I am incredibly fortunate to be able to spend so much time near moving water.
This morning started with dense fog. I pushed off into the river with about 3 foot visibility.
Over time the fog started to burn off. Here are a few images that started my day.
iTunes podcast here, online listening here, stitcher here, and Jonathan’s YouTube channel here.
Hurricane Jose brushed by Cape Cod and stirred things up a little bit. We went to the ocean side to experience 6omph winds and got a tiny sampling of what happened in Florida and the Caribbean. On the beach we were literally sand-blasted off.
Since the drama of wind, it’s been days of fog.
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This morning two seals stopped by and took up resting spots on two rocks as the tide went out.
This one stayed for quite a while, in fact until it was high and dry. The fog burned off and you can see the early morning light warming it up.
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It's great to wake up in my own bed. After a month on the road I've had three weeks back in Northern Virginia.
Despite the political turmoil here, I enjoy late summer in the DC area. With so much heat and rain, the river is churning with life.
Each year I'm a little more aware of the passing details of each season. Blue Bells and Flox are distance memories and Morning Glories and Crepe Myrtle rule.
My friend Chun was fishing nearby and was surrounded by a family of chirping River Otters recently, the little ones curious and playful.
Off again, teaching at the 1440 Multiversity (https://1440.org) in California. In September, Tara and I will be on a writing retreat.
I hope you're feeling creative as we turn toward harvest time.
Spiritual traditions point toward the possibility of increasing your capacity for true happiness. This concept seems harder and harder to grasp, though, with such social turmoil and polarization around us.
I just completed a series of talks on the "Ten Perfections," qualities of character and presence, that when polished, reflect back the light of an awakened heart and mind.
The Tenth Perfection is Equanimity - a quality of presence untouched by anything external. It's a quality of presence beyond what we think of as 'happiness.'
This quality of serenity and steadiness is the fruit of spiritual practice.
You can't make it happen, but it's easy to try to make it happen. When you do, you'll slip into premature transcendence and overlook what is between you and feeling free.
And so, the events of Charlottesville.
That Saturday I led a retreat with 115 people called "The Inquiry Intensive." It was a love-fest. It was a day of thoughtful sharing, deep listening and care, tenderness and good humor. By the end of the day I felt awe at the power of sincere, caring people exploring shared questions.
When I got home I checked the news and saw the photographs from the march. I forced myself to study the images and sit with my reaction. I was filled with not just sadness and hopelessness, but anger and outrage. And to be honest, something in me bitterly wanted revenge. It was then that I realized I was experiencing the flip side of equanimity. I was caught in the shadow of anger.
During the Buddha's lifetime he was surrounded by war and violence. Many of his relatives were directly involved in brutal conflicts. It was then that he allegedly said:
"Hatred never ceases by hatred in this world. Hatred only ceases by love. This is an unending, eternal truth."
I had the benefit of a day of slowing down to help me recognize the vitriol I was fostering.
I know that anger is connected to an unmet need. When I looked again at the images I saw a little deeper into the suffering in those photographs.
We are all influenced by unconscious forces of desire, aversion, confusion.
Unless we slow down and pay attention, our lives are nothing more than living out of reaction to what is happening. No creativity. No compassion. No love.
When we can bring loving presence to the shadow, new possibilities can emerge.
I offered a talk on this topic: Shining Light on Your Shadow. It's a personal reflection on how to recognize the early warning signs of living from a place that is less than fully alive and how to work with what you find.
As I get older I've come to see the safest refuge of all is reality.
Recent talks: Shining Light on Your Shadow
Serenity Now! How to Cultivate Equanimity
How to Cultivate a Kind and Friendly Heart
How to Cultivate Determination and Resolve
Every great tradition speaks of the power of pausing and slowing down.
If you're drawn to both silence and good company, come join us!
I'll be joined by a wonderful teaching team: La Sarmiento, Pat Coffey and Sebene Selassie. Jess Frey will be leading twice-daily Kripalu-style yoga to support your sitting and walking practice.
You'll have wholesome food from the farm, visits with the goats and chickens and walks in the Maryland woods west of Baltimore.
You'll also have a few interviews with a teacher over the course of the week to help you stay present to your practice and your deepest intention.
For more information and to register online, click the pic:
Cormorants gather at first light.
I drifted downriver to catch the sunrise lighting up the morning mist.
Waiting for the sun.
The sun burns through a late summer haze.
For about a month, Morning Glories rule the little islands on the river.
