Dear Friends,

When I first started studying mindfulness with Thich Nhat Hanh, he spoke a lot about the need for a sangha – a community of practice. He said, “You allow the sangha to transport you like a boat so that you can cross the ocean of sorrow.”

There is an often-quoted story about the Buddha. When the Buddha was asked whether spiritual friends were half of the path to awakening, he said no. He went on to say that spiritual friends are actually the whole of the path.

The whole? What about meditation and doing the dishes mindfully?…

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Dear Friends,

I am just back from a walk in the park with a dear friend. While there and on the way home, I saw people taking time to be together, neighbors talking to neighbors on the street, and a sense of life really slowing down. Much of this is the result of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the government’s request for social distancing — including no non-essential travel and remaining at home as much as possible.

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Someone critiqued my blog recently, saying he wished I would write about some of the good things that happened in my life, and not just my personal challenges. He wanted to hear more of what I do well. I hear that. And yet, my foibles and challenges are the places where l have learned the most and which provide lessons to share with my students and readers. Someday I may write a blog about my proudest moments. But not today.

Today, I want to share a short vignette about chocolate. 

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Walking my dogs up Mt. Weather in the Blue Ridge Mountains recently, I saw a little white flower that had survived our mild early winter. I would have easily missed seeing it, except that Roger, one of our feisty little Terriers, had stopped to sniff and pee nearby.

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