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Flint Sparks Poems from Inquiry

Dear Sangha. Here are two poems from today's Inquiry - one by Mary Oliver which I read, and another by RIchard Wilbur that Krzys mentioned when he came up. We are indebted to these two authors for their work and their wisdom, borne of their practice. It was lovely to be with everyone and reconnect. Terns Mary Oliver Don't think just now of the trudging forward of thought, but of the wing-drive of unquestioning affirmation. It's summer, you never saw such a blue sky, and here they are, those w… Continue

Added by Flint Sparks on February 2, 2010 at 4:00pm — 1 Comment

Flint Sparks Taos Retreat

I am sitting in Love Field in Dallas waiting for a delayed flight back to Austin after a week of retreat in the snowy mountains of Taos, New Mexico. As I type these words, the irony of "sitting in a field of love" suddenly captures my awareness and re-centers me, drowning out the harsh and garbled flight announcements, the overstimulated screams of running children, and the patchwork sounds of one-sided cell phone conversations (not to mention the penetrating smell of Cinnebons). Amidst all this… Continue

Added by Flint Sparks on January 30, 2010 at 6:46pm — 1 Comment

Robin Bradford Precepts Ceremony

Thank you everyone for your kind wishes for my precepts ceremony tonight. The "script" is quite daunting - I wish I had been able to join everyone else last fall but my son was sick. So I will go it alone (repeating "Yes, I will" 3 times!) - but not really alone since you will all be there in one fashion or another. Namaste, Robin Continue

Added by Robin Bradford on January 27, 2010 at 5:08pm — 1 Comment

Todd Bankler Winter 2010 "Four Seasons Sit"

Thanks to John Daniewicz for once again organizing the four seasons sit. Today was a lovely day down in the RiverPlace creek canyon. It was definately chilly enough to keep me awake and attentive. The waterfall was flowing. The breeze was blowing. And to top it all off, there was a BodhiDarmha sighting... :) (I just had to sneak this picture of William McRae silently illuminating during the first sit above the waterfall. :)

… Continue

Added by Todd Bankler on January 24, 2010 at 5:08pm — 7 Comments

mary ann reynolds the zafu report

that's the name of my blog. please feel free to check it out and follow if you wish at zafureport.wordpress.com. the premise is to sit for 30 minutes every day in 2010 and blog about it. posts are generally under 300 words. i have readers who are not buddhists. in fact, i'm not sure i'm a buddhist. i just sit. Continue

Added by mary ann reynolds on January 24, 2010 at 4:00pm — 2 Comments

Kunzang Roesler in 3 days/Friday 1/15/10

I was wondering if some of you might want to join me in an ecumenical peace process called: "Winter Feast For the Soul". It begins in 3 days/Friday/Jan. 15 and lasts for 40 days (until Feb. 23). It all began 2 years ago by one woman who was inspired by 3 lines she came across from the 13 century poet & mystic Rumi “What nine months does for the embryo Forty early mornings Will do for your growing awareness” If you can't do your 40 minutes in the early a.m., then how about sitting in the m… Continue

Added by Kunzang Roesler on January 12, 2010 at 11:25am — No Comments

Peg Syverson Emptiness

photo of an empty store

Ben took this shot of an empty store in a nearby neighborhood. His wry caption was empty stores are the new kittens and flowers of the photo world

What does this photo evoke for you? My first thought was of losses: the economic downturn, the death

… Continue

Added by Peg Syverson on December 25, 2009 at 9:46am — 1 Comment

Peg Syverson The Practice Path of Holidays

The holidays present special challenges and opportunities for practice. Many people feel isolated or lonely, stressed or depressed at this time, while others are basking in the warmth and love of friends and families. You may experience a real roller coaster of emotions, thoughts, stories, interactions, and reflection. Sometimes the crush of activities means that we are not able to take good care of our bodies, spend time with those closest to us, or find time for meditation. Our practice under… Continue

Added by Peg Syverson on December 23, 2009 at 12:20pm — 1 Comment

Maureen Milligan My Dad, Claude Wesley Milligan, Died

Hi, my father died on Sunday, while I was at the airport fixing to fly out to see him. I had talked to him by phone on Saturday (he knew who I was) and again on Sunday morning when he was unconscious, but I was able to say goodbye, tell him we got our smarts and our sense of humor from him, and tell him that if he wanted to go, he didn't need to wait for me. I called my sister from the airport to check on him and it turned that when I called was the moment he died. I'm sad I didn't get a chance… Continue

Added by Maureen Milligan on December 22, 2009 at 5:30pm — 7 Comments

Peg Syverson December Practice Intensive

We've just completed the December 2009 Practice Intensive at Appamada. Twenty-three people participated, including some who traveled from Louisiana and Oregon. The theme for the intensive was Silent Illumination in Practice. Each morning, during service, we read Hongzhi's "Acupuncture Needle of Zazen." . Dharma talks were interactive dialogues around three of Honghzi's… Continue

Added by Peg Syverson on December 8, 2009 at 10:30am — 2 Comments

Ted Walls Dharma Heroin

In a recent inquiry group at Appamada, Flint was refrencing the chapter on Coming to Our Senses in Joko Beck’s book “Nothing Special”. In the chapter, Joko talks about the importance of staying grounded in the present moment as we experience it through our five senses and the engagement of functional thought. As Flint gave his talk and as I listened to the exchanges taking place with those going up for inquiry, the words Dharma Heroin kept coming up in my mind. When it was my own time in the in… Continue

Added by Ted Walls on November 23, 2009 at 3:30pm — 1 Comment

Robin Bradford December intensive sleep over?