Protecting the turf.
This is the time of year when the spiders seems to know their time is up and they dramatically step up their activity.
Hanging with the family.
First light. Another day.
I got some amazing footage this month. I'm getting to know my new camera. My Lumix GH5 has five-axis image stabilization, can shoot 60fps at 4k as well as high definition (1080p) slow motion.
Due to the fact that I'm heading to California early, I've not had time to edit these clips into form. You'll see them next month. I did have a few minutes to put together this video: Branta Canadensis Belchus.
I'm happy to see that my commitment to the visual arts is reaching new depths of expression.
Ravi Mishra attended the Fall retreat last year. Among the many ideas popping through during the course of the week was the idea for an app that would support people in their practice. As he describes it, "This is my way of responding, not reacting." It's called Awaken and it's on Kickstarter.
It's called Awaken and it's on Kickstarter.
You can read more here: https://whynotawaken.com/kickstarter
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iTunes podcast here, online listening here, stitcher here, and Jonathan’s YouTube channel here.
Special PODCAST:
This talk explores three elements that can form your personality.
You'll learn about the challenges as well as the strengths of each type, how to find balance and ultimately, to realize who you are free from all conditioning.
Subscribe to Jonathan's podcast: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/jonathan-foust/id455422434?ign-mpt=uo%3D4
iTunes podcast here, online listening here, stitcher here, and Jonathan’s YouTube channel here.
I woke up in morning gloom. Heavy grey clouds. An impulse to turn over and try to go back to sleep.
Something inside would not be denied, though, and so I put on my paddling clothes, life vest, pack, two cameras, a tripod and a thermos of green tea and made my way to the river.
Then this image, a soft flash of light and color before the dark clouds closed in again.
Two bows of gratitude: First, to the still, small voice that quietly said 'Go. Now."
Second, to that which heard, listened and responded.
iTunes podcast here, online listening here, stitcher here, and Jonathan’s YouTube channel here.
Special VIDEO:
As I get more and more serious about photography and video, I think my best work is just coming forth.
Here is a rare insight into the inner workings of the Canada Goose.
Subscribe to Jonathan's podcast: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/jonathan-foust/id455422434?ign-mpt=uo%3D4
iTunes podcast here, online listening here, stitcher here, and Jonathan’s YouTube channel here.
Special PODCAST:
This talk explores how to work with previously unseen and challenging forces that can arise in your life.
You'll learn about your relationship with your shadow, how to recognize when it arises, how to work with it and some thoughts on how to work with the shadow in our culture.
Subscribe to Jonathan's podcast: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/jonathan-foust/id455422434?ign-mpt=uo%3D4
iTunes podcast here, online listening here, stitcher here, and Jonathan’s YouTube channel here.
Special PODCAST:
This talk explores the 10th of the Ten Perfections: Equanimity.
You'll learn about the call to see beyond the weather systems of the mind, the techniques that support the process of seeing more clearly, the glimpses of equanimity that arise in practice and how to cultivate the possibility for greater equanimity and steadiness in your life.
Subscribe to Jonathan's podcast: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/jonathan-foust/id455422434?ign-mpt=uo%3D4
iTunes podcast here, online listening here, stitcher here, and Jonathan’s YouTube channel here.
These practices have made a huge impact in my life.
I look forward to sharing this Saturday's retreat with you if you feel drawn to join in.
Explore the Questions That Can Change Your Life
This retreat will help you harness the power of questions.
The right questions can help you:
* Access creativity and intuition * Make important decisions * Solve problems * Point your attention toward your true nature
"Hey Ralph, I've been wondering ....What is the sound of one wing flapping?"
This is not a classical meditation retreat where you are in silence and alternating between sitting and walking practices.
This is highly experiential and interactive.
In addition to internally-focused practices such as meditation and reflective writing, you'll be guided through specific sets of questions with a partner and in small groups.
You'll learn:
* Techniques for using inquiry as a tool for problem-solving, decision-making, state-changing and reflecting on your true nature
* How to use writing as a tool for accessing insight and intuition
* Movement flows and guided meditation that can help shift your brainwave states to more intuitive levels of awareness Click the image to learn more:
A big thank you to the Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington for sponsoring this event.
iTunes podcast here, online listening here, stitcher here, and Jonathan’s YouTube channel here.
Special PODCAST:
This talk explores the 9th of Ten Perfections: Loving Kindness.
