Where I’ve been?  On Sunday I went to Stinson Beach on a foggy morning.  Low tide invited me to walk west of huge rocks.

The weekend before I participated in a four day meditation retreat.  I knew that a retreat begins with the goodbyes, and yet, I didn’t realize the depths in which I was still dwelling until today I see I last posted August 10th.

What am I most with?  Impermanence and Purification, being with and watching breath. Simple, right? At times, yes, and at other times, a tangled web that stayed with, untangles and purifies, or at least, that is what I currently understand.

Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche says there are three lifelong skills to study and cultivate.

One is compassion and loving-kindness which involves “being okay with not okay”.

Second is awareness, coming back to the breath, and not being lost in thought.

Third, wisdom, is “being with the breath as it is.”

Jane Hirshfield says it like this: Zen pretty much comes down to three things—everything changes; everything is connected; pay attention.  

I’m balancing on these words of Anne Lamott:

Peace is joy at rest, and joy is peace on its feet. 

Hmmm!

I’m also with the word tear which can be interpreted as wetness from the eyes, or breaking something apart. Is there a place they meet like joy and peace?

My oldest son was born 47 years ago today.  I reflect back, grateful.  I think of the roundness of the nest that births little chicks, the roundness of our lives.  In some ways my sons seem older than I as we go round and round from root to tree to branch to spire to bench. 

https://www.presidio.gov/places/andy-goldsworthys-spire