Category Archives: Observations

Feb 1 – The Mixed Messages of February

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What comes to mind when you first realize it’s February? What memories, historical events or important people come to mind? What about February do you look forward to this year?

Personally, I first think of another Valentine’s Day that I won’t be celebrating. My partner doesn’t like this day and I became less interested myself when my beloved grandfather died on this day. This “holiday” has become more of a dirge than a celebration, a personal St. Valentine’s Day massacre.

Next, I think of Groundhog Day. A funny day and an even funnier movie. Did you know that the Groundhog Day movie is considered a great metaphor for life from a Buddhist perspective?

Then I remember the U.S. Presidential holidays which quite frankly are another mixed message, from my perspective. George Washington was a rich slave owner and Abraham Lincoln was a lawyer who used the Emancipation Proclamation as a war tactic. Fortunately, both of these thoughts remind me that February is Black History Month in the U.S. which is a very good thing to celebrate.

My life has benefited greatly from African American contributions and specific individuals who have demonstrated honor and nobility in their own lives. Many black Mindfulness practitioners have especially role-modeled the benefits of nonduality and nonviolent principles.

Now I’m looking forward to this month and the topics I will be blogging about.

Finally, this mixed-emotional month reminds me of a poem published last year in a self-published book Natural Beauty and Other Poems (c) 2022 Patrick J. Cole

Here’s the poem:

One Tree, One Lonely, February Afternoon

In the middle of a field, far apart from others, that lie in the woods to the West,

stands a tree, alone, exposed on every side; a tree looking different from the rest.

How did this tree end up here, all alone? Does a tree ever have a choice?

Perhaps our ancestral seeds blow where they will and all we have is our voice,

to tell what we know, however small it may be, in whatever field we find ourself.

Sometimes, what stands out, catches our eye, ends up on a mantle or a shelf.

Alone and lonely are two separate states but sometimes they’re intertwined,

like the branches of a tree, one lonely afternoon, in a late February state of mind.

Photo taken by the author in a nearby nature park.

Jan 31 – It’s all in your state of mind

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Why pay attention to what’s in your mind? Why become more acquainted with your thoughts? Why practice Mindfulness?

Here’s a response from a poet for whom little is known yet his words from 1905 still inspire today.

Thinking by Walter D. Wintle

“If you think you are beaten, you are
If you think you dare not, you don’t,
If you like to win, but you think you can’t
It is almost certain you won’t.

If you think you’ll lose, you’re lost
For out of the world we find,
Success begins with a fellow’s will
It’s all in the state of mind.

If you think you are outclassed, you are
You’ve got to think high to rise,
You’ve got to be sure of yourself before
You can ever win a prize.

Life’s battles don’t always go
To the stronger or faster man,
But soon or late the man who wins
Is the man WHO THINKS HE CAN!”
― Walter D. Wintle – https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/mindfulness

For a brief inspirational video see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZnxUdke3TQ

I would love to hear a nongender rendition someday.

Jan 30 – Benefits of Mindfulness

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There are many benefits to the practice of Mindfulness. The excerpts below come from a more comprehensive article, if you’re interested. Check it out here:(https://www.helpguide.org/harvard/benefits-of-mindfulness.htm). Hopefully this brief introduction will encourage you.

“Practices for Improving Emotional and Physical Well-Being

Mindfulness is the practice of purposely focusing your attention on the present moment—and accepting it without judgment. Mindfulness is now being examined scientifically and has been found to be a key element in stress reduction and overall happiness.

What are the benefits of mindfulness?

Professor emeritus Jon Kabat-Zinn helped to bring the practice of mindfulness meditation into mainstream medicine and demonstrated that practicing mindfulness can bring improvements in both physical and psychological symptoms as well as positive changes in health, attitudes, and behaviors.

Mindfulness improves well-being. 

Mindfulness improves physical health. 

Mindfulness improves mental health. In recent years, psychotherapists have turned to mindfulness meditation as an important element in the treatment of a number of problems, including depression, substance abuse, eating disorders, couples’ conflicts, anxiety disorders, and obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Mindfulness techniques

There is more than one way to practice mindfulness, but the goal of any mindfulness technique is to achieve a state of alert, focused relaxation by deliberately paying attention to thoughts and sensations without judgment. This allows the mind to refocus on the present moment. All mindfulness techniques are a form of meditation.

Basic mindfulness meditation – Sit quietly and focus on your natural breathing or on a word or “mantra” that you repeat silently. Allow thoughts to come and go without judgment and return to your focus on breath or mantra.

