Holy Saturday: the space between death and birth

Reblogged from Gems of Delight:

This is a reprint from Holy Saturday 2007...

Do you have the patience to wait till your mud settles and the water is clear? Can you remain unmoving until the right action arises by itself? - Tao Te Ching

Birthing my son is the closest I have come to touching the hem of Death.  In Tibet, they say childbirth is the closest one comes to death.  

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Often in this Easter season we can focus on Thursday, Friday and Sunday...but what about Saturday? Holy Saturday. That space between birth and death. That time when nothing seems to be happening. As I recoup from this brain injury and (this just happened this week) water overflowed from our bathroom and three levels of our home are in chaos, I am moved again to share this post. I hope it resonates with all of you. Yes, being in the space between death and birth/birth and death...between what was and what is still yet to come...and holding vigil, nourishing ourselves, gathering in community, waiting for the mud to settle, allowing the Divine to Rise within us out of the ashes. Easter Blessings, Lisa

My Hope for the New Pope’s First Address

Can you imagine a liberal priest is elected the next pope?  And in his first address to the faithful, he says:

“…and on the matter of gay marriage:  Yes.
Starting now gay men and women are embraced by this church and their partnership will be recognized, celebrated and blessed by this church.  If you have concerns about this and are vehemently opposed, I invite you to two things: 
1.  We will be begin offering pastoral counseling in all parishes across the world along with group gatherings for individuals to explore their displaced anger and fear, support them in fully embracing their own vulnerability, and nurture them in redefining a healthy sense of their own masculine and feminine nature; and

2. I have created “Project Love” which is a program designed to break down the barriers of intolerance, misinformation, and hate.  It is a program that pairs those fearful of gay people with gay men and women where those fearful have an opportunity to live alongside their gay brothers and sisters for the period of one to six months (longer, if necessary) to walk in their shoes, to see how they live and love on a daily basis, to see their sufferings and their joys, to see how beautifully they parent, to see their humanity.  Lisa M.’s (that’s me!) friend, Zach, will be heading this up.

Speaking of Lisa M., now on to the issue of Women’s Ordination and married priests. 

Again the Holy Spirit has spoken to me on this matter and…Yes.  This upcoming year, women and married men and women will be invited to apply for seminary and to study to become priests.  We are missing out, folks, on some incredible gifts of women and married people.  I recognize this is a huge shock to you.  I promise that God, in all Her kindness and nurturance and love will soften your hearts.  I have appointed Lisa as one of my advisers in restructuring our seminaries to include women and married people and to revise – totally revise – seminary training to include studies of interreligious understanding and collaboration, theology of the body, yoga and breathwork, dancing, social justice, feminine theology, and management/leadership training.

So Lisa, come on over to Italy – just for the summers and Winter break when your kiddos are out of school.  We’ll Skype the rest of the time and you can work from home, even nurse your little ones while we talk and plan.  You’ll be one of the pioneers – one of the first women (and married) priests.  I could see you being a bishop and then a cardinal, but after the kiddos are in college.  In the meantime, I look forward to you leading us in daily yoga practice and reading your poetry to the world.

Again, for those of you, my brothers and sisters who have issues with this, I have set up “Project Mama” where we place those of you who question women’s ability to fully embody Christ into the homes and lives of women across the world for about a week (that’s all it’ll take, trust me). This will be an opportunity for you to walk in their shoes (sandals, flip flops, snow boots because she can’t find her ‘real’ shoes and she’s late to drop off her kiddos at school), to see how she runs the show better than any CEO of a major company you can name, to be moved by how she keenly sees and tends to the needs of those under her care, and to understand how she promotes justice on the playground and between moms.  And that’s just before 9 a.m.!   “Project Mama” also includes the opportunity to journey with single women, women without children, and/or nuns and see how they are changing the world, to see how they lead with Christ-like hearts and minds, and how they work for inclusion, social justice and reconciliation.

Because women are used to not being paid well for their work and we believe this is a gross injustice, we will be instituting a special collection that all parishes throughout the world will participate in and we will provide a stipend for women who participate in Project Mama and have another being to feed and tend to. For those women without health insurance, we will gladly take you on our policy. As for our gay brothers and sisters, we understand how having someone follow you around for a few months could be a burden for you.  We have set up a similar stipend to support your efforts.

