Insight Meditation Ventura

As we move through this beautiful and troubled world, may we vow to be a beacon of peace, a fearless carrier of respect and lovingkindness for all life, a telle...r of truth, a voice for justice, a protector of those who are vulnerable or targeted. May the power of wisdom, integrity and compassion be our guide. #mindfulness #compassion #jackkornfield See more

From our sister Sangha in Santa Barbara

#mindfulness #jackkornfield From The Wise Heart

Thanks to impermanence, everything is possible. If a grain of corn is not impermanent, it can never be transformed into a stalk of corn. If the stalk were not impermanent, it could never provide us with the ear of corn we eat. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

Isabel Allende has been living in the United States for 30 years and is currently closed at home with her husband and two dogs. When asked about the main fear i...mplying the virus, she said since our daughter Paula died 27 years ago, I have lost my fear of death forever. First, because I saw her die in my arms, and I realized that death is like birth, it's a transition, a threshold, and I lost my personal fear. At this moment if I catch the virus, I belong to the group of the most vulnerable, I'm 77 years old and I know that if I catch the virus I can die, and this possibility at this point in my life is very clear, but I look at it with curiosity and without fear. What this pandemic has taught me is to free myself from things. It has never been so clear to me that I need very little to live. I don't need to buy, I don't need more clothes, I don't need to go anywhere, or travel, now I see I have too much. I don't need more than two dishes! Then I started to realize who the true friends are and the people I want to be with." When asked about the teaching of the pandemic for the collective, Isabel answers: Teach us how to sort out priorities and show us reality. This pandemic underlines the inequalities of opportunity and resources in which society lives globally. Some pass the pandemic on a yacht in the Caribbean, and others go hungry, on the streets or at home closed in. It also brings the message that we are one family. What happens to a human being in Wuhan has a reflection on the entire planet. We're all connected, and that's really evidence of the tribal idea that we're separated by groups and that we can defend our small group from other groups is an illusion. There are no walls, or walls that can separate people. The virus has brought a new mindset and today a large number of people, among them: creators, artists, scientists, young men and women, are moving towards a new normal. They don't want to go back to old normality. The virus invited us to design a new future. What do we dream for ourselves as global humanity? I realized we came into the world to lose everything. The more you live, the more you lose. First you lose your parents or very sweet people, your pets, some places and then slowly your own mental and physical faculties. We can't live in fear. Fear stimulates a future that makes living in the present a dark experience. We need to relax and appreciate what we have and live in the present." - From an interview by Isabel Allende with text translation and adaptation by Ruth Joy

Love and #compassion invite us to turn toward the world. They offer the gifts of a flexible heart, wide enough to embrace experience, vulnerable yet centered. S...pirit Rock reminds you that you are not alone on this path. To support our community and teachings of #lovingkindness, please make a gift today. http://www.spiritrock.org/giving/21-sm #metta #mindfulness See more

Remember to relax your body. Image by Mary Purdie

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#totalmeditation

Life contains suffering Suffering is caused by attachment There is a way beyond this suffering It is the 8-fold Path.... Within the Fourth Noble Truths is found the guide to the end of suffering: the Noble Eightfold Path. The eight parts of the path to liberation are grouped into three essential elements of Buddhist practice: ethical conduct, mental discipline, and wisdom. THE NOBLE EIGHTFOLD PATH Ethical Conduct (Sila), based on love and compassion: 1. Right Understanding 2. Right Thought 3. Right Speech Mental Discipline (Samadhi): 4. Right Action 5. Right Livelihood 6. Right Effort Wisdom (Panna): 7. Right Mindfulness (Sati) 8. Right Concentration (Samadhi)

Whatever may be the tensions and the stresses of a particular day, there is always lurking close at hand the trailing beauty of forgotten joy or unremembered peace. ~ Howard Thurman

Sending some #mondaymetta your way today and every day. #spiritrock #mindfulness #lovingkindness #compassion #spiritrockmeditationcenter

"The crossing of the flood is only accomplished one moment at a time. The art of this accomplishment is the ability to continually begin again. This is the othe...r side of letting go, the doorway letting go reveals. We set forth, we struggle or get muddled or anxious, we lose our balance, and then realizing it, we begin again. We don’t need self-recriminations or blame or anger. We need a reawakening of intention and a willingness to recommit, to be wholehearted once again." - Sharon Salzberg from #RealChangeBook See more

The time has come to pay serious attention to ecology and peace in the world. Continuing to manufacture weapons and engaging in warfare is self-destructive. Thi...nking of others in terms of ‘us’ and ‘them’ and resorting to the use of force is completely out of date. It’s non-violence and compassion on which we have to rely. See more