Body sensations – Notice subtle body sensations such as an itch or tingling without judgment and let them pass. Notice each part of your body in succession from head to toe.

Sensory – Notice sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and touches. Name them “sight,” “sound,” “smell,” “taste,” or “touch” without judgment and let them go.

Emotions – Allow emotions to be present without judgment. Practice a steady and relaxed naming of emotions: “joy,” “anger,” “frustration.” Accept the presence of the emotions without judgment and let them go.

Getting started

Mindfulness meditation builds upon concentration practices. Here’s how it works:

Go with the flow. In mindfulness meditation, once you establish concentration, you observe the flow of inner thoughts, emotions, and bodily sensations without judging them as good or bad.

Pay attention. You also notice external sensations such as sounds, sights, and touch that make up your moment-to-moment experience. The challenge is not to latch onto a particular idea, emotion, or sensation, or to get caught in thinking about the past or the future. Instead, you watch what comes and goes in your mind and discover which mental habits produce a feeling of well-being or suffering.

Stay with it. At times, this process may not seem relaxing at all, but over time it provides a key to greater happiness and self-awareness as you become comfortable with a wider and wider range of your experiences.

Practice acceptance

Above all, mindfulness practice involves accepting whatever arises in your awareness at each moment. It involves being kind and forgiving toward yourself.

Some tips to keep in mind:

Gently redirect. If your mind wanders into planning, daydreaming, or criticism, notice where it has gone and gently redirect it to sensations in the present.

Try and try again. If you miss your intended meditation session, simply start again.

By practicing accepting your experience during meditation, it becomes easier to accept whatever comes your way during the rest of your day.

Cultivate mindfulness informally

In addition to formal meditation, you can also cultivate mindfulness informally by focusing your attention on your moment-to-moment sensations during everyday activities. This is done by single-tasking—doing one thing at a time and giving it your full attention. As you floss your teeth, pet the dog, or eat an apple, slow down the process and be fully present as it unfolds and involves all of your senses.

Invest in yourself

The effects of mindfulness meditation tend to be dose-related — the more you do, the more effect it usually has. Most people find that it takes at least 20 minutes for the mind to begin to settle, so this is a reasonable way to start. If you’re ready for a more serious commitment, Jon Kabat-Zinn recommends 45 minutes of meditation at least six days a week. But you can get started by practicing the techniques described here for shorter periods.

Adapted with permission from Positive Psychology: Harnessing the Power of Happiness, Personal Strength, and Mindfulness, a special health report published by Harvard Health Publishing.

Last updated: December 5, 2022

Jan 29 – “Quiet Your Mind from Time to Time”

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Meditation and poetry, meditators and poets, like two hands coming together in namaste.

One of the most famous poets of all time is Rumi (full name Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥammad Rūmī). He wrote poetry in the 13th century in Persian, Turkish, Arabic and Greek. His poetry was influenced by his Sufi meditation.

“Rumi was a scholar and poet that lived in 13th century Persia (now modern-day Iran.) Like all extraordinary gifted and profound teachers, Rumi’s words have transcended time and place.

An Islamic scholar and Sufi mystic, Rumi wrote much of his thoughts down in the form of poems … it’s well-known that Rumi was a mystic, devoted to contemplation and self-surrender … Rumi certainly practiced Mur?qabah, an Arabic word that translates to observation in English. Mur?qabah is a form of Sufi meditation where the goal is to “watch over” their spiritual heart and to gain insight into the Ultimate truth.

Nearly every form of meditation practiced, across religious and spiritual traditions, emphasizes quietude of mind. Individuals who are adept meditators are well-aware that mental silence can lead to profound insight, … Please quiet your mind from time to time!” https://www.powerofpositivity.com/rumi-quotes-transform-your-life/

Today’s senryu: Quiet Your Mind from Time to Time

The slower I go

the more I realize, life

is love in motion

Jan 19 – A Poet More People Should Remember – Langston Hughes

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“James Mercer Langston Hughes (February 1, 1901 – May 22, 1967) was an American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist from Joplin, Missouri. One of the earliest innovators of the literary art form called jazz poetry, Hughes is best known as a leader of the Harlem Renaissance.

