Tag Archives: pema chodron
Bourgeois suffering
The wild things are busy at my feeders and in the space I have shoveled clear on my deck, which is otherwise blanketed in the foot of snow that fell over the weekend. I am glad to see all of them, even the piggish squirrels with their clever hands rapidly stripping the ears of corn. And the red-shafted […]
Giving up and taking hold
If my life and his death had gone differently, I would find my friend Ray in his office today, his forehead smudged with an ashen cross. Ray, who died in December, was a devout Catholic, and like millions of Christians observed Lent, which commences today. For believers, an ash-daubed forehead is not just a profession […]
Traction
I awoke this morning to a sliver of snow over a thin sheet of ice, a sure sign it was time for a seasonal running ritual: creating screw shoes. Screw shoes provide traction, and they’re easy to make: insert sheet metal screws with hex heads into the outsoles of running shoes, which are thereby transformed into the […]
Up against our edges
It is good, every now and then, to reach your limit. And stay there. And see that discomfort, however challenging, is not fatal. Buddhist nun Pema Chodron is my favorite teacher of this lesson in the spiritual realm. Her books — including When Things Fall Apart and The Places That Scare You — are wise and comforting guides to […]
Meditatio Ephemera 