Buddhism « Yellow Brick Road: Your Path to Heart & Health

The Collective

By Debra Basham, on May 30, 2021

When I picked up the spoon off the napkin to stir my morning tea, a huge ant fell out onto the kitchen counter. I carefully picked it up with the napkin, and carried it out onto the porch.

Looking up “ant as animal totem” I was surprised to see a reference to MOLD:

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Motherless Child

By Debra Basham, on May 20, 2021

Sometimes I feel like a motherless child, Sometimes I feel like a motherless child, Sometimes I feel like a motherless child, A long way from home, a long way from home.

Odetta knew what LIFE can feel like.

Just yesterday — one day of LIFE holding sooooo much feeling.

A dear friend, navigating […]

The Path to Peace

By Debra Basham, on May 17, 2021

If it happens, it needs to occur. ~ Neale Donald Walsch

Jerry Ashmore, senior dharma teacher at Empty Circle Zen center in Hobart, Indiana, said simply, “If we don’t clear our stuff how can we help others?”

But how do we know what our stuff is? We can pay attention to the tendency we […]

What Else Is

By Debra Basham, on May 13, 2021

The definition of complaining is the expression of dissatisfaction or annoyance about something.

A popular phrase is to speak of an undesired state (for example, complaining) as your eating rat poison expecting the rat to die. It is not always obvious, but our emotional state has myriad influences on US.

Often, John and I […]

Conditions

By Debra Basham, on May 10, 2021

Forgiveness is the fragrance that the violet sheds on the heel that has crushed it.

~ Mark Twain

Barbara Brodsky and Aaron say you learn a lot by noticing what you are still getting caught by:

Remember that you are not separate, that whatever you see is simply yourself reflecting back to you. When you […]

Stay with the Listening

By Debra Basham, on May 2, 2021

This world deserves a kiss on both cheeks on the way out of the door and you have to let people see you do it.

Failure to do so becomes — you are just another advocate but not much of a practitioner.

~ Stephen Jenkinson Since arriving home in Michigan one month ago, […]

Specimen of Transformation

By Debra Basham, on April 27, 2021

I woke up this morning thinking about a beautiful woman, who happens to be the daughter of a dear friend of mine. A remarkable feat of love — her going this past weekend to visit her biological father on his deathbed to assure him of forgiveness for his abuse.

That same woman is undergoing […]

Thank You, Teacher

By Debra Basham, on April 22, 2021

“Wisdom tells me I am nothing. Love tells me I am everything. And between the two my life flows.”

~ Nisargadatta Maharaj

I am still in a lot of process, triggered again and again by the teachings and the practice on the 8-day Emerald Ilse retreat, a process fueled by an intention to wake […]

Hand-in-Hand

By Debra Basham, on April 13, 2021

With all that takes place in our lives, it can sometimes be easy to overlook the fact that we’re part of something greater than ourselves — a collective consciousness, the Universe, a greater cause.

~ Daily Om

The March 2021 skies over Pine Island, near Ft. Myers, in Southwest Florida (winter home of this […]

3 Faces of Happiness

By Debra Basham, on March 27, 2021

“No matter how someone is acting, they want to be happy.” ~ Lion’s Roar

Jerry Ashmore, senior teacher at Empty Circle Zen group shared this opening quote in his dharma talk this morning. As an aside, if you are looking for a wonderful Zen sitting with teachings, this group meets on Zoom twice per week: […]

Yellow Brick Road: Your Path to Heart & Health