The making of an island, carved out of the rock and dirt by rain from the sky and wind across the land. And then the sea filling up around it. We only see the finished product, the process eludes us. Such is the nature of our existence. We see and think we know from just one point of view. We move through space or time and we see something very different. It is easier to see in the physical world but it is true of all of life. Our point of view is the problem not the truth. There are many points of view and only when we realize that ours is but one, and that it is not more or less right than others that we can understand life from a more universal and more true point of view. Transcending what we think we know is not easy and starts with deep listening to others. Then we begin to see more of reality and expand what we are capable of seeing. When we stop believing everything we think and start listening to others deeply we get on a path that leads both to real learning but also to being a happier person.

Hat Island in Padilla Bay, looking north to Samish Island and Bellingham in the distance on an overcast and yet sunny day.

Sitting down to meditate this morning. So grateful for all the things that I have been given. The Tibetan rug made in Dharamsala by refugees. The stained glass window removed from my childhood home as it was being torn down and given to me by my parents. The handcrafted quilt given to me by Gracie. The home rebuilt from a dilapidated building with my children, Paul, Sierra and Matthias in what I thought would be the hardest of times but turned out to be the best of times. Just outside, the wooden rowing shell that I have gone many miles in, And beyond that the tree swing which Matthias made for his younger brother Taiming. So many things that have captured the love in my life and hold it for me to cherish every day. Real value is simple and measured in meaningful ways not in money, power or strength. True strength is in patience, presence and persistence with things that really matter

Summary of where we are going

The question for our time is "What works?".  A few thousand years ago the question was answered by simply observing the world and how it worked. There is suffering, it is possible to understand that suffering and where it comes from and there is a path away from that suffering. No grandiose 'understanding', no hierarchical system, no leader to be followed without question, just observations about how suffering arises, let go of and prevented.

The path away from suffering has a number of components, none more important than the other, all of them intertwined. Having a right View is to not have a point of view. Thinking clearly is to accept non-thinking, that is, not thinking out of fear and anxiety of the past and the future. Realizing the only place you can do anything about either is in the present moment with right Thinking. Recognizing that right Speech is really just committing to loving speech and even more importantly to deeply listening to others first. This is the only way to really communicate. While right Action is more complex each part is simple. Protect life, practice generosity, behave responsibly and consume mindfully. One of the most important tools to stay on the path is right Concentration or cultivation of a mind that is one pointed and yet maintains evenness.  We achieve these goals through right Diligence over time. If we nourish wholesome seeds that grow in our lives and meet unwholesome seeds with mindfulness we can find our way to happiness of a sustained kind that will last. This path is easier to find and stay on if we choose a right Livelihood. This is simply earning a living without transgressing the ideals of love and compassion. Finally living fully in the present moment is made possible by right Mindfulness, which is the energy that simply brings us back to this present moment we are always in, when we walk we are fully aware that we are walking, when we drink tea we are fully aware that we are drinking tea, when we are unkind we are fully aware we are being unkind and can hold ourselves and other in mindfulness and find a better way of staying on the path.

This is all that we need to know to become happy and helpful to the world. My teachers have said clearly that there is no abstract Truth. Try to walk this path, if it is true for you you will find the benefits. If our understanding is incorrect it will not work and we will need to make changes. Be awake and change course if you need to. The happiness is not sort term pleasure but a deep fulfilling joy that comes with being in alignment with how the world really works and not living in a distortion of understanding that brings short term pleasure but not deep understanding and a joyful life. Ease and the ability to let go and love is the true test of if you are on the right path.

I am not a scholar, not a monk, or authorized by anyone to say what I am saying. Just trying to honestly share what I have found useful and helpful in my life. The thinking that has brought me happiness and an easier, more joy filled life.

Mindfulness- The energy that brings you back to the Present Moment

In the beginning Habit Energy is strong. Ask yourself "What am I doing?". If you are washing the dishes and thinking about something else you are not being present. Alternatively if you are simply present and washing each dish mindfully and fully present in the moment you will find peace and happiness. Mindfulness grows with concentration practice (meditation) and sometimes it may take several years to find a quiet mind. Change does not happen quickly. When we are thinking mindfully we stay in touch with the Present Moment. Suffering and anxiety rarely exist in the present moment. Anxiety about the future and regrets about the past cause a great deal of suffering. Living in the Present Moment when you wash the dishes you just wash the dishes and will find joy and peace in that space. Mindful practice will allow you to see clearly your body, your feelings, your mind and the objects of your mind.

When we see a beautiful rainbow or when we are deep in the mountains and the snow makes it perfectly silent it is easier to find and be in the present moment. We find it in nature or in a beautiful view. It is our work to bring that serenity into our daily lives with mindfulness. 

Boundaries in our lives are our own creations. Like the lines on a map they are entirely fiction, the belief that people exist outside of the relationships with one another or that we exist somehow independent of the environment we live in are fiction as well. As my teacher said "our bodies are 70% ocean".  We all exist as 'inter-being' in the relationship between us and in relationship to those that have come before. We are made up of the star dust, and the sunshine of the universe literally. These are the things we are composed of both physically and mentally. Practicing mindful breathing we realize that breathing is mind, mind is body and the objects outside of us are in reality the relationship between our being and the world that we think, or as it appears to be outside of ourselves. It is not that when we cut the forest down and replace it with houses that these things are not real but that our very being is diminished when we do this is something that is hidden from us by the ego and narrow self interest that it serves. Sometimes when  we injure nature we injure ourselves.

