FLOWmeditation

monday meditations | the universe is not out to get anybody -

monday meditations | the universe is not out to get anybody But that also means that it doesn't "have your back."

monday meditations | crochet
Wisdom is where you find it.

https://mailchi.mp/vedicpathmeditation.com/monday-meditations-crochet

monday meditations | the blue - https://mailchi.mp/vedicpathmeditation.com/monday-meditations-the-blue

I was talking with a student the other day about how she’s noticed that valuable insights and ideas come up during meditation. She was very excited about a particular insight that had come she said, as many others have said, “out of the blue.”

This is how it goes We get so caught up taking about the thing that has come out of the blue that we ignore the opportunity to examine what is, in fact, more valuable than any idea.

We ignore the blue.

It looks like Yvette will finally, for real this time, be discharged from the hospital this evening. Which means we're on the cusp of the next chapter, living whatever kind of life can be lived, for who knows how long, with a pair of donor lungs that her body, thanks to a whole bunch of medications, will tolerate, but never fully accept. This weeks Monday Meditation is a reflection on being OK with not knowing how it will go.

monday meditations | hope-full-less-ness

As you may remember from middle school science, nature abhors a vacuum. But since so few of us spend much time in labs or in space, a more practical way of applying that principle here on Earth is to say that people abhor uncertainty.

We have lots of questions, and absolutely hate not knowing. So we rush to fill the empty space with answers even if we don’t have information. This explains the age-old appeal of psychics, whether it’s the Magic 8-ball or the Oracle at Delphi.

Filling in the gaps of uncertainty can be fun, especially when the questions aren’t so serious. But it’s when we come up against big questions that the discomfort of not knowing grates on us.

In those situations some people are brimming with hope, including the hope that they will be resilient enough to bounce back if they end up being wrong.

Others tend towards the pessimistic, telling themselves things won’t work out. They would rather lower expectations than be disappointed when things turn out badly.

The important thing to realize is that both optimists and pessimists are telling themselves a story to fill the vacuum of uncertainty and make life a little more bearable. This happens so automatically it’s hard to see we’re doing it.

Over the last several months our family’s life has revolved around some very big questions.

Back in the fall the question was whether or not my wife, who was dealing with a degenerative lung disease, would get added to the transplant list at UCSF.



That question was answered in the affirmative in late-December, thanks to a feeding tube that allowed her to gain the weight needed to pass a critical threshold of vitality.

But then came the next question: How long will it be until we get “the call?” And the darker question, lurking behind that one: Will she die before a donor is found?

And the uncomfortable truth was we didn’t know.

People rushed in with answers, telling themselves and us a story that they hoped would be true.

“It will all work out."
“She will get through this.”
“It’s going to be OK.”
“You have to think positive.”

But of course, they didn’t, couldn’t, know.

Yvette was less hopeful, or more honest, depending on how you look at it. She told herself that because of her genetic profile it would probably be several months before a suitable donor was found. This was her story.

I admitted it might be months, or I said, “it could be in the next five minutes.” As it turned out we got the call less than three weeks after being added to the list. But that doesn’t mean she was wrong and I was right. It’s just what happened.

And now, a few weeks after a successful transplant operation, we’re asking another question, one we’ll be dealing with for as long as Yvette lives.

“Will her body reject the donor lungs?” Or, put another way, “How will our life unfold from here?”

But no one, not even her doctors who are some of the best lung-transplant doctors on the planet, know for sure.

The truth is life is uncertainty. That’s what makes it alive with possibility.

The questions is can we sit comfortably in that vibrant uncertainty? Can we see that both hopefulness and hopelessness are just different kinds of crutches? Can we embrace what I'm calling a kind of hopeless-full-ness that tilts neither one way or the other?

Can we see that life as it unfolds is richer, more alive, than any story we could ever tell about it?

These are the questions I’m asking on this stormy Monday morning. And the only answer I can honestly give is, I don’t know.

With love, James

monday meditations | hopefull-less-ness Hopefull-less-ness As you may remember from middle school science, nature abhors a vacuum. But since so few of us spend much time in labs or in space, a more practical way of applying that principle here on Earth is to say that people abhor uncertainty. We have lots of questions, and absolutely hate...

monday meditations | highs and lows - https://mailchi.mp/vedicpathmeditation.com/monday-meditations-highs-and-lows

monday meditations | dog time - https://mailchi.mp/vedicpathmeditation.com/monday-meditations-dog-time

As Dr. Seuss might ask, "Would you, could you, on a boat?"

Yes, we can and will meditate on a boat. On a lovely, luxury sailboat. We'll also enjoy some land-based instruction in the morning, and then a lovely lunch before heading out onto the bay to put what we learn into practice.

Hope you can join us for this unique experience.

Two dates available: November 18th and December 2nd.