You'll learn what happens in the absence of love, how to develop and cultivate the heart and what happens when you immerse yourself in the intention to be a 'well-wisher' of all.
Subscribe to Jonathan's podcast: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/jonathan-foust/id455422434?ign-mpt=uo%3D4
iTunes podcast here, online listening here, stitcher here, and Jonathan’s YouTube channel here.
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please signup here.
Sometimes it’s great to get away. Life feels a bit too rote and a shake up sharpens the mind. On the other hand, too much travel leads to a craving for routine and structure.
I’ve been on the road most of the month.
I’ve been swimming on Cape Cod, with the very real concern on a shark on my tail and swimming shark-free in the Stockbridge Bowl in Western Massachusetts.
What a blessed life I’m living. I led a week intensive exploring the technologies of meditation and intuition with the “Still, Small Voice Within” retreat and a nine-day immersion with a group of amazing yoga teachers exploring how to bring the practice of meditation out into the world.
I hope your summer is filled with unexpected pleasures.
While in college and grad school I lived and worked on a farm. Not a play farm. A real one.
We grew corn, soybeans, wheat and alfalfa on about 1,000 acres. I was the livestock manager, overseeing a 'farrow-to-finish' operation, breeding and raising hogs. I spent countless hours driving and maintaining a wide variety of tractors, trucks, farm implements and the occasional combine.
We were also dedication to the practice of meditation. Twice a day, no matter what, we meditated for twenty minutes.
In Spring we were always rushing to get the fields ready for planting. From first light to after dark we ran plows, disks, a culta-multure, the corn planter and a seed drill. But at an appointed hour we’d shut everything down, pile into a pick up truck, drive to a corner of a field and sit.
One afternoon I was setting up a piece of complicated equipment - a maze of drive belts, tension pulleys and bearings.
I could not, no matter how I tried, set it up correctly. Every time I went through the process, something was wrong.
After the fourth or fifth attempt, I was so frustrated I started kicking the tires of tractor.
I glanced at my watch and realized it was time for meditation. I stomped off and sat quietly for twenty minutes with my mantra.
When I was done I made my way back to the machinery and studied the jigsaw puzzle in front of me. In about ten seconds, I saw what was needed.
Ten seconds.
Problem solved.
I was raised a Quaker. There’s a saying they like to throw around:. "Don't just do something. Sit there."
By pausing, I experienced something Einstein famously declared: "No problem was ever solved in the same consciousness that created it."
Yesterday I had a backlog of 85 emails, this newsletter to write, a dharma talk to put together, two copy deadlines, a presentation to assemble and an already-packed schedule.
Fortunately, I remembered to not ‘do something’.
I sat there.
When I opened my eyes the to-do list was still waiting for me but the path looked a little more clear.
The farm I lived and worked on is now one of the largest Community Supported Agriculture organizations in the country, delivering biodynamic and organic vegetables to it's members in the midwest. John Peterson, the owner of the farm and my mentor, is an amazing visionary, artist, writer and story-teller. A film was done on him a few years ago, called "The Real Dirt on Farmer John."
You can learn more about John and Angelic Organics here: https://angelicorganics.com
The more dynamic your rest, the more dynamic your activity.
Step back from your life, pause deeply, and you’ll see more clearly.
In my opinion, there’s no better investment of time and fortune than a formal meditation retreat where you restrain from habitual activity and immerse deeply into moment-to-moment presence.
This fall I’ll be joined by a wonderful teaching team: La Sarmiento, Pat Coffey and Sebene Selassie.
Jess Frey will be down from Kripalu Center leading twice-daily yoga to support your sitting and walking practice.
Pearlstone Retreat Center is on a farm and and offers visits with goats and chickens and walks in the Maryland woods west of Baltimore.
You’ll also have a few interviews with a teacher over the course of the week to help you stay present to your practice and your deepest intention.
For more information and to register.
Big skies, big water and a bountiful planet.
Berkshire Mountain sky at my dear buddy Dharani’s memorial service.
Above the Great Falls.
Potomac River sunrise.
A morning with more mid-Atlantic humidity.
A rare cool morning with mist on the Potomac River.
A even more rare morning with clear, sharp light.
Vrksanana Pose.
Taking refuge in Sangha. Cape Cod.
Low, low tide. Cape Cod.
Mom? Mom?!? Great Falls, Virginia.
I didn't have time to do a fresh video this month so I thought I'd share a favorite.
This five-minute meditation follows a fogged-in morning paddle on the Potomac River.
