Author Archives: Patrick Cole

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About Patrick Cole

Husband, parent and writer. Sharing stories with a little humor and wisdom along the way.

Jan 3 – Contemplation – Mindfulness by Another Name

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This week I am focusing on mindfulness aka contemplation or meditation. Today, I focus on Richard Rohr‘s 90-minute video offering a Christian perspective of contemplation. Here are the top 10 key highlights for me:

  1. the quicker we let go of ego and move beyond a positive self-image, the quicker we realize that we are spiritual beings learning how to be fully human
  2. religion is both the best and worst thing in the world if we never transform beyond our ego
  3. Christianity is simply learning how to lose graciously; a Christian is someone who has met one
  4. We shouldn’t say prayers; rather we should be one
  5. it’s right relationship over correct performance
  6. move beyond limousine liberal imaging
  7. how you do anything (in the present moment) is how you do everything
  8. the first half of any contemplative sit is seeing our own “garbage” and hopefully the second half is letting it go to reconnect with present moment awareness
  9. to observe is far more effective than attacking
  10. the most radical thing we can do is contemplation

Finally, I especially appreciated Rohr’s summation that we should not confuse meeting attendance or group membership with transformation. The bigger picture of contemplation is not to get hung up on posture, process or programs. Contemplation is about reconnecting with our higher power and recognizing our relationship with everyone and everything.

Today’s senryu: A Rose Is a Rose …

no navel-gazing

let your ego go and then

reconnect with love

The Buddha’s teachings or Stoicism?

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Sample then choose. Hope you enjoy Lynn J Kelly’s post below as much as I do. For more information on the similarities between Buddhism and Stoicism check out her website: https://buddhasadvice.wordpress.com

The Buddha’s teachings or Stoicism?

Posted on January 2, 2023 by lynnjkelly

Some Buddhist teachers draw an analogy between digging many shallow holes vs. one deep hole, with sampling different spiritual paths vs. practicing deeply with one (at a time).  While it’s interesting to discover commonalities between spiritual paths, if we explore only the surfaces of many, we’ll have plenty of superficial understanding, but it probably won’t produce enough of a road map to result in significant personal growth.

For this reason, I’m going to list my main reasons for choosing the Buddha’s teachings rather than Stoicism.

  1. The Buddha himself is an exemplar of what completion of the path looks like. You may or may not believe that a human can be fully awakened, but there are significant characteristics we can observe in people like the Dalai Lama and Thich Nhat Hanh who have walked the path. In Stoicism there are practitioners, but it’s hard to point to someone who would claim to have “realized the path” completely.
  2. Unlike other spiritual or religious paths, the Buddha left a coherent, comprehensive set of instructions pointing the way to less suffering and eventually to full liberation. Each of us is invited to try out and test these instructions for ourselves. In Stoicism there are wise and useful writings, and historical figures, but there is no practical road map.
  3. The stated objective of Stoicism is to “overcome negative emotions” and this endeavor relies on reason alone. The purpose of the Buddha’s teachings is to guide us towards freedom from all forms of suffering, and our efforts necessarily incorporate more of our faculties than reason. Our faith in the path grows as we see the cumulative results of our efforts. We are also encouraged to practice compassion as a foundation.

Of course, choosing to commit to one path doesn’t mean we don’t learn from other sources. It can be beneficial to consider goals and views other than the ones we’ve (currently) chosen; and if we find a different path that seems to suit us better at a particular time in our lives, we can switch with confidence.

There is value in every established spiritual/religious/philosophical tradition. As author and theologian Karen Armstrong has written, all religions begin with an acknowledgement that something is wrong; we are afraid, we are hurting, what can we do to make it better? The answers vary wildly but all traditions attempt to address this need. It’s important that we explore with the intention to find our way to a path that will guide us in a good direction.

In the immortal words of Yogi Berra,

“If you don’t know where you are going,
you’ll end up someplace else.”

Posted in Compassion, Dukkha, Friendships, Mindfulness, Relationships, Wisdom | Tagged Buddhism and Stoicism, Mindfulness, Why Buddhism? | Leave a comment

lynnjkelly's avatarThe Buddha's Advice to Laypeople

Some Buddhist teachers draw an analogy between digging many shallow holes vs. one deep hole, with sampling different spiritual paths vs. practicing deeply with one (at a time).  While it’s interesting to discover commonalities between spiritual paths, if we explore only the surfaces of many, we’ll have plenty of superficial understanding, but it probably won’t produce enough of a road map to result in significant personal growth.

