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Subscribe to this list via RSS Blog posts tagged in buddha

Posted by on in Paths Blogs
Suspension of Belief

I was swept away by the healing ritual, chanting with a hundred others as we worked with the energy of Isis. My friend from the other side of Paganism, however, was aghast. 

 

“You invoke the gods and then do nothing for them. You’re not even properly grateful.” For her the gods existed externally and needed to be honoured and thanked, not used as props in a psychodrama. I just knew that the ritual had worked. I felt alive and uplifted.

 

As I fumbled to explain, she asked in exasperation, “I mean, what exactly do you believe?”

 

Well, I don’t. Believe that is. 

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Posted by on in Paths Blogs
The Tin Cup

 

Krishna Das tells the story of an important teaching he received from a fellow disciple of his guru, Maharaji: The disciple showed him with great ceremony an object hidden deep in a cupboard, wrapped in a dirty cloth. It was a small beat-up aluminum pot. The disciple unwrapped it and showed it off reverently. “Do you see?” he said. “You don’t have to shine. You don’t have to shine.” *

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Posted by on in Paths Blogs
Step into the Fire

Step into the Fire

 

I got called out by my kid. And it was gut-wrenching. 

 

They’d embarked on an exploration of “family stories” they wanted to rewrite, the unspoken assumptions and unwritten rules of their upbringing. When they shared this their words were calm but direct. The unquestioning child was gone. A fully observant adult stood in their place.

 

Seeing myself and our family life through their eyes was….bracing. Scary. I had to face some uncomfortable truths, and found myself filled with a sense of loss and regret. I hadn’t been a perfect parent, and I wasn’t a perfect person. 

 

But this was a perfect chance to step into the fire.

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Posted by on in Paths Blogs
The Amber Necklace

I won a set of brown beads in a raffle. They were simple and pleasing, warm to the touch. To my surprise, they turned out to be amber, understood by the ancients as both a kind of solidified sunlight and as the tears of a goddess.

 

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Recent Comments - Show all comments
  • Archer
    Archer says #
    I've always said reincarnation is the only explanation for the talents of both my kids! Thanks for the kind words Ted!
  • Ted Czukor
    Ted Czukor says #
    This is beautiful, Archer. So well thought-out and integrated. What a wonderful avatar your child is; and yet we are told that s

Posted by on in Paths Blogs
Can I Get a Witness?

 

 

One of my yoga students approached me after class. She wanted to discuss a scene from a book I’d leant her.

 

“You know how the author is teaching a yoga class, and one of his students breaks down crying and he cradles her head in his hands and acts as her witness? And then he shows her how to be her own witness?”

 

I nodded.

 

“Well I was wondering if you could that for me?”

 

Sure. No problem.

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Recent Comments - Show all comments
  • Archer
    Archer says #
    It's amazing to me how much we can pull out of our stories--about Buddha, Jesus, Odin, whomever. I marvel at how powerful the stor
  • Ted Czukor
    Ted Czukor says #
    You're welcome, as always. Fortunately I read your first reply, so I appreciate the "in"-sights you shared; I also understand why
  • Ted Czukor
    Ted Czukor says #
    Thank you, Archer, for another excellent article. I know exactly what you mean about long distance witnessing. I'm not familiar wi
  • Archer
    Archer says #
    Thanks for some thoughtful points and kind words Ted.

Posted by on in Paths Blogs
Sympathy for the Devil

Sure, I love bad boys. They’re sexy, rebellious, often funny, deliciously scary.  But why I really love them? Because they’re honest. Because they know how to suffer. On those days when Facebook is filled with “humble brags” and Pollyanna affirmations, I find myself on the side of those who aren’t afraid to complain. 

 

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Posted by on in Paths Blogs
Fear

Fear. We’re in it all the time. The cancer patients I teach, friends on the financial edge, my husband who has nightmares. A disturbing childhood vision--an intruder climbing a ladder to his room but somehow never reaching the sill--means he hates to be alone in the house. 

I don’t fear death or burglars, just failure and ferris wheels. But that’s been enough to affect many life choices. I don’t drive or have a career (or enjoy amusement parks). I lead classes and ritual, but both make me sweat. I imagine my friends rolling their eyes as I seek reassurance for something I’ve done a hundred times before.

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Recent Comments - Show all comments
  • Gwion Raven
    Gwion Raven says #
    Oh what a lovely post! My partner and I have been talking about just this very thing for the past several months. She "faced down"
  • Archer
    Archer says #
    Thank you! For me, it was learning to live with the feeling of fear--not to be afraid of being afraid--that helped me move through

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