Welwood

I particularly like the therapist/buddhist writers. Jack Kornfield and Sylvia Boorsteen don't so much address it, but they are also trained clinical psychologists. Mark Epstein in a psychiatrist, and he addresses both more specifically. But my favorite of them all is John Welwood, at the moment at least, based on my finally getting towards the end of his excellent book Toward A Psychology of Awakening. His discussion of the way that psychotherapy and meditation can compliment each other is very good. He articulates "spiritual bypassism" in which you use the teachings to reinforce your personal dynamics instead of improving on them. I've found it a useful work.

Andrew has had an intense retreat experience, sympathetic joy to him. Reginald Ray has his own Wikipedia entry, he led the retreat: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reginald_Ray

I was kind of bummed to say I'll miss some of the next Saturday mitra meetings because of my wife's pressing paper deadlines and the need for me to watch the boys. I look forward to returning to sangha night soon.

Charnal Ground Meditation

I saw the bodies exhibit: http://www.bodiestheexhibition.com/

Which was sponsored by http://www.tricycle.com/

The following people were supposed to speak:
Roshi Enkyo OÂ’Hara will teach on the preciousness of this human existence
Bhante Kondanna will teach on the transience of life
Reverend T. K. Nakagaki will offer Pure Land chants and prayers

but since Bhante H. Gunaratana was there, Bhante Kondanna did not speak,and he was by far the most famous buddhist leader there.

It was good to see sangha and we had coffee afterwards. An illustrious Scottish female ordermemberr was in town, and another one from Aryaloka. Seth pointed out her name was mention on the free lecture by Dhammarati at http://www.dharmachakra.com/. I don't want to try and spell her name. Anyway she is lovely and it was so good to get together with everyone.

Human flesh looks like chicken. I've always been an intellectual vegetarian, I never reacted viscerally to dead animals, etc. But for the first time, I felt that human flesh was like chicken, and that while I've stopped eating meat, I really am less likely to take it up after this exhibit.

I really liked The Meatrix but you can go on and on about the argument. Until I felt it is wrong, I did not stay a vegetarian for long.

May all be happy, may all be well.

billboard

http://www.fwbo-nyc.org/index.php

three fetters

I had a lovely retreat on the 3 fetters: if you break them, then you become a stream entrant, and never worry about the gravitational pull of the dharma, you will eventually become a buddha. The retreat begins in the drive up. I enjoyed the company, nature, vegetarian fare (I've finally gotten the discipline to become a vegetarian), meditation, puja. I got a cold, and was sneezing in the shrine room, I worried about interrupting other's meditation. Dino drove back with us, and taught us a new route.

Check out the timer for meditation:

www.berkeleymonastery.org