Thanks for this Sarah. I'm a Quaker, but the passage you refer to in Quakere Faith & Practice doesn't seem fmailiar, sorry.
What it did remind me of is a Work That Reconnects practice that Joanna Macy offers called the Bodhisattva Check-In (she comes from a Buddhist tradition). I've found this very powerful: you are invited to visualise the process of choosing the circumstances that you will be born in to, with all the challenges, strengths and joys of that particular situation.
Hi Chris! I keep hearing about Joanna Macy but I've never read any of her stuff, so this is a good reminder to do that. It's funny about that Quaker quote. I tried to find it but couldn't. It's quite possible I got the wrong end of the stick...
Ohhh this is incisively articulate, Sarah. Beautifully explained. When I read this, it reminded me of Prof Lisa Feldman Barett's work; her book is 'How Emotions Are Made', I wrote a few articles last year about her work.
Meditation has kept me sane, even during painful times. I tend to think of thoughts more like threads, slowing the weaving, meditating on each thread - each finger in your analogy. Trying my best not to judge the thread as it appears - holding it lightly and observing it...It's hard for the researcher in me to avoid trying to trace the thread to its source and 'why!' it!
Thanks for offering a new frame/reference for thinking about meditation.
Thanks for this Sarah. I'm a Quaker, but the passage you refer to in Quakere Faith & Practice doesn't seem fmailiar, sorry.
What it did remind me of is a Work That Reconnects practice that Joanna Macy offers called the Bodhisattva Check-In (she comes from a Buddhist tradition). I've found this very powerful: you are invited to visualise the process of choosing the circumstances that you will be born in to, with all the challenges, strengths and joys of that particular situation.
https://workthatreconnects.org/resources/bodhisattva-check-in-or-accepting-the-challenges-and-gifts-of-this-lifetime/
She even includes the idea of recognising the people around us as beings we knew in that place/time before birth!
(And I *love* "The finger pointing at the moon can help but we still have to find the moon for ourselves"!)
Hi Chris! I keep hearing about Joanna Macy but I've never read any of her stuff, so this is a good reminder to do that. It's funny about that Quaker quote. I tried to find it but couldn't. It's quite possible I got the wrong end of the stick...
I’m really enjoying these series of essays, Sarah. The ND thinking and weaving and threading and grounding.
Thanks Elizabeth, and it's lovely to hear you're reading these.
Ohhh this is incisively articulate, Sarah. Beautifully explained. When I read this, it reminded me of Prof Lisa Feldman Barett's work; her book is 'How Emotions Are Made', I wrote a few articles last year about her work.
Meditation has kept me sane, even during painful times. I tend to think of thoughts more like threads, slowing the weaving, meditating on each thread - each finger in your analogy. Trying my best not to judge the thread as it appears - holding it lightly and observing it...It's hard for the researcher in me to avoid trying to trace the thread to its source and 'why!' it!
Thanks for offering a new frame/reference for thinking about meditation.