Like many African-Americans, Hughes had a complex ancestry. Both of Hughes’ paternal great-grandmothers were enslaved Africans, and both of his paternal great-grandfathers were white slave owners in Kentucky. According to Hughes, one of these men was Sam Clay, a Scottish-American whiskey distiller of Henry County, said to be a relative of statesman Henry Clay. The other putative paternal ancestor whom Hughes named was Silas Cushenberry, a slave trader of Clark County.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Langston_Hughes

Some critics thought he was a communist homosexual who spent time in Europe, Russia, China, Japan and Korea before returning to the United States. One biographer, Arnold Rampersad, saw him as a passive, asexual man who showed love and respect for black men and women. In addition to poetry, Hughes wrote plays, short stories, several nonfiction works and served as a weekly newspaper columnist for twenty years.

Here is one of his poems, reprinted from this month’s Monastic Way, along with a couple of follow-up discussion questions:

The Harlem Renaissance poet, Langston Hughes, wrote about dreams, how important it was to have them and what happens to dreams suppressed or deferred:


What happens to a dream deferred?
Does it dry up
Like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore––
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over––
like a syrupy sweet?
Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.
Or does it explode?

Write an answer to the poet’s question: What happens to a dream deferred? Try to use an example from your own life.” https://www.joanchittister.org/sites/default/files/monastic_way/2022-12/JanuaryMonasticWay2023.pdf

Jan 18 – Repost: Anger Does Its Work

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Below is today’s Daily Meditation from Richard Rohr‘s Center for Action and Contemplation. It highlights a teaching from Brian McLaren on the positive gift and use of anger. See https://cac.org/daily-meditations/ for more information on this valuable resource.

Anger Does Its Work

Prophets are often known for their anger against injustice. CAC teacher Brian McLaren makes a connection between anger and love:  

I think about things I love … birds, trees, wetlands, forested mountains, coral reefs, my grandchildren … and I see the bulldozers and smokestacks and tanks on the horizon.  

And so, because I love, I am angry. Really angry.  

And if you’re not angry, I think you should check your pulse, because if your heart beats in love for something, someone, anything … you’ll be angry when it’s harmed or threatened.  

To paraphrase René Descartes (1596–1650): I love; therefore, I’m angry. […]

Anger makes most sense to me through an analogy of pain. What pain is to my body, anger is to my soul, psyche, or inner self. When I put my hand on a hot stove, physical pain reflexes make me react quickly, to address with all due urgency whatever is damaging my fragile tissues. Physical pain must be strong enough to prompt me to action, immediate action, or I will be harmed, even killed.  

Similarly, when I or someone I love is in the company of insult, injustice, injury, degradation, or threat, anger awakens. It tells me to change my posture or position; it demands I address the threat.

McClaren shares scriptural passages that urge us not to react in anger, and describes how contemplative practice can direct our anger into loving action:  

Don’t be overcome with evil. Overcome evil with good. (See Romans 12:21).  

When someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other cheek. (See Luke 6:29).  

Do not return evil for evil to anyone. (See Romans 12:17).  

Bless those who persecute you. Bless, and do not curse. (See Romans 12:14).  

In each case, we’re given alternatives to our natural reactions, alternatives that break us out of fight/flight/freeze, mirroring, and judging. In the split second when we take that long, deep breath, we might breathe out a prayer: “Guide me, Spirit of God!” We might pause to hear if the Spirit inspires us with some non-reactive, non-reflexive response. […]

Anger does its work. It prompts us to action, for better or worse. With time and practice, we can let the reflexive reactions of fight/flight/freeze, mirroring, and judging pass by like unwanted items on a conveyor belt. Also, with practice, we can make space for creative actions to be prompted by our anger … actions that are in tune with the Spirit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control (see Galatians 5:22) … actions that overcome evil with good and bring healing instead of hate.  

So, yes, you bet I’m angry. It’s a source of my creativity. It’s a vaccination against apathy and complacency. It’s a gift that can be abused—or wisely used. Yes, it’s a temptation, but it’s also a resource and an opportunity, as unavoidable and necessary as pain. It’s part of the gift of being human and being alive.

Jan 18 – A Poet & Editor More People Should Know – Gabriela Marie Milton

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An award-winning poet in her own right, Gabriela Marie Milton, is also an award-winning editor. Perhaps best known for her anthology, The Wounds I Healed – The Poetry of Strong Women (c) 2022, Gabriela Marie Milton is releasing a new anthology, Hidden in Childhood later this month.

