Tricycle’s 28-day meditation challenge ~ February 1st

1 February is the first day of Tricycle’s 28 – day meditation challenge.

If you are like me, you have a zillion books to read. Well, maybe not a zillion, but near that many! 🙂  So the prospect of getting another book…well, it was daunting.

You can take this challenge without having to buy a book.  Click here for the link.

My thoughts:  The most important part of the 28 days will be the act of sitting every day. Lately, I have been sitting almost every day with #OMCru & #Drepung (twitter groups). Knowing there are others sitting with me at the same time…even if we are a world apart works well for me. I am curious to see how my days unfold as I move along the month.

Hoping you will join me and many others as we ‘Commit to Sit’ .

Been there? Done that? 🙂 Let’s start again, who knows what you will learn this time around!

Much of the heaviness…

“The fourth reminder is to awaken lovingkindness. This is the ability to bring nonjudgmental awareness from the heart to the unwanted aspects of “me.”

This reminder can’t be overemphasized. It’s so natural to want to confirm what is most negative about ourselves that we don’t even think about activating compassion or kindness.

In fact, much of the heaviness of our distress comes from the belief that we should be different.

Especially after practicing for a few years, we think we shouldn’t still be so reactive. We think we should be beyond our conditioning. But practice doesn’t work that way.

Yet when we soften our self-judgment with lovingkindness, the sense of drama and heaviness lightens considerably. ” ~ Bursting the Bubble of Fear by Ezra Bayda (Tricycle article) Please read the entire article here . It is well worth your time, at least in my opinion.

I chose this quote because it brought to mind recent conversations. Some of the conversations were with friends and family and some were within myself.

Being gentle & loving with ourselves …we can be gentle & loving with others.

Namaste and Enjoy your moments!

Buddha Quote

Do not overrate what you have received, nor envy others. He who envies others does not obtain peace of mind. ~ The Buddha

 

As you probably know…..

Dragonfly Road* is no more. The Blue Lotus Cafe site has imported DFR’s ramblings and (with work and patience on my part!) will evolve into a place of warm welcome….and some shared good karma.

I will not promise grammatically-perfect posts. I might even slp slip on my spelling. Some words, articles, posts you may not agree with. Even I may look back and not agree with the present, but that is a part of growth, yes?

Yet I can say this…TBLC is a place to grow…learn…and enjoy this ‘present’…this life. At least it is for me. And I hope it is of some value to you.

May all sentient beings be happy and have the causes of happiness!

The Blue Lotus Cafe ~ serving Dharma since 2009*

‘Reality takes Practice’ ~ Debra

The 28 Day Meditation Challenge…JOIN me in the Challlenge!

Sharon Salzburg has a 28 Day Meditation Challenge …starting in February

Words regarding this event:

‘For the month of February, we have invited a diverse group of people to participate in the meditation program that Sharon Salzberg has laid out in her latest book, Real Happiness. We are asking them to reflect on their experiences—pleasant, difficult, and in between—and let us know how it’s going. They will be blogging and tweeting about their experiences. We will post all of the feedback we receive here on Sharon’s website.’

Real Happiness: The Power of Meditation by Sharon Salzburg