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I sat in the meditation hall, bringing awareness to my in and out breath as the sunlight streamed in from the stained glass windows.
As the bell sounded and we began to walk around the meditation hall together in silence, I looked at the beautiful sangha that surrounded me and was overwhelmed by the amount of warmth, support — and most importantly, safety.
As we honor this year’s Earth Day celebration, we find ourselves reflecting on human relationships with nature and the complex ecologies that have supported life on Earth for millions of years. As a species, it’s clear we face a quandary rooted in mindsets that separate people and nature. However, cultivating gratitude, community resilience, and deep relationship with the land offers a hopeful path for a more harmonious future.
On May 30th, the Garrison Institute hosted an...
This month, we are planting seeds for...
This Earth Day, we’re reflecting on words...
Sometimes we are supposed to be falling rather than standing upright. I am thinking of the life cycle of a leaf. A portion of a leaf's life span consists of being firmly rooted on the branch of a tree, while at some point in time, the season comes where the leaf falls from the tree to the earth. If I could put myself in the experience of the leaf for a moment, I imagine the liminal moment between the leaf being firmly attached to the branch and the leaf finding itself unfastened by this uncontrollable gravitational pull to the earth, a moment of grief and fear. I understand our human lives to be similar to that of a leaf.
Insights like these don’t always come through experiences that are challenging, painful or even traumatic. Sometimes they do. Hardship is not a prerequisite for wisdom, however, it is at least part of the process – and a very potent part, at that. We all have hardship in our lives. How we respond to hardship is what reveals whether or not we have developed wise characteristics.
Saturday June 19 is Juneteenth, celebrated by...
By Sharon Salzberg and Diana Calthorpe Rose...
This thought-provoking forum discussion between Caroline Margaret Volstad, J.D., and Lama Justin von Bujdoss (Repa Dorje Odzer) explores the challenges of disrupting suffering through spiritual care within carceral facilities. Caroline and Justin spend this hour contemplating justice (which Justin defines as respect, agency, appreciation of value, and freedom from violence for all beings) in the context of Justin’s work as Staff Chaplain for the New York City Department of Corrections.
Martel Catalano is the executive director and...