For more information about her and her celebrated work check out her website and a New York Glamour interview here: https://shortprose.blog/ and https://nyglamour.net/keep-going-greatness-always-encounters-resistance-gabriela-marie-milton/

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/20244631.Gabriela_Marie_Milton

Jan 13 – RESPONDING TO THE CALL AND …

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Animals, companion AND wild, teach us daily, if we take time to notice, to listen, to contemplate. In our interconnected world, we cannot survive without others; biologically or metaphysically.

This week, I reflected on our animal nature, mammal classification, omnivore eating habits, AND our ability to communicate AND be compassionate like fellow animals on this planet (see previous posts AND their references to birds, dogs AND a whale).

Individually, we are both special AND incapable of living without many other life forms in our biosphere. It “takes a village” to learn and grow … it takes an environment to be born AND live before we die.

One of our individual attributes is the talent or gift we uniquely possess to contribute to our environment AND our community. See today’s senryu AND daily meditation from Richard Rohr below.

Today’s senryu: RESPONDING TO THE CALL AND …

here I am, now what?

receiving AND giving back –

mammal relay race

Richard Rohr’s Daily Meditation

From the Center for Action AND Contemplation

Week Two: Responding to the Call

Surrendering to Our Soul Gift

For Father Richard, God shows us our soul’s calling through spiritual practice AND letting go of the ego’s drive:

Our age has come to expect satisfaction. We have grown up in an absolutely unique period when having AND possessing AND accomplishing have been real options. They have given us an illusion of fulfillment—AND fulfillment now—as long as we are clever enough, quick enough, AND pray or work hard enough for our goals or rewards. [1]

I am convinced that the Book of Jonah can best be read as God moving someone from a mere sense of a religious job or career to an actual sense of personal call, vocation, or destiny. It takes being “swallowed by a beast” AND taken into a dark place of nesting AND nourishing that allows us to move to a deeper place called personal vocation. It involves a movement from being ego-driven to being soul-drawn. The energy is very different. It comes quietly AND generously from within. Once we have accepted our call, we do not look for payment, reward, or advancement because we have found our soul gift.

I have met many people who have found their soul gift, AND they are always a joy to work with. It’s apparent they are not counting the cost, but just want to serve and help. Benedictines have a group they call oblates, which means “those who are offered.” To come with our lives as an offering is quite different from the seeking of a career, security, status, or title. Even the [retired head of the] Vatican’s office for bishops dared to admit publicly [his] worries about rampant careerism among bishops worldwide as they sought promotion to higher AND more prestigious dioceses. [2] It sounds like we still have James AND John wanting to sit at the right AND left sides of the throne of Jesus (Mark 10:37). Maybe young people need to start there, but we can see why Jonah has to be shoved out of the boat. Otherwise, he never would have gotten to the “right” Nineveh.

We must listen, wait, AND pray for our charism AND call. Most of us are really only good at one or two things. Meditation should lead to a clarity about who we are AND, maybe even more, who we are not. This second revelation is just as important as the first. I have found it difficult over the years to sit down AND tell people what is not their gift. It is usually very humiliating for individuals to face their own illusions AND inabilities. We are not usually a truth-speaking people. We don’t speak the truth to one another, nor does our culture encourage the journey toward the True Self. The false self often sets itself up for unnecessary failures and humiliations. [3]

[1] Adapted from Richard Rohr, Near Occasions of Grace (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1993), 1. 

[2] See Michael J. Buckley, “Resources for Reform from the First Millennium,” in Common Calling: The Laity and Governance of the Catholic Church, ed. Stephen J. Pope (Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press, 2004), 77.

[3] Adapted from Richard Rohr, Dancing Standing Still: Healing the World from a Place of Prayer (New York: Paulist Press, 2014), 82–83.

Jan 12 – A Sane Life

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Today’s senryu: A Sane Life

A Cadillac won’t,

maybe enlightenment will,

and dogs can teach us.

American Zen teacher, Charlotte Joko Beck, co-founded the Ordinary Mind Zen School and wrote three books:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joko_Beck

Beck also authored a keen article for Lions Roar magazine in August 2011 called A Sane Life; see https://www.lionsroar.com/a-sane-life/. I love her opening paragraph:

“My dog doesn’t worry about the meaning of life. She may worry if she doesn’t get her breakfast, but she doesn’t sit around worrying about whether she will get fulfilled or liberated or enlightened. As long as she gets some food and a little affection, her life is fine. But we human beings are not like dogs. We have self-centered minds which get us into plenty of trouble. If we do not come to understand the error in the way we think, our self-awareness, which is our greatest blessing, is also our downfall.“