So I hope you will join me in praising God that we are listening.  I invite you to do your own discerning, to dialogue with one another in ways that are kind and seek to understand rather than to be understood, to love instead of to sow hatred, to hope rather than despair, to be a light-filled presence that banishes the darkness of intolerance, to console rather than to be consoled, to pardon, to forgive, to embrace, and to be an instrument of peace – in your home, in your community, and this world.

Now, that that is settled, let’s move on to other issues that deserve our attention: poverty, human trafficking, and securing high-quality health care and education for all….”

That’s my hope. I can see it!

 

Tips for Everyday Mindfulness #16: Drop the perfect, embrace the pleasant

I’m laying here on my yoga mat taking a break snickering to myself as I realize the irony taking place in writing this blog post:  I have a page of notes all crossed off as I try to perfect the opening lines of this post. Yes, perfecting a post about dropping the perfect!  Now there is irony!  And there is being very human.  Yes, this is how our human experience is — our habitual patterns are deeply entrenched within us.  And yet, we can shift these patterns.

This striving for perfection is weaved deep into our culture.  There are times when I think, “No!  Not me!  That may be what mainstream advertising is all about, but I don’t buy it.  I’ve dropped the notion of being perfect!”  And then I go around hurriedly straightening up before company comes over!

Two weeks ago, as Sandy the Hurricane whirled around us,

I was on a seven day silent Buddhist meditation retreat.

Things were definitely not perfect.  No power, no heat.  For four days. Nowhere to go (literally.  There was a huge tree down blocking the one exit to the retreat center) but inside (ha!  Literally.  Inside the building and inside our own hearts, bodies, and minds), unable to command the storm to submit to our demands for sunshine and warmer weather, we got to practice going with the flow.  Watching the wave.  Letting go.  Allowing…..aaaand of course, resisting all that, too!

I noticed again and again the truth of Buddha’s words that we suffer when we resist what is.  We suffer when we get caught up in our internal weather systems of stormy emotions, relentless thoughts, and painful sensations.  We suffer when we want something to be different than what it is, when we try and control EVERYTHING around us — trying to make it “perfectly pleasing” to us — when we keep busy, avoiding the inner wisdom of our bodies whispering to us the the simple and yet often elusive way home to our true self.

I practiced an incredibly simple yet profoundly healing practice on retreat:

noticing the pleasant.  Dropping the “trying.”  Dropping the “perfecting.”  And instead noticing what is pleasant.  Right now.  Right here.  In this moment.  This body — the constellation of ever changing sensations in the body.

This doesn’t ignore the negative.  We aren’t trying to get rid of or deny the negative.  We say, “I see you, too.  You can be here, too.”  And we turn our attention, we shepherd our attention back to the pleasant.

There’s resistance there.  We want to go to the negative.  We are primed to notice the negative, the potentially harmful and dangerous.  But often, the path of this neural circuitry is well worn.  So well worn that we jump on it in a nano second.  And that’s how we can spend most of our day:  going down the path of noticing the unpleasant, what’s wrong, what isn’t perfect…in ourselves, our partners, our children, our neighborhood, our nation, or world.  And reacting.

I don’t know about you, but during the retreat, I noticed how this “going down that negative path” impacted me.  How I got carried away by it.  And how, rather than protecting me from potential danger, was causing harm in the present moment.  Harm to my body, my heart, my mind, and my relationships.

And as I formally practiced more and more shepherding my attention back to what was pleasant, I noticed a peace rising within me.  A “soft delight.”  I noticed my heart opening.  I noticed how I felt a warm glow in my heart — for my own self, my dear ones, those on retreat, and all living beings.

I experienced how, ultimately, it is not WHAT happens in life, but how we relate to it that elicits peace or suffering, liberation or imprisonment.  No matter if we just got a diagnosis that we have two weeks to live or we lost a job or we just had a great time with old friends.  Whatever it is….the story and the specifics don’t create our happiness.  WE do. It’s how we relate to whatever it is that is happening right now within us and around us that creates our happiness.