Saturday, August 12th, 9:30-4:30 at the Unitarian Universalist Church on Arlington
Contemplating the right questions can help you: * Change your perspective. * Make important decisions. * Solve problems. * Point your attention toward your true nature.
This is a highly experiential and interactive retreat.
You'll learn how to use intuitive inquiry as a tool for transformation, the meditation techniques that help calm the mind and cultivate clear-seeing and a model for intuitive exploration. For more information and to register online:
To receive a monthly newsletter,
please signup here.
iTunes podcast here, online listening here, stitcher here, and Jonathan’s YouTube channel here.
To receive a monthly newsletter,
please signup here.
This season seems to have taken on the characteristics of the dragon flies and hummingbirds. It’s whizzing by. Almost a blur.
The antidote seems to be embracing ‘the pause’. Slowing down the breath, opening the senses and remembering this is all changing seem to increase my capacity for ecstatic appreciation.
By the way, an interview I did with Tami Simon, the founder of Sounds True just came out.
It was an honor to be interviewed by her for her podcast, "Insights at the Edge," on the topic "The Issue Are in Your Tissues".
May your summer be filled with joy and new discoveries!
I recently asked a friend this question:
"Was there a time when you really wanted something and gave yourself to it fully only to realize it wasn’t what you really wanted?"
He paused for about one second and responded, “The first forty years of my life?”
As part of a series on the "Ten Perfections," I recently talked about the eighth topic in the series: How to Cultivate Determination and Resolve
The keys:
1. Know What You Really Want
You might be really good at climbing ladders. It’s important, though, to make sure the ladder is on the right wall. What do you really really want?
2. Set Your Course
What are the best practices that will move you toward your goal? Who would be a role model for you? What kind of support would you need?
3. Develop Grit
Studies suggest that beyond social intelligence, good looks and IQ there is factor that makes all the difference: Grit.
Grit is your capacity to stay the course. The good news is that you can learn how to develop grit.
4. Stay Open and Adjust as Needed
It’s easy to fall into a trap of thinking that moving toward a goal is a never-ending grind, when it fact it’s a balance of focus and deep rest and renewal.
If you lift weights and don’t provide enough recovery time, you won’t develop fully.
Where is the balance point between dynamic, focused activity and rejuvenating rest?
If you don’t pause and ask if what you are doing today is aligned with where you want to be down the road, you may find yourself living life as if you are in a pinball machine - caught in endless reactivity.
When you pause, reflect on what you really want, set the course, stay the course and savor the journey, life can open to new possibilities.
Do you Need a Time Out?
Imagine a week with no email and media, no speaking, no eye contact and training your heart and mind to be fully present in the here and now.
As the saying goes, “The more you’ve got going on in your life, the more you need to be on retreat.” In my opinion, there’s no better investment of time and fortune than stepping back and pausing in a formal meditation retreat.
I’ll be joined by a wonderful teaching team: La Sarmiento, Pat Coffey and Sebene Selassie. Jess Frey will be leading twice-daily Kripalu-style yoga to support your sitting and walking practice.
You’re supported in your practice with wholesome food from the farm, visits with the goats and chickens and walks in the Maryland woods west of Baltimore.
You’ll also have a few interviews with a teacher over the course of the week to help you stay present to your practice and your deepest intention.
For more information and to register.
June was a photogenic month with almost 2,000 images and video clips in the last thirty days.
After a lot of branch-hopping, in the beginning of June the young eagle finally took flight. The image here reminds me of when I was 14 and miserable.
Young deer before dawn for a river-side drink.
The local heron rookery makes for a lot of action on the river.
Up close and personal.
Moving through the morning mist.
Sushi.
Wheres Waldo?
Not dead yet. My annual birthday post proving I am still here. On the Colorado River.
A short video of a summer morning on the Potomac River.
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Tami Simon is founder of Sounds True and manages to be both a depth practitioner and a force of nature in our culture.
She’s brought forth and promoted many teachers onto the national scene.
I was delighted to have an interview with Tami for her podcast Insights at the Edge last week about "Body-Centered Inquiry."
We explored my relationship to the topic and I offered a few guided practices.
http://www.soundstrue.com/store/weeklywisdom?page=single&category=IATE&episode=12311
To check out the CD Series, click here:
http://www.soundstrue.com/store/body-centered-inquiry-5896.html
iTunes podcast here, online listening here, stitcher here, and Jonathan’s YouTube channel here.