For this reason, I’m going to list my main reasons for choosing the Buddha’s teachings rather than Stoicism.

  1. The Buddha himself is an exemplar of what completion of the path looks like. You may or may not believe that a human can be fully awakened, but there are significant characteristics we can observe in people like the Dalai Lama and Thich Nhat Hanh who have walked the path. In Stoicism there are practitioners, but it’s hard to point to someone who would claim…

View original post 286 more words

Jan 2 – Meditation Is Free(ing)

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If you’re looking for something new to help you focus and feel more peaceful this year, then consider mindfulness meditation. You don’t have to adopt a new religion to do this. Contemplation is something found across religions and secular psychological traditions and there are many simple ways to learn about this calming practice.

For example, check out the free daily teaching from Tricycle Magazine this month; find more information below.

Today’s senryu: Meditation Is Free(ing)

no navel-gazing,

simply calming down to live

this present moment

Jan 1, 2023 – Happy New Year

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Every new year, new day, new breath is a new beginning. May we enjoy the present moment more often this year.

Below is a repost of today’s daily meditation from the Henri Nouwen Society. https://henrinouwen.org/meditation/

May we be inspired and re-energized for the moments to come.

“What makes us human is not our mind but our heart, not our ability to think but our ability to love.” Henri Nouwen (https://henrinouwen.org/)

A New Beginning!

We must learn to live each day, each hour, yes, each minute as a new beginning, as a unique opportunity to make everything new. Imagine that we could live each moment as a moment pregnant with new life. Imagine that we could live each day as a day full of promises.

Imagine that we could walk through the new year always listening to the voice saying to us: “I have a gift for you and can’t wait for you to see it!” Imagine. Is it possible that our imagination can lead us to the truth of our lives? Yes, it can!

The problem is that we allow our past, which becomes longer and longer each year, to say to us: “You know it all; you have seen it all, be realistic; the future will just be a repeat of the past. Try to survive it as best you can.”

There are many cunning foxes jumping on our shoulders and whispering in our ears the great lie: “There is nothing new under the sun… don’t let yourself be fooled.” When we listen to these foxes, they eventually prove themselves right: our new year, our new day, our new hour become flat, boring, dull, and without anything new.So what are we to do?

First, we must send the foxes back to where they belong: in their foxholes. And then we must open our minds and our hearts to the voice that resounds through the valleys and hills of our life saying: “Let me show you where I live among my people. My name is ‘God-with-you.’ I will wipe all the tears from your eyes; there will be no more death, and no more mourning or sadness. The world of the past has gone” (Revelation 21:2–5).
Let us go forth boldly with awe and wonder

CYE Countdown – Dec 31 – Grateful for 2022

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Dear Friend,

Thanks to the generosity of many people like you who value the difference that grateful living makes in your life and in the lives of all sentient beings, please consider a gift to your local animal shelter or Humane Society International: https://donate.hsi.org/page/112649/donate . 

Your support today will truly help. Please join me with a gift of any size. Your support helps protect all animals—including those suffering in laboratories, on factory farms and those abused in the wild.

You can help stop animal cruelty. Please give today.

Today’s senryu: Make A Difference

make a difference –

if you can’t adopt a pet,

adopt a shelter

Please remember, together we can make a difference in our local community and for the planet as a whole.

Dec 30 – A Little Magical Thinking Is Good for Us

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Magical Thinking by Matthew Hutson – Why a little magic is good for you, Psychology Today Magazine

“We look for patterns because we hate surprises and because we love being in control. Emotional stress and events of personal significance push us strongly toward magical meaning-making.”

Matthew Hutson, science journalist and former news editor for Psychology Today Magazine, continues in his delightful and informative article (referenced above), “Often we don’t even register our wacky beliefs. Seeing causality in coincidence can happen even before we have a chance to think about it; the misfiring is sometimes perceptual rather than rational.”

Hutson identifies 7 key principles of magical thinking:

  1. Anything can be sacred
  2. Anything can be cursed
  3. Mind rules over matter
  4. Rituals bring good luck
  5. To name is to rule
  6. Karma’s a bitch
  7. The world is alive

Finally, Hutson’s article offers a couple of provocative quotes:

“You can be a believer in astrology and still be a good astronomer.” Eugene V. Subbotsky

“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” Arthur C. Clarke

Inanimate objects will become more responsive, interactive, and intentional, TechGnosis author Erik Davis says, “so it will make sense to have a degree of magical thinking just to be able to deal with these devices.”

