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I've recently discovered the poet Mary Oliver. I'm sure many of you are aware of her work (she's not exactly an unknown - won a Pulitzer in 1984!) but I love the themes and the way she relates to the world. The piece below fills my heart. Thought I would share here as it speaks to beingfulness, Buddhism, nature-connection, all that good stuff we talk about 😊 The wonderful phrase "resplendently empty" in particular jumps out to me: Last night in the fields I lay down in the darkness to think about death, but instead I fell asleep, as if in a vast and sloping room filled with those white flowers that open all summer, sticky and untidy, in the warm fields. When I woke the morning light was just slipping in front of the stars, and I was covered with blossoms. I don’t know how it happened— I don’t know if my body went diving down under the sugary vines in some sleep-sharpened affinity with the depths, or whether that green energy rose like a wave and curled over me, claiming me in its husky arms. I pushed them away, but I didn’t rise. Never in my life had I felt so plush, or so slippery, or so resplendently empty. Never in my life had I felt myself so near that porous line where my own body was done with and the roots and the stems and the flowers began.

In the gap between teachings, I took a trip up into the Himalayan foothills to the little settlement of Namo Buddha. This was the spot that the Buddha’s earlier reincarnation offered up his body to feed a starving tigress and her five cubs. There’s now a big monastery founded by the late Thrangul Rinpoche, one of the Karmapa’s teachers. I’m not also a natural at pilgrimage sites, but this one really moved me. The thought of that bodhicitta activity and the fact that historical Buddha, Siddharta Gotama, often came back to this hill to teach. The forests surrounding the Tiger’sDen are thick with prayer flags and pictures of departed loved ones. It’s a very moving place.

Just found this posting link . So hi Folks ; some of you are lucky living near ( or even in the same country) as Alastair and Daniel. I’m living in Australia travelling a bit for work as a child Developmental therapist ( just fab , I love it - lots of game playing really ). My first intro into meditation was through a local Quaker group in my teens & then religious retreats then being buddies with canticle hermits. ( wow they are a chatty lot ) A friend wrote ‘The Anchoress’ ( R.Cadwallader)which is an insight into that sort of meditation I’m a fidgeter so need to calm my mind & so happy to have found the gorgeous Alastair, who has a life outside of Escaped . Hope to meet you lot when travelling over sometime xxxx

Inspired by RoseM's delightful knitted lamb, I found this pattern and got crocheting. As all Star Wars fans know, this is the perfect day to post him....... May the fourth be with you !

Hey! Hope you had a nice summer holidays and that you’re thriving. Just put together some pointers for the next few months at Mindsprings so you might like to check those out: https://mind-springs.org/so/f0P6F5IQG

HI guys, hope you all had a wonderful summer. Just a little video update of what's coming up this Autumn. Link for the Gayles retreat: https://www.mind-springs.org/gayles-sept-2023(https://www.mind-springs.org/gayles-sept-2023) Link for Walk the Chalk: https://walkthechalk.org/(https://walkthechalk.org/) Link for the Holy Island October Retreat: https://www.mind-springs.org/hi-retreats/holy-island-october-2023(https://www.mind-springs.org/hi-retreats/holy-island-october-2023) Link for Liberating the Ego Loop Workshop: https://www.mind-springs.org/online-study-day-s/liberating-the-ego-loop-oct-2023(https://www.mind-springs.org/online-study-day-s/liberating-the-ego-loop-oct-2023)

I'm super excited about the upcoming Power of Emotions weekend coming up in a few days. I'm busy putting the finishing touches to my slide shows and trying to get my emotional ducks in a row. I think it will all come together for Saturday! It promises to be a really rich exploration of our emotions. But have not fear (!) it won't be a cry-fest or encounter group. What's exciting is having new ways of understanding affect and emotion and how it unspools in our day-to-day life. Don't be afraid of emotions! They're the powerhouse of a life well-lived. As site members you can still access the Early Bird discount (£50) if you use the code Emote50 at the checkout. Hope to see you on Saturday.

@Trudy Morrison asked: What's behind the idea of "zipping up" at the end of meditation? In yoga, we tend to drum hands on the floor to reground after practice so I assume it's something similar, but I'm curious as to the "up" rather than the "down". And here's my (not very scientific answer): I know that's not very conclusive. But I am writing a blog about the vayus or the energy winds, so that might flesh out what I'm saying here. Keep your eyes peeled for that. 😚

This morning's discussion around dissociation touched on the societal dissociation of death. And @James Tennet kindly gave a free link the the Tukdam movie that @Mechteld-Hanna Derksen recommended in this month's If anyone wants to watch the film for free, you can do so for the next week at this link. But James also suggested making a donation to Mind and Life at the same time.

@Patrizia Tenerelli asked about a mantra for generosity in todays session. Although I couldn't find a specific Sanskrit mantra for generosity (at least from an authentic source), I thought I would post this mantra practice from the book Healing Mantras by Thomas Ashley Ferrand. It's a mantra practice that allows you to work with various inner conditions. He explains that it's about offering up the negative quality and invoking the quality of peace. As people mentioned, including me, about various emotions coming during the generosity practice this practice might be suited.

Hello Mindspringers, I'm putting together this month's Mandala mail, so if you have any must-sees, must-hears, or must-reads then please let me know in the next few days. https://www.mind-springs.org/mandala-offerings