”

Here is the link to the PBS interview (video).

By the way, Karen Armstrong’s book “Buddha,” blew me away.  Highly recommended.

(Thanks, Don!)