Pebble Meditation - Flower

“Breathing in, I see myself as a flower. Breathing out, I feel fresh. Flower, fresh.”

The first of the four Pebble Meditations to cultivate happiness as taught by Thich Nhat Hanh. Flower, fresh. So descriptive that it takes little effort to establish the image in my mind. I like this meditation as I find it quickly establishes a base mindset from which I can guide myself to inner peace and calm.

When I am the flower, I feel connected to the earth. I feel the sun that nurtured me. I feel the soil that nourished me. I taste the rain that made me strong. This connection reminds me that we are all 'inter-are'. There is no independent self as the perception of me or mine is an illusion. I am made up 'non-I' elements of which I depend.

Awesome, reassuring concept that makes it impossible not be an environmentalist. We all know this to be true but contrived circumstances conspire to distract us until we forget to remember. Flower, fresh allows me to begin anew.

“If you are a poet, you will see clearly that there is a cloud floating in this sheet of paper. Without a cloud, there will be no rain; without rain, the trees cannot grow; and without trees, we cannot make paper. The cloud is essential for the paper to exist. If the cloud is not here, the sheet of paper cannot be here either. So we can say that the cloud and the paper inter-are. “Interbeing” is a word that is not in the dictionary yet, but if we combine the prefix “inter-“ with the verb “to be,” we have a new verb, inter-be.” - Thich Nhat Hanh (b. 1926)

Giving

The Alabama build-vention is less than a month away and I am hoping everyone is doing whatever they can to attend. I can’t stress enough the value of the experience and how it can literally change your business and your life.

Springtime brings two events that are very important to me. SRKF's Pandamonium and the Alabama build-vention. Both projects literally change lives and at the same time they redefine what it means to be a martial artist.

Silent River Kung Fu's Pandamonium is the best tool I have to teach my students the power of empathy and it helps us all remember the power of one. Twenty four hours of perpetual kung fu focusing on family and community while raising awareness. The money we raise on this day go to help the Children's Ability Fund, Malawi Girls on the Move, the Simon Poultney Foundation, Second Chance Animal Rescue Society (SCARS) and Healing Hands. j

The two big things that I got out of my first experience on the Alabama Project were life changers for me. Coming from an affluent country I had not realized what degree poverty was only an abstraction for me. We all think we understand the concept but I don’t believe you can truly understand it until you are living it or, at a minimum, immersed in it. We all talk about the 1% but we rarely talk about the forgotten ones that have been left behind. Like riches, poverty is often inherited. Once you are trapped in it, it can be almost impossible to break out of it. My trips to Alabama have forever removed the abstraction from poverty for me. It is very, very real and tangible.

The second big thing I got out of my first experience in Alabama was meeting Master Dave McNeill. I have never met a more compassionate, engaged human being and he forever has set the standard for me for what it means to be a true master. I had never met him before that first trip in 2008 and have been thankful for the experience and his influence ever since.

"The true meaning of life is to plant trees, under whose shade you do not expect to sit." - Nelson Henderson

What I Know About Success and Failure

I believe negativity is self-fulfilling. Making failure an option gives it a foothold in reality. No one is successful 100% of the time but how failures get perceived sets the framework for future mastery or mediocrity.

No effort, no matter the outcome, is ever without value. Success is built from the experience gathered from past failures so failure only becomes absolute when effort is abandoned.

The self-fulfilling nature of negativity is responsible for so much mediocrity. No one likes failure but one cannot avoid failure without avoiding participation. I can’t imagine how much of what I value in my character would not even be present if I had not taken a chance and stepped up to engage.

Mastery is something I will never succeed at attaining but in the wake of my attempts, something wonderful is happening.

“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” - Thomas Edison (1847 - 1931)

Today's Gratitude

I was gifted a jar of raspberry jam last week. I have since consumed almost half the jar and can attest to the positive power of mindful eating. Each mouthful reminds me of everything that went into the jam. The sun, the rain, the nutrients of the earth, and most of all, the goodwill and love of the person who made it.

Today’s gratitude: gifted raspberry jam.

“Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy.” - Thich Nhat Hanh (b.1926)

Story of Solutions

A friend sent me this video yesterday. In light of what is going on in Canada with our democracy quickly being dismantled, the danger to our future seems that much more acute.

The problem seems so obvious with the solution so simple. Yet we have a government that is censoring its environmental scientists while denying climate change. The same government that is touting itself as fiscally conservative despite inheriting a budget surplus and going on to run up the biggest deficit in Canadian history.  Perhaps the Prime Minister should stop campaigning and begin governing for the people that elected him rather than catering to the corporations that funded him. Better yet, maybe we should speak up and do something about what is happening before it is too late for our children.

“In a sense, people are so enraged at the Liberal government, that they're giving Stephen Harper and his government a bye. They should take a look at what he proposes.” - Joe Clark (b. 1939)