So…here’s a thought:  maybe try noticing the pleasant for one day.  Shoot, one hour in the day!  Notice what is good and delight-filled, kind or pleasant.  Within you and around you.  And when the old habit of noticing the unpleasant shows up, say hello, allow it to be there, and then just come gently back (again and again) to noticing the pleasant.

I’m in this with all of you!  Many blessings!  (And next time you come over, I won’t hurry and straighten up!  Please notice what’s pleasant in our home…even the mess!)

Each time you judge yourself, you break your own heart…

see the goodness that you are

 
“My beloved child, break your heart no longer.
Each time you judge yourself, you break your own heart.
You stop feeding on the love which is the wellspring of your vitality.
The time has come.
Your time.
To celebrate.
And to see the goodness that you are.
You, my child, are divine.
You are pure.
You are sublimely free.
Let no one, no thing, no idea or ideal obstruct you.
If one comes, even in the name of ‘Truth’, forgive it for its unknowing.
Do not fight.
Let go.
You are God in disguise and you are always perfectly safe.
Do not fight the dark. Just turn on the light.
Let go and breathe into the goodness that you are.”

Swami Kripalvanandaji (Bapuji)
as copied from
“Radical Acceptance: Embracing Your Life with the Heart of a Buddha”
by Tara Brach

Sunshine Award

I am honored that my blog has been nominated for The Sunshine Award by Gina at Professions for PEACE.  Oh Gina, she is a lovely, love soul.  Her writing is authentic, her words breathe a sense of lightness into every cell of me, and her joy is contagious.  Read just one of her posts and you’ll know what I mean.  Thank you, Gina.  I am delighted.

This award is given to “bloggers who positively and creatively inspire others in the blogosphere.”  It’s my vocation/call in life to inspire others to follow what delights their hearts, act with compassion for themselves and others, and to cultivate community between soulful folks.

Being new at this “blog award” thing, I never really knew what to do with the awards folks have nominated me for (several are included below as I am now nominating THEM for this Sunshine Award!).  Gina’s award inspired me to do what brings joy to my heart.  Duh! I love it!  Some times I can be too literal!  So with that “freedom card” in my pocket, on to the Sunshine Award!  Thank you, Gina!

The steps to take, preferably with joy 
1. Include the award logo somewhere in your blog.
2. Answer these 10 questions, below, for fun if you want to.
3. Nominate 10 to 12 blogs you enjoy. Or you pick the number.
4. Pay the love forward: Provide your nominee’s link in your post and comment on their blog to let them know they’ve been included and invited to participate.
5. Pay the love back with gratitude and a link to the blogger(s) who nominated you.

The Nominees ~ These folks just delight my heart.  They are who are on my heart right in this moment.  Their blogs are the ones that are speaking to me right now and my heart wants to highlight these women.  What they write resonates with something within me and I am often brought to tears.  I am so grateful for the companionship of these writers.

Bella Bleue  Erin is a delight.  Her words uplift and encourage.
Being Zen Angela writes with a clear and authentic voice.  I always find something new, enlightening and challenging reading her posts.
Kindness Girl  Patience is a girl on a mission to spread kindness across the planet.  And an incredible photographer.
A Design so Vast Lindsey’s words are breath-taking, raw, and she puts into eloquent words what is stirring in my heart.
I Stop for Suffering Meg is one of those folks you trust and adore immediately.  She simplifies some pretty deep Buddhist stuff in a way that you say to yourself, “Ohhhh I get that!  I can do that!”
My two Cents Maria is an incredible shopper, witty, well-dressed, and a loyal friend who will go through your closet and tell you the truth…and bring YOU out through your wardrobe!
The Yoga of Motherhood Ali is a mom, yogini, world traveler and poet.  Her words are informed by decades of practice.  She’s the real deal.

The Questions about me…:

What is your favorite color?  
~  Depends.  In general – green.  On me – pink.  Any shade!

What is your favorite animal?  
~  I love dogs and cats too.  Bears, monkeys, pigs, cows…you name it.

