Dear Friends in the Dharma
It feels that the our lives are incredibly busy these days with the ten thousand joys and the ten thousand sorrows. I have people close to me who have experienced different painful experiences, from medical diagnoses, to relationship separations, severe accidents, loss of employment, and also the grief of passing and death--and yet also there have been the joys of life including the unfolding of toddler-hood of grandchildren, the recovery from illness, the excitement of new ventures, and the contentment of spiritual practice. This is how all of our lives are. I hope that you are all navigating this territory with ease and gentleness. There are enough difficulties out in the world--please do not overlay any more upon yourself!
I have begun a blog on the Huffington Post. I have entitled it "Being Kind in Unkind Times"--reflecting the 10,000 joys and the 10,000 sorrows. I hope is that it will be an opportunity to explore and discuss the multiplicity of the teachings of the Buddha as they manifest in this current time period in the diversity of our lives. It is said that there are 84,000 gates into the teachings of freedom--you can go through any one of them. This is because once you go through one door into the teachings....you begin to see, know, and experience all of the teachings. And not only are the teachings interwoven and inter-connected, but so are we all--and we experience the Buddha's teachings through the experience of each other in the practice of sangha or community. The opportunity of the Huff Post is to continue that conversation of our spiritual journeys so that we can create community--whether online and virtual or in-person and face-to-face--to support all of our aspirations. The blog is at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/larry-yang
I also invite you to view an article in the winter 2011-2012 issue of Buddhadharma magazine. There is a panel discussion among several long-time dharma folks on diversity and Western Dharma which explores areas which heretofore have not been described in the mainstream media. It is a great opportunity for us to elevate the collective practice of our mindfulness and awareness into a social and cultural context. I find the invitation of Buddhadharma to do this very exciting and admirable.
many blessings on your practice,
Larry
VIDEO OF EAST BAY MEDITATION CENTER WITH ALICE WALKER AND JACK KORNFIELD
This beautiful video was done by Konda Mason and Beli Sullivan (www.belitv.com). Please view it to learn more about East Bay Meditation Center and the unique work and way that it is bringing the Teachings of the Buddha into the West. Apologies that the size is not possible to upload to this website, so the video can be seen at:
http://vimeo.com/10710454
MEDITATION IN THE MAINSTREAM
Meditation on daytime network TV
I was interviewed on ABC-TV in San Francisco about meditation.
You can see it below:
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