Words of Wisdom for March 27, 2024

Dear Friends:
” Zen teacher Ezra Bayda describes the problems that can come from being a compulsive “helper.” While we all want to be helpful, we can’t neglct our own needs, nor should we help others in search of praise.
One of the themes of practice is the gradual movement from a self-centered life to a more life-centered one. But what about our efforts to become more life-centered-doing good deeds, serving others, dedicating our efforts to good causes? There’s nothing wrong with making these efforts, but they won’t necessarily lead us to a less self-oriented life. Why? Because we can do these things without really dealing with our “self.” Often our efforts, even for a good cause, are made in the service of our desires for comfort, security, and appreciation. “
Tricycle magazine

There are two ways of spreading light:

to be the candle

or the mirror that reflects it.

– Edith Wharton

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Welcome All Things
These words of wisdom from Lao Tzu teaches us to welcome all things. This is equivalent to taking life just as it is. Do you have the patience to wait till your mud settles and the water is clear? Can you remain unmoving till the right actio …

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May you be free from suffering and the causes of suffering!

All my best,

Jerome Freedman, PhD
–Jerome

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Words of Wisdom for March 26, 2024

Dear Friends:
Turn Your Thinking Upside Down

Some people find the teachings I offer helpful because I encourage them to be kind to themselves, but this does not mean pampering our neurosis. The kindness that I learned from my teachers, and that I wish so much to convey to other people, is kindness toward all qualities of our being. The qualities that are the toughest to be kind to are the painful parts, where we feel ashamed, as if we don’t belong, as if we’ve just blown it, when things are falling apart for us. Maitri means sticking with ourselves when we don’t have anything, when we feel like a loser. And it becomes the basis for extending the same unconditional friendliness to others.

– Pema Chödrön, Lion’s Roar

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It’s Up to You | May 11, 2015
It’s Up to You | May 11, 2015   Nobody is going to save you from your own mind. Nobody can get into the heart of your experience and fix anything for you. If you want to make your own internal experience more hospitable, only you can do that work. Others can always sup …

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May you be free from suffering and the causes of suffering!

All my best,

Jerome Freedman, PhD
–Jerome

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Words of Wisdom for March 25, 2024

