Meeting Sister D and feeling the peace and gentleness exuded from her presence gives me hope and faith that trust in the practice yields similar. As usual for me, the podcast-length version condensing the essence of the author's viewpoint is more compelling than the book-length version, in this case because it goes into meditation and Buddhism in too much depth and loses my interest. The wisdom and the aspiration had always been there, in the midst of suffering, but I simply did not know then how to realize them in this life, in each and every moment.

Dear friends, Due to scheduling conflicts, it hasn’t been possible to record new episodes of The Way Out Is In during October. Calendar arrived safely in plastic-free packaging - which I've not seen before with a calendar, so kudos for that. It is true that the cool waters of happiness are sweet and precious, but it is suffering that carves our cup. And not just flee the greenhouse, but really want to flee everything, to just skip this part of my life until sometime later, when I’m back in clean clothes and the old ones are in a garbage can somewhere. The feel of the tunes makes me feel like the Impressions do, Curtis Mayfield, the big spaces and instinctive horns and stuff drifting in and out.This sense of awe and wonder can help us heal past trauma and renew our life, moment to moment, in the most truthful, beautiful, and wholesome way. Of course, not everyone who was abused will aspire to become a bodhisattva or even a spiritually oriented person, but this teaching can help anyone to take a step on a path of compassion, starting with self-compassion toward their inner child and radiating outward in their speech, thoughts, and actions toward others. The organizers invited my monastic sisters and me to come to a garden behind their church to see the evening primroses bloom that night. I am so happy to see this… I really need it at this point in my life; I am 32 weeks pregnant and have experienced trauma since 27 weeks. I used to drink a lot of canned nutrition drinks, which at first tasted like milkshakes but after a while were more like sweet spoiled milk.

After a traumatic childhood and suffering multiple close personal losses, Sister D retired from being a doctor to be a Buddhist nun. Take a slow breath and literary walk with you her and I wouldn't be surprised if your similar gifts come to the fore. As we took turns digging the grave, one of my uncles reached into the hole and pulled out a golf ball with a red stripe across it, caked in dirt. She doesn't shy away from uncomfortable topics, so read at your own pace and take breaks when you need to. Her medical training helps her technical understanding and her spiritual training makes her teachings authentic and practical.At eight o’clock, about ten of us gathered in the church garden around the long stems of a tall, slender plant covered in drying, wilted yellow flowers. As a somewhat poetic-minded lover of literature, I had heard so much about flowers bursting into bloom; I had sung songs about them, written poetry about them, and mentioned them in Dharma talks, cleverly using the metaphor to make my points.

The last thing you want to deal with when you’re ill is testing out doctors, but until you find a good match, it will be hard to feel like you’re in position to start to get better.

She could assemble a beautiful combination of branches and buds in a jar the way some people can throw together a delicious meal from what looks like an empty refrigerator. It’s a place you need to simply endure, trusting that eventually you’ll get back to the surface where you can look around and think of what you need to do next.