Posted August 1, 2021 in Monthly News

Behind Every Behavior Is A Positive Intention

…our culture, and also a lot of psychotherapies, demonized various parts of us, and think they are what they seem to be— which never turns out to be the truth.

~Richard “Dick” Schwartz No Bad Parts: Healing Trauma and Restoring Wholeness with the Internal Family Systems Model

One of the presuppositions of NLP (Neurolinguistic Programming) […]

Posted July 1, 2021 in Monthly News

Subjective

So many times over the years I have found myself sharing how the ambiguity of language is both a hindrance and a help. You may recall that Neurolinguistic Programming has been described as the study of the structure of subjective experience.

The key word here is SUBJECTIVE.

In the Karaniya Metta Sutta (The […]

Posted June 1, 2021 in Monthly News

I Am Not Afraid

I am old enough at this point to be fully aware that I am close enough to the end of the tunnel that I can see it. There was a time that the end of the tunnel was a vague light in the distance. At this point, it is close enough that I am beginning […]

Posted June 1, 2021 in Monthly News

I Am Awake!

If we are aware in a compassionate, focused way, we plant seeds of compassionate focused awareness that lets things go and lets things be. Joyful feelings are free to arise without creating clinging, and painful states can arise without expressing themselves in harmful ways.

~ Ben Connelly, “Cleaning Out the Storehouse”

I’ve been reading […]

Posted May 1, 2021 in Monthly News

Metaphorical Magic

A friend shared a page from The Light of Discovery, by Toni Packer. Toni Packer was a teacher of “meditative inquiry”, and the founder of Springwater Center. Packer was a former student in the Sanbo Kyodan lineage of Zen Buddhism, and was previously in line to be the successor of Phillip Kapleau at the Rochester […]

Posted April 1, 2021 in Monthly News

Sticks and Stones

The old saying is, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names can never hurt me.” It isn’t true, however. Sometimes names are the most hurtful of injuries, leading to shame and embarrassment that last much longer than any associated physical injury. Another very old saying is, “Actions speak louder than words.” While generally […]

Posted April 1, 2021 in Monthly News

Nominalizations' Negative Impact

This winter I have been most entertained by the official state bird of Florida: the mockingbird.

Florida designated the mockingbird as the official state bird in 1927, and the northern mockingbird is also the state bird of Texas, Arkansas, Tennessee and Mississippi.

The first memory I have of mockingbird comes from an encounter at […]

Posted March 1, 2021 in Monthly News

Frozen Chosen

If you look deeply into the palm of your hand, you will see your parents and all generations of your ancestors.

All of them are alive in this moment. …

You are a continuation of each of these people.

~ Thich Nhat Hanh

Anne Lamott was one of the speakers in the Mystics […]

Posted February 1, 2021 in Monthly News

AWE: Potential in the Mind of God

“Suppose we were to share meaning freely without the compulsive urge to impose our view or conform to those of others and without distortion and self-deception. Would this not constitute a real revolution in culture?” ~ David Bohm

This article has been working on my mind for weeks. The original title was “Attachment to View,” […]