Happiness: A Spiritual & Scientific Inquiry
By Lily Rockefeller We spend much of our lives...
Lily Rockefeller 2 min read
Category
Meditation
A Methodology for Art and Awakening
For pioneering composer, singer, and interdisciplinary artist Meredith Monk, the boundary between her artistic practice and her dharma practice has increasingly dissolved.
Bringing the Dharma to the Margins of Society
Marisela Gomez, Kaira Jewel Lingo, and Valerie Brown reflect on bringing Buddhist teachings to people at the margins of society and the contemplations behind their books.
The Sacred Science of Trees
By Fru Molnar The Garrison Institute faces a...
Garrison Co-founder Explores Contemplation to Action on Tricycle’s Podcast
By Lily Rockefeller Recently, Garrison Institute...
The Fullness of Emptiness
Emptiness, a fundamental teaching in Mahayana Buddhism, might feel like a tough idea to chew on. It’s an insight that can feel more sobering than soothing at times, and it’s no stranger to misinterpretation.
Skymind and Shadow: Illuminating Reality with a Vast Mind
What if the darkest corners of ourselves, the places we most want to avoid, are actually lighting a path to greater freedom?
Accompanying Suffering: The Science Behind Contemplative Care
Not every challenge in medicine has a clinical solution. Illness, grief, uncertainty, and loss all ask something of clinicians that extends beyond their ability to diagnose and treat: the capacity to be present in the face of suffering.
Love Everybody
Lovingkindness practice asks us to embrace our shared humanity with all people, but it does not require us to agree with all of their actions.
Finding Wholeness & Healing Within Heartbreak
Heartbreak finds us all, there is no escaping it. No matter how righteously we try to live, wounding can show up in forms we recognize and forms we don’t. We inherit the pain of human relationships and other unintegrated trauma channeled through the violence of world systems, generational trauma, family breakups, fractured friendships, and the tender emotional imprints left in us from intimate partnerships.
The Myth of “I Can’t Meditate”
If there’s a tug of curiosity or the sense of spiritual longing, the assumption that “I can’t do” something is an obstacle of our own making that is worth investigating.
A Case for Silent Retreat
One of the fundamental characteristics of living a more present, peaceful life is not being bombarded and distracted by thoughts. Thoughts are fueled by stimulation, daily noise, interactions, and entertainment, whether wanted or unwanted.
While we can take breaks by shutting off devices, soothing ourselves, and vacationing, we cannot vacation from our minds. When we return from our break, we find our mental state has not changed, and we long for more soothing, instead of feeling contentment.
If we are interested and motivated to develop a calm-abiding mind everywhere we go, we must give our mind a place of space to focus.