Sunday, May 17, 2020
No judgement This is an ongoing series running through May to compliment the twice weekly meditation sessions that I will be hosting on YouTube (and are now archived on my YouTube page). If you have any questions, please contact me. Whatever the object of meditation, for example the breath, on trying to focus on that object you will find yourself distracted by your mind. Sometimes more distractions than other, but still you will be distracted.
In response to requests, HH the Dalai Lama is giving teachings today & tomorrow from his residence in Dharamsala, India. The teachings are based Nagarjuna’s “Precious Garland”. His Holiness will also be offering advice for these times. Today’s talk can be viewed here.
It’s Saturday! Where’s the week gone?
Dusk.
I find it interesting how my mood for different music changes sometimes for reasons that I cannot fathom. In the last twenty four hours I have been listening to Pink Floyd. It’s not that I have ever gone off their music, just that I have not listened to it for a long time.
Saturday, May 16, 2020
Community This is an ongoing series running through May to compliment the twice weekly meditation sessions that I will be hosting on YouTube (and are now archived on my YouTube page). If you have any questions, please contact me. Meditation can be a lonely practice. It is just me sitting with myself. I am choosing to show up and sit with my mind, regardless of how my mind feels. Sometimes I am keen to get to the meditation cushion, sometimes I experience real resistance.
Friday, May 15, 2020
As a compliment to the live meditation sessions that I am running through May on YouTube and archived on my YouTube page, I am sharing tips and advice on meditation practice. I am calling these brief posts, May Meditation Nudges. Here are the topics and links from the second week. Posts from the first week can be found here. Day 8 Creating a place to sit Day 9 Beware of waiting for silence before you meditate Day 10 Meditate where you are Day 11 The Breath Day 12 Take a break Day 13 Boredom Day 14 Just show up I hope that you can join me for the May meditations.
Thursday, May 14, 2020
Just show up This is an ongoing series running through May to compliment the twice weekly meditation sessions that I will be hosting on YouTube (and are now archived on my YouTube page). If you have any questions, please contact me. Sometimes I find that I just don’t have the enthusiasm for meditating. The day in, day out routine of sitting regardless of what is going on in my life just feels too much.
Sitting in a still, cool, quiet morning, listening to the dawn chorus, drinking my coffee. I could stay here forever, though I probably wouldn’t appreciate it as much then? ☕️
Wednesday, May 13, 2020
Boredom This is an ongoing series running through May to compliment the twice weekly meditation sessions that I will be hosting on YouTube (and are now archived on my YouTube page). If you have any questions, please contact me. I write this about meditation practice, but the ideas can be used just as well in your everyday life. Boredom can arise in our lives when we are feeling uninspired, disliking and uninterested in what we find ourselves doing in that moment.
Today I am feeling particularly grateful to the developers of the software and platforms that I use. They make my work, and play, more enjoyable and easier. Thank you to you all. 🙏🏼
And this is my first post from iA Writer to Micro.blog.
I don’t know what species of tomato these two are, but they are delicious. Just picked in the garden and illuminated by the early morning sun.
Random acts of kindness.
With grateful thanks to @rnv for hearing my yearning for Hobnobs on micro.blog a couple of weeks back and very kindly sending me two packets. They arrived yesterday and a cup of tea tastes all that much better for having a Hobnob to dunk!
A message from His Holiness the Dalai calling for the world to unite in response to COVID-19 .
And here it is read by his good friend, Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
Tuesday, May 12, 2020
Take a break This is an ongoing series running through May to compliment the twice weekly meditation sessions that I will be hosting on YouTube (and are now archived on my YouTube page). If you have any questions, please contact me. If your set meditation time is 5 minutes, I encourage you to sit through that time. If your set meditation time is 15 minutes, I encourage you to sit through that time.
Monday, May 11, 2020
The Breath This is an ongoing series running through May to compliment the twice weekly meditation sessions that I will be hosting on YouTube (and are now archived on my YouTube page). If you have any questions, please contact me. So far I have looked at practicalities of meditation, and not so much at technique. In these nudges I won’t be going into a lot of detail, but intend to give a flavour of what I am talking about.