Right Livelihood- making a living without transgressing love and compassion

Making a living in the modern world is no different than making a living in the ancient world, perhaps it is a little harder now. We need to earn a living without transgressing the ideals of love and compassion. The way that we make money and support ourselves and our family can be either the expression of our deepest self or a source of suffering for ourselves and all that come to know us.

Many of the ways people make a living in the modern world are harmful to people and the planet. We have to consider the impacts in our own community but also in the places far away that either supply what we need to do our jobs here or are impacted by the actions we take. These impacts can be far from where we live or even remote into the future.

There are direct impacts like working in the arms trade where killing is the explicit purpose of what is bought and sold but so are the indirect impacts of supporting the transportation infrastructure that moves those arms or even the 'safety' needed to vacation in places that need to be made 'safe' so that we can enjoy the beaches and scenery. Even the consumption of products that require people in other nations be treated in unethical ways to make the products available to us as consumers at the best price. When costs of a product or service are externalized to either the environment or the future we all pay the price eventually.

We have to continually support the creation of new jobs that are supportive of love and compassion so that everyone can find a way to make a living that is healthy and support families and the community in a loving and kind way.

[Photo comment: Who ever thought we would have to protest or bring legal action to insist that our government use the best available science in decision making and for that information to be objectively reviewed? (left)The impact of not having a livelihood that support love and compassion lead to the direct impact on lives like the young men and women who's names are memorialized on the Wall in Washington DC.(right)]

Right Diligence- Nourishing wholesome seeds and helping unwholesome seeds return to store consciousness

What brings you happiness of a sustained kind? Making the right effort to bring about the best things for yourself and others, that stand the test of time, is what real diligence is about. In our lives there are seeds that we inherited from our parents and our larger family and friends, that have been passed down through the ages. These seeds provide fruit when tended but some are seeds of happiness and some are seeds that bring tears. The ability to learn which are which and to tend the ones that bring joy to our lives; being kind, loving, happy, willing to see others point of view, being open to restart when there is a bad beginning, all are seeds we need to care fore everyday and to water daily. The better we care for them the longer they stay around.

On the other hand being selfish, unkind or ignorant are seeds that bring unhappiness over time. Even if in the short run they seem to make you happy, over time they actually make you unhappy. These are the seeds that if you wrap them in mindfulness will return to your store consciousness and not flourish. If you let them grow and you or your friends provide support for them they will grow. 

Knowing which seeds, that you were given by your family and that you acquired along the path in life, are wholesome and which are not and taking the time to nourish health giving ones and not nourishing the unhealthy ones is our main challenge in our day to day lives. Choose wisely how you spend your time each day.

[The photos are of the students that traveled with me to do service learning at Jhamtse Gatsal Children's Community in India. The bracelets on their wrists are mostly ones that were made by the children of the community as a token of love and appreciation. The hands touching one another a sign of support and affection. On the right is the entrance to Tawang, the pass goes over the Himalaya at the low point of 14,000 feet and into an enchanted land between Bhutan and Tibet where the community of children prospers.]

Right Concentration- cultivate a mind that is one pointed and maintains evenness

When we are clear in our speaking and thinking we feel better. How can we exercise our mind to think,speak and be more clear? Practice! If we just sit. And while sitting understand that we really are... just star dust from a distant explosion in a place and time far, far away but still real. Our best science tells us exactly that. We are the remnants of that Big Bang at the beginning of time and the physical beginning of the universe. Yes just well organized star dust that now is so organized it carries feelings and thought in carbon and nitrogen and oxygen that make up our bodies and ultimately our minds.

When we become the moment. When we realize and personify impermanence, non-self and inter-being. When we practice long enough as we sit quietly. We awaken. The goal of sitting is to cultivate a mind that is both one pointed and yet maintains evenness. But too many people think that sitting on a cushion is what meditation is about, when in reality the sitting part is just training wheels for getting up and walking and then striding through life awake and engaged, protectors of life, practicing generosity, behaving responsibly and consuming mindfully in our awareness that life is impermanence, that we are not just ourselves and that ourselves are not just us but that we are inextricably and irrevocably intertwined with others, all the other on the planet, and the plants and animals and the sky and sea and the minerals that make up the earth itself. We are them and they are us, not figuratively but literally.

Sit quietly and let all that sink in. We are both just one, separate and profoundly alone and yet we are One with all that is, at the same time. When I breath in oxygen to fuel my body and thinking were did it come from? Plants. And when I exhale CO2 where does it go... into plants to build their very core of being. When I walk and talk were does the energy come from? From the sun, the most amazing energy collection system on the planet harvesting the sun and creating the food that we eat either directly for the vegetarians among us or indirectly for those that eat the animals that eat the plants first.

When we sit with a quiet mind and an open heart you don't even need a book to read you can simply think deeply about your own breathing or your own hunger and really understand either of them to see how we are interconnected and not all that separate from either other people, the plants on the planet or even the earth that supplies the rest of the material we are literally made of.

"The wind comes up

and the bamboo welcomes it.

The wind goes

and it lets it go."