Despite a strong practice of meditation and reflection, I admit to struggling with my own sense of what to do and with how to be with the wide variety of spirit-killing realities that arose all around us, almost daily, this summer. The raft of shootings by police and then shootings of police. The nearly unfathomable tragedy in Nice. And, of…
Join us for the Fourth Biennial Contemplative Care Symposium, Building a Community of Care, on November 8-11. This is a collaborative event that champions theories of contemplative healthcare, put on by New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care and The Garrison Institute. Click here for info and to register. Leading up to the symposium, NYZCCC cofounders Koshin Paley Ellison and Robert…
We recently partnered with the New York Open Center to present a talk by renowned British spiritual teacher Rupert Spira. The title of the talk was “The Essence of Nonduality” and Spira explored the nondual understanding that lies at the heart of various spiritual traditions, such as Advaita Vedanta, Kashmir Shaivism, Buddhism, mystical Christianity, Zen and Sufism. Spira emphasized that we can investigate the…
As part of our “Garrison Talks at the JCC” event series, teachers and authors Sharon Salzberg and Rev. angel Kyodo williams recently discussed ways to bridge spiritual practice and social activism. Some of the key questions explored: Does spiritual practice require that we love everyone? Does being happy mean that we avoid conflict? How can we speak differently about spiritual practice and…
Leading up to Joanna Macy’s 2016 retreat “Rainer Maria Rilke and the Force of the Storm,” exploring the work of Rainer Maria Rilke in the context of her well-know experiential seminar called “The Work That Reconnects,” journalist Andrew Revkin spoke with Macy about what Rilke has to offer those working on behalf of the planet and the increasing need to…
This post is in honor of World Humanitarian Day 2016. Four years ago, I was one year into my humanitarian aid mission in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Picture this: My chest is tight, my hands are jittery, and my stomach is in knots. I have just returned from my last intended “R&R” and can already feel my resistance to stress evaporating. The…
One of the reasons that teachers experience so much stress at work is that they haven’t developed the social and emotional skills that are required to work under the conditions that they’re faced with. To address this need, a team at the Garrison Institute created the CARE for Teachers program (Cultivating Awareness and Resilience in Education). We recently held our Tenth Annual…
I have a little theory about enlightenment. If you were all alone in an alternate universe (population: you), you could get enlightened quickly, if you set your intention. Your life would be greatly simplified. There would be no border disputes, no angry divorces, no revenge narratives starring Clint Eastwood. Facebook would be extremely boring, with a total of 0 friends…