Sunday, May 10, 2020
Meditate where you are This is an ongoing series running through May to compliment the twice weekly meditation sessions that I will be hosting on YouTube (and are now archived on my YouTube page). If you have any questions, please contact me. As well as having your personal meditation place, I recommend looking for opportunities to meditate in your daily life. They might not be as formal as your regular sitting, in fact you might not even be sitting, but they give you the opportunity to keep the familiarization with you practice going and help you bring your meditation into your life.
Last night we had a power outage at dusk. It lasted until about 9:00pm. We played Rummikub by flashlight and read for the rest of the evening. Despite being quite happy doing what we were doing, I could still feel a twitch for the inaccessible conveniences.
I want to customize a part of a micro.blog site and am wondering where to go? I want to replace the text “Follow xxx on Micro.blog” that sits under the site’s name, with my own text. However, I cannot find where to do that. Can anyone point me in the right direction? Thank you.
Saturday, May 9, 2020
Beware of waiting for silence before you meditate This is an ongoing series running through May to compliment the twice weekly meditation sessions that I will be hosting on YouTube (and are now archived on my YouTube page). If you have any questions, please contact me. At first glance this nudge might appear contradictory to yesterday’s post, but it is not. I still advocate for the importance of having your own special place where you go to sit.
I woke up this morning to a Flash Flood warning on Dark Sky. I thought, “well they’ve got it wrong this time.” It now appears that I got it wrong. It is pouring outside. Rivers and puddles are forming all over the place.
Friday, May 8, 2020
Creating a place to sit This is an ongoing series running through May to compliment the twice weekly meditation sessions that I will be hosting on YouTube (and are now archived on my YouTube page). If you have any questions, please contact me. When we sit it is helpful, indeed I might say important that we have a place that is conducive to us for calming our mind. A place of our own which is just for sitting.
Friday, May 8, 2020
Through May I am streaming twice weekly meditation sessions on YouTube. For those who cannot make the live stream, all of the videos are archived on my YouTube page. The schedule can be seen here. As a compliment to the live sessions, I am writing daily short pieces on tips and advice for meditation. I am calling these brief posts, May Meditation Nudges. Here are the topics and links for the first week.
Thursday, May 7, 2020
Motivation & Dedication This is an ongoing series running through May to compliment the twice weekly meditation sessions that I will be hosting on YouTube (and are now archived on my YouTube page). If you have any questions, please contact me. If you are joining the meditation sessions, you’ll know that just before the sitting starts I suggest that we sit for a moment and reflect on our reason for being there.
Calling on MarsEdit users and AppleScripters. I am looking for a way of getting text from iA Writer to MarsEdit. Copy/Paste is an option, but I was wondering if there is any way that I can automate the process? Drafts is another app that I would like to transfer text from.
Wednesday, May 6, 2020
Meditation is a marathon not a sprint This is an ongoing series running through May to compliment the twice weekly meditation sessions that I will be hosting on YouTube (and are now archived on my YouTube page). If you have any questions, please contact me. We live in a world of quick results (a lot of the time). Flick a switch and the light goes on. Look at the speed and capability of the device that you are reading this on.
Hawaii is moving from a Stay-at-Home order to a Safer-at-Home order. Govenor Ige is allowing some retail stores and businesses to open on Thursday. Any visitors to the islands, if they can get here (there are not many flights), still have to quarantine for 14 days.
Tuesday, May 5, 2020
Familiarization This is an ongoing series running through May to compliment the twice weekly meditation sessions that I will be hosting on YouTube (and are now archived on my YouTube page). If you have any questions, please contact me. My background in meditation comes via the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, specifically the Gelug-pa tradition, which I have been practicing for 30 years now. Although I have complimented my Tibetan practice with studies of other spiritual traditions and philosophies, my center and focus is the Gelug-pa tradition.
Monday, May 4, 2020
Frequency - how often and for how long? This is an ongoing series running through May to compliment the twice weekly meditation sessions that I will be hosting on YouTube (and are now archived on my YouTube page). If you have any questions, please contact me. For me this is a question of quality over quantity. There are no awards in the meditation world for gritting your teeth and trying to sit for as long or as often as you can.
I have decided to retire my Now page from my business website, Crossing The Threshold. I feel that I allow it to languish too often. It sits there waiting to be updated. Also, I consider that between my Micro.blog site and Crossing The Threshold I give a pretty good idea as to what I am doing. At least enough that needs to be known!