Appamada

Kim's Vow I vow to live with a soft front and a strong back remembering the boundless support of the great Mother Earth, the ancestors, the grandmothers, the teachers, and spiritual friends so that I may live with a heart that is open and courageous enough to attend to my own suffering. May I heal what can be healed, let go of what is not mine to carry, and forgive my own limitations and the limitations of others; and may this open more space within me for life and love and joy to flow through. I vow to be with and bear witness to the suffering of others. May I have the strength and wisdom to offer care and compassion and the skillful means to turn us just a little bit more towards freedom. I vow to honor the three treasures of Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha dedicating myself to practice, study and spiritual friendship. ~ Kim Neuschel

2021-07-12 | Depth In Practice | Passing Through the Gateless Barrior by Appamada

Metta Prayer This is what should be accomplished by the one who is wise, May I be well, loving, and peaceful. May all beings be well, loving, and peaceful. May I be at ease in my body, feeling the ground beneath my seat and feet, letting my back be long and straight, enjoying breath as it rises and falls and rises. May I know and be intimate with body mind, whatever its feeling or mood, calm or agitated, tired or energetic, irritated or friendly. Breathing in and out, in and out, aware, moment by moment, of the risings and passings. May I be attentive and gentle towards my own discomfort and suffering. May I be attentive and grateful for my own joy and well-being. May I move towards others freely and with openness. May I receive others with sympathy and understanding. May I move towards the suffering of others with peaceful and attentive confidence. May I recall the Bodhisattva of compassion; her 1,000 hands, her instant readiness for action. Each hand with an eye in it, the instinctive knowing w

2021-07-04 | Dharma Talk | Softening the Grip of Our Core Beliefs | Laurie Winnette by Appamada

2021-07-06 I Inquiry | Everyday Clinging I Flint Sparks by Appamada

2021-06-27 | Dharma Talk | Basho Begins His Journey | Joel Barna by Appamada

2021-07-05 | Depth in Practice | Passing Through the Gateless Barrier by Appamada

2021-06-25/26 | One Day Sit | Healing The Earth Through Spiritual Practice | Laurie Winnette by Appamada

2021-06-28 | Depth in Practice | Passing Through the Gateless Barrier by Appamada

The Writer ~ Richard Wilbur In her room at the prow of the house Where light breaks, and the windows are tossed with linden, My daughter is writing a story. I pause in the stairwell, hearing From her shut door a commotion of typewriter keys Like a chain hauled over a gunwale. Young as she is, the stuff Of her life is a great cargo, and some of it heavy: I wish her a lucky passage. But now it is she who pauses, As if to reject my thought and its easy figure. A stillness greatens, in which The whole house seems to be thinking, And then she is at it again with a bunched clamor Of strokes, and again is silent. I remember the dazed starling Which was trapped in that very room, two years ago; How we stole in, lifted a sash And retreated, not to affright it; And how for a helpless hour, through the crack of the door, We watched the sleek, wild, dark And iridescent creature Batter against the brilliance, drop like a glove To the hard floor, or the desk-top, And wait then, humped and bloody, For the wits to try it a

The Cure We think we get over things.We don’t get over things. Or say, we get over the measles but not a broken heart. We need to make that distinction. The things that become part of our experience never become less a part of our experience. How can I say it? The way to “get over” a life is to die. Short of that, you move with it, let the pain be pain, not in the hope that it will vanish but in the faith that it will fit in, find its place in the shape of things and be then not any less pain but true to form. Because anything natural has an inherent shape and will flow towards it. And a life is as natural as a leaf. That’s what we’re looking for: not the end of a thing but the shape of it. Wisdom is seeing the shape of your life without obliterating (getting over) a single instant of it. by Albert Huffstickler

2021-06-23 | Precept Program #1 by Appamada

2021-06-20 | Dharma Talk | Generosity and Fearlessness | Laurie Winnette by Appamada

2021-06-21 | Depth in Practice | Passing Through the Gateless Barrier by Appamada

2021 - 06 - 15 - I Inquiry I Meeting Ourselves and Each Other I Flint Sparks by Appamada

2021-06-14 | What Causes Suffering | Class 6 of 6 | Peg Syverson by Appamada

2021-06-14 | Depth in Practice | Passing Through the Gateless Barrier by Appamada

2021-06-13 | Dharma Talk | Precepts | Todd Bankler by Appamada

2021-06-07 | Depth In Practice | Passing Through the Gateless Barrier by Appamada

2021 - 06 - 08 I Inquiry I Returning to the Zendo I Flint Sparks by Appamada