—————————————————————————————————————————–

I’ve really enjoyed Matthew Hutson’s work; especially this article. For more information about Matthew and his work check out these links:

https://www.science.org/content/author/matthew-hutson

Matthew Hutson New Yorker, Bio, Wiki, Age, Height, Wife, Salary, and Net Worth

https://www.newyorker.com/contributors/matthew-hutson

Matthew Huston @ science.org

Dec 29 – Truth, Metaphor or Magical Thinking

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“The bell is the voice of the Buddha”

“This is My body and My blood.”

“Step on a crack, you’ll break your mother’s back.”

Key Definitions:

Truth – that which is true or in accordance with fact or reality (from Oxford Languages)

Metaphor – a thing regarded as representative or symbolic of something else, especially something abstract (from Oxford Languages)

Magical Thinking – a set of related reasoning errors that are commonly associated with religionistic practices. (from Wikipedia)

WTF: I need another cup of coffee

Peace will come, even if it is, one by one. Happy New Year.

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Beautiful message from John Castellenas and singer Melanie. Check out his website at https://johncoyote.wordpress.com/

johncoyote's avatarjohncoyote

 Peace shall come, even if it is, one by one.

I was a soldier once and I didn’t paint the face of war.  I attempted to forget the damn wars with the good drink, the kind women and the ancient cities.
A pretty Auburn hair Texas gal in Belton asked me. Johnnie, Johnnie. Are you drinking again? I told her. I am drinking more, laughing more and dancing some. Sometime dear Brigid, we can reach the dead-end. She laughed at my words and she knew. Hell-board spirits ain’t seeking happiness, till they decide they need some kindness.

I told her. Old poet, the old drunk cannot see the good no-more. I believe Bukowski told us. Never truth a man or women, who don’t drink. The non-drinkers tell us, God will save us. Where was God when my friends were killed in far-away wars? Where is God today? Killing women/children and…

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The illusion of control

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Great post from Lynn J Kelly on the Buddhist/Stoic concept on the “illusion of control.” Check out Lynn’s blog at https://buddhasadvice.wordpress.com/

lynnjkelly's avatarThe Buddha's Advice to Laypeople

A foundational practice in both Stoicism and Buddhism is the idea of understanding and accepting that there are some things we can control and many things we cannot.

Once a bridge teacher said to me: “You can only choose from the available choices.” He was talking about bidding in a bridge game, but it occurred to me that this was a valuable mantra, essential when we are struggling to make a decision. We can spend some time and list out, mentally or in writing, what our actual choices are, and changing someone else’s behavior is never on this list. What we want to have happen and what we might do to bring about the desired result are two separate things. Our words and actions are what we do have control over.

As an example, in bridge, you can only bid based on the cards you hold in a particular hand. You…

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Dec 28 – Magical Thinking & Setting 2023 Goals

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If you’re setting goals for 2023 it’s important to identify meaningful and achievable targets. Beware of magical thinking (e.g., 10x results over last year) AND beware of win/lose dualistic thinking (e.g., I will only be successful if I outperform the previous year).

Quick tangent: Dualism is the concept of two opposed or contrasted aspects. For example, to say something is tall there must be something that is short. To say something is up, there must be something that is down. Either/or, better/worse, win/lose. Another of the most common dualistic thoughts is the mind/body separation (e.g., promising more than you can deliver).

Matthew Hutson, a New York City science journalist and former news editor of Psychology Today, tells us that “Several studies show that people who think more intuitively are also more susceptible to magical thinking. One intuition that’s been proposed as a foundation for religious thought is Cartesian mind-body dualism, the idea that a mind can exist independently of a body.”

Hutson continues, “Dualism (is) the strongest predictor of the three types of supernatural belief. It’s the foundation for belief in God, a disembodied mind. It’s also necessary for belief in spirits, part of the paranormal package. And it may encourage belief in life’s purpose because people see disembodied intentionality acting everywhere, or because belief in the afterlife enhances life’s meaning.”

Take another look at the diagram above. It’s worth noting that at the entrance of that maze of boxes and lines haunted with ghosts and witches and talking trees is one simple item: mentalizing. Which means that if you’re a fully developed human, with an understanding that minds exist, then through one path or another you’re probably going to end up in magic-land.” http://www.magicalthinkingbook.com/2013/09/all-paths-lead-to-magical-thinking/

Today’s senryu: Beware Mind/Body Separation

consult the Divine,

stars, life coaches, blog stats … just

don’t forget to walk