What is your favorite non-alcoholic drink?  
~  WATER!

Do you prefer Facebook or Twitter?  
~  Ohhhhh I am still trying to figure out the social media thing.

What’s your passion? 
~  Following what delights my heart.  Inspiring compassion.  Delighting in connecting with other soulful folks.

What’s your favorite pattern? 
~  Swirls.

Do you prefer giving or getting presents?  
~  I stress about giving gifts when I “have to.”  I’m not much of a shopper.  So I tend to stress when there is a holiday or a birthday celebration.  BUT when I DO see something that makes me think of a person, I get it!  And I LOVE giving it to them!  I also love to make things.  I TREASURE it when someone takes the time to make me something.  I know how valuable time is now.

What’s your favorite number?  
~  Three.

Favorite day of the week? 
~ I’d have to say Friday.  It’s our “Saturday” since our work week starts on Sunday.

Favorite flower?
~ I tend to love wild flowers, even patches of clover (growing in our “grass” right now!).  Wild flowers make me pause, breathe and smile – knowing that something beautiful can grow anywhere.

So there you have it, folks, in case you wanted to know a little bit more about me.

But instead of me, focus on the blogs above.  The ladies are gems.  Deep.  Passionate.  Real.  And inspiring.

Ok, phew, I’m done!  For an extrovert I really don’t like such attention on me!

Ladies who were nominated — you can soak up the love in private and never mention it on your blog, or announce it to the world!  You know me, I’m about whatever brings you delight.

Love to you all, Lisa

My vows

Reblogged from istopforsuffering:

I vow to live as an instrument of peace.  To live a simple, sincere, gentle and serene life.  

 

I will cultivate cheerfulness, compassion, and hope.  Only speaking words that are true, necessary, and kind.

 

I shall exercise economy in expenditure, generosity in giving, diligence in my faith, and fidelity to every trust.  

 

Where there is darkness, I will bring light.  Where there is intolerance, I will bring understanding.  

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I am always moved by Meg's words of wisdom and how she lives. Thank you, Meg!

The Miracle in the Now

The miracle is finding the peace and beauty in the ordinariness of our everyday lives. Seeing it all as SACRED. A gift. May we all experience several miracles today!!

(Coming soon…a video series on finding the sacred in everyday life!)

B-bye Guilt, Hello Goddess

Reblogged from Gems of Delight:

Guilt.  Mama guilt.  Wife guilt.  Whatever kind of guilt you got -- let's let it go!  Let's encourage each other to drop the guilt.  We can be awfully, awfully hard on ourselves.  Our "Oh I did a bad thing" or "I should be doing such and such" or "A good...... (mom, friend, wife) does such and such" can quiiiiickly turn in to "I'm bad."  Then we've got shame. 

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Reposting for all you goddesses out there!

Blog Award

This past month I was graced with being nominated for two blog awards.

Nikky gave me the beautiful blogger award. I am grateful to Nikky. She is surviving the abuse of her partner. She blogs to connect with others and share her story — to empower others and herself. Her words are raw, real, and authentic.

Angela nominated me for the Very Inspiring Blogger Award. It is a delight to read Angela’s blog, Zen Being. She writes so beautifully about mindfulness and everyday life. Her posts challenge me, get me thinking, and bring me into a sense of “yes” — with life, my own self, my practice, and all living beings. I am grateful to Angela!

Just like so many of you who blog, I write the words that honor the stirrings and whispers within my heart. I know of no other way.

Soulful Quotes for Inspiration #9

These quotes were posted on the Barefoot Barn’s community Facebook page. If you’d like to get a  daily does of inspiration, “Like” the Facebook page. Right there — to your right!

“True happiness comes from the openness of heart, compassion, resiliency and mindfulness.” – Jack Kornfield

Let’s not get caught in the “if only” myth today — “If only blah blah blah were different, then I’d be happy.” WE choose our happiness (or suffering). Here’s to choosing happiness, delight, and kindness today!

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“Would you rather be right or free?” – Byron Katie

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“Let your practice be the prayer itself, your body the temple.”
- Julie Rapport

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