Does anyone who's doing the Dec. intensive have a room I could stay in for the 3 nights of the retreat? Wondering if I can avoid family chaos or if that will be part of practice... Please reply directly to me: givingwing@gmail.com Thank you! - Robin Continue

Added by Robin Bradford on November 16, 2009 at 8:41pm — 1 Comment

Peg Syverson Buddha and Clare Graves' levels of existential development

Some of us in the sangha have been interested in Spiral Dynamics, based on the research of Clare Graves. I became curious about how the Spiral Dynamics model of human development—a model that applies to individuals as well as groups and whole societies—connected with the teachings of the Buddha. Graves developed his model based on over 30 years of research into the "psychologically mature human being,” and it has been enormously influential in many different fields: education, public policy,

… Continue

Added by Peg Syverson on November 7, 2009 at 9:15am — No Comments

Peg Syverson Clayton's baby is here!

From: Clayton Maxwell Date: November 3, 2009 11:01:04 PM CST To: flint@flintsparks.com Subject: baby here Dear Flint and Peg, Just wanted to thank you for the gift of the Inquiry group in my weeks leading up to birth. Harry Maxwell Sloan was born last Friday. We had a wonderful natural birth, a real joy after having had a c-section with my first. I do think that hearing Joko's reading about melting (in our inquiry two days prior) helped me resist the anesthesia. I visualized melting through th… Continue

Added by Peg Syverson on November 4, 2009 at 2:42pm — No Comments

Bill Smith Block-t-Thon

I enjoyed this article in today's New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/01/nyregion/01marathon.html. The author decided to walk 26 miles around the block where he lives in New York City. The longer he walked, the more he learned about his immediate surroundings. Continue

Added by Bill Smith on October 31, 2009 at 8:51am — No Comments

klaas 'Nothing Special' documentary

Hello Appamada friends! You can watch Claudia Willke's documentary on Joko online, here on Dutch TV archive: http://www.boeddhistischeomroep.nl/uitzending.aspx?lIntYear=2003&lIntType=0&lIntEntityId=81 enjoy! warmly, Klaas Continue

Added by klaas on September 22, 2009 at 5:37am — 1 Comment

Peg Syverson You are ready now

without advancing anything the least particle, without staring into despair (maintaining that stillness is costly, you will have nothing left to shout about) if you are able to penetrate these rain clouds or the damp sparkle on the mesquite leaves let alone the inconceivable mysteries of the human heart and mind if there is one cup of tea made with complete attention you already know everything you need to know you are ready now. Are you still hesitating, your hand on the door? Maybe you did no… Continue

Added by Peg Syverson on September 19, 2009 at 10:13am — No Comments

Peg Syverson Mindfulness

Recently, I realized that the calligraphy over the altar, the one that is simply titled “Mindfulness,” is actually the Japanese representation of appamada. The kanji is composed of two simpler characters, and the Japanese word for it is nen. The top character means “now, today, this present era, this moment”. It looks like a peaked roof, or a mountain. The bottom character, shin, is usually translated as “heart” or “mind.” A more complete meaning of this character is “heart,… Continue

Added by Peg Syverson on September 14, 2009 at 10:00am — 3 Comments

Peg Syverson Flint's Dharma talk at AZC

Yesterday Flint gave a lovely dharma talk at Austin Zen Center and led a one-day workshop there that was warmly received. In the talk he discusses several of the chants we use at Appamada. If you would like to hear the talk, it has been posted here: http://austinzencenter.org/teachings/audio/audio.html Continue

Added by Peg Syverson on September 13, 2009 at 9:02pm — No Comments

Peg Syverson Appamada Precepts Ceremony

Last night the Zendo was completely packed for our first Precepts Ceremony at Appamada. You can see photos of the ceremony, taken by Cassie Weyandt, in the flickr Appamada pool and the album for the Ceremony. We congratulate the participants who took the precepts at the ceremony: Lisa Kuntz Ted Walls Daryl Elliott Tom Vandestadt Pamela… Continue

Added by Peg Syverson on September 3, 2009 at 10:30am — No Comments

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Appamada is not just the occasional mindful thought or attentive state of mind, it’s actually a commitment to being attentive. It’s more than just a meditative state of mind, it’s more than just being mindful. It has to do with that primary ethical or moral orientation we have in life, with which we bring into being whatever activity we’re engaged in. Whether in formal meditation, in our interactions with other people, in our social concerns, or in our political choices, it’s the energetic cherishing of what we regard as good.
—Stephen Batchelor

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