Sea Change - A Meditation + Sailing Day Retreat Join us for a day-long meditation and sailing retreat for a Sea Change adventure with Vedic master James Brown and our sailing yachts.

monday meditations | hello, it's we -

monday meditations | hello, it's we Hello, it's we.   Last week’s post ended with the somewhat radical suggestion that none of us are really who we think we are. That our sense of being an individual self is a kind of costume, that it’s simply a role we play in this grand production called life. Which led to the natural question....

monday meditations | costume party -

monday meditations | costume party What if behind the mask is another mask?

monday meditations | you first - https://mailchi.mp/vedicpathmeditation.com/monday-meditations-you-first

Outside the market the other day a guy and I engaged in a brief round of trying to out-polite each other.

“You first,” we both said, gesturing towards the door. There was a bit of herky-jerky awkwardness as we each waited for the other to go, then each of us started to step forward, and then stopped after seeing the other had started until we both laughed and realized the doorway was wide enough to allow us both to pass side-by-side so we did.

monday meditations | afraid of the light - https://mailchi.mp/vedicpathmeditation.com/monday-meditations-afraid-of-the-light

A few years ago our youngest had this quirky dilemma to work through at bedtime.� �

“Dad?”� �

“Yes, my love?”� �

“I’m a little bit afraid of the dark.”�

But as I’d go to switch on a night light he’d add, “…but I’m also a little bit afraid of the light.”� �

Hmmm…that’s a tough one.� �

And I don’t think it’s something we necessarily get over as we get older.�

monday meditations | afraid of the light Afraid of the light.  A few years ago our youngest had this quirky dilemma to work through at bedtime. “Dad?” “Yes, my love?” “I’m a little bit afraid of the dark.” But as I’d go to switch on a night light he’d add, “…but I’m also a little bit afraid of the light.” Hmmm.....

This week's Monday Meditation

THE BEST WORST THING

The aftermath of having an affair blow up in my face led me (and my wife) to learn to meditate. Our relationship is stronger now in so many ways, but it was hella hard to rebuild trust, to slog through all that guilt, shame and pain.

Discovering my guru was a liar, hypocrite and a person with some sketchy ideas about women, and equally questionable ethics regarding s*x between students and teachers led me reject him (it was mutual, for what it’s worth), and to strike out on my own path.

I spent a few years wandering in the spiritual woods, doubting myself and what I was teaching and almost gave it up. But I ended up discovering other teachers, other examples of how to teach from a place of integrity, and find myself now in a much better place...and very glad I didn’t quit.

Adyashanti, a wonderful teacher who shone brightly during my dark days of wandering, has a term for this.

He calls it, “fierce grace.”

The first TED talk to ever go viral, neuroscientist Jill Bolte-Taylor’s “My Stroke of Insight,” is a gripping story of how witnessing her own stroke, and surrendering to the death she felt was imminent, allowed her to discover an abiding peace which she has spent her life sharing with others.

Fierce grace indeed.

Yesterday I gave a dharma talk titled “Can You Hear the Music” in which we discussed the Vedic idea that the underlying theme song of the universe is evolution, that all change is progressive change...but that life often puts us in situations where it can be VERY difficult to hear that song. (Email me if you want a copy of the recording.)

Perhaps you can relate.

And when we’re in the grip of those situations, someone spouting platitudes about how “all change is progressive change,” or “the universe has your back,” can be quite infuriating.

Thankfully grace doesn’t come barging through the front door spouting platitudes.

It sneaks up, catches us unawares, in small ways we could never expect.

All it asks is that we be open to receive.

Even a crack can be enough.

With love, James

monday meditations | the best worst thing The best worst thing.   The aftermath of having an affair blow up in my face led me (and my wife) to learn to meditate. Our relationship is stronger now in so many ways, but it was hella hard to rebuild trust, to slog through all that guilt, shame and pain.   Discovering my guru was a liar, hypoc...

monday meditations | peace out

Did you know that a few days ago was the International Day of Peace?

I didn’t until the morning of Sept. 21st, when I read a very angry Facebook rant from someone promoting the day while at the same time bitterly complaining about well…it doesn’t matter what they were complaining about. But it simply goes to show that Peace with a capital P, while certainly a noble cause, is not actual peace.

monday meditations | peace out   Did you know that a few days ago was the International Day of Peace?   I didn’t until the morning of Sept. 21st, when I read a very angry Facebook rant from someone promoting the day while at the same time bitterly complaining about well…it doesn’t matter what they were complaining about....

friday dispatch | stepping off the path -

friday dispatch | stepping off the path It's not easy, but often necessary.

https://mailchi.mp/vedicpathmeditation.com/monday-meditations-anticippointment

monday meditations | anticippointment There was a time in my life when if something didn’t go the way I wanted or hoped I would get very upset. Depending on the situation I might try to smile, but underneath I was anything but happy. It would ruin my day, and sometimes I would ruin someone else’s day in the process. Perhaps you can ...

monday meditations | in hiding - https://mailchi.mp/vedicpathmeditation.com/monday-meditations-in-hiding

monday meditations | the biggest questions - https://mailchi.mp/vedicpathmeditation.com/monday-meditations-the-biggest-questions