We are offering this Mindfulness for Parents program on the second Monday of each month @ 7:30 pm. This is for parents, and caregivers of children of all ages. We will not have a meeting in June.
Some years ago, I did a series of four paintings on what are known in the Shambhala tradition as “the four dignities”. This tradition which was developed by one of my teachers, Chogyam Trungpa, used these rich metaphors to represent the path of a spiritual warrior (bodhisattva). I am writing this blog to share these paintings and some of the teachings the accompany them…
In the Buddhist tradition, the path of the Bodhisattva is well laid out. In the Shambhala teachings Chogyam Trungpa spoke of this as the path of a spiritual warrior. Part of this practice uses four metaphors known as the Four Dignities. These are the Tiger of Meekness, the Snow Lion of Perkiness, the Garuda of Outrageousness and the Dragon of Inscrutability.
How do we meet this moment we find ourselves in - a world that is changing so fast and is so chaotic and confusing it’s difficult to find our bearings. I am grateful to be a part of a loving Sangha community and a Zen spiritual tradition that nutures a sane, grounded way of living that meets each moment with openness, kindness, deep respect, and grace.
I am an American citizen, but its increasingly difficult to know what that means, as this moment is often given over to division, partison politics, biopolar ideological disagreements, fear, and violence. Is America having a nervous breakdown? This crisis of identity is debilitating. And what adds to it, is the barage of lies and conflicting stories coming at us so fast, we have no way of knowing what is true or false, what is fact or fiction. Overwhelmed by this flood of noise, it’s easy to become numb and to withdraw.
Weave
your grandmother’s tomatoes and your neighbor’s lost eyes
the crack left by the jet plane, now far away and the crystal pattern of ice on the morning window
the lost rhythm of your native tongue and the laughter on the neighborhood stoop
the broken lamp post and the lost key
Bill McKibben, the prophet of global climates dark truths, has published a new book with a positive story that is not yet being fully told and appreciated. “There is one good big thing happening among all the big bad things happening on our planet” he says, and “it is going so far largely unnoticed.” The speed with which the world is transitioning to new technologies for solar power is unprecedented. Solar power is now the biggest source of energy in the world, and yet, we still don’t seem to take it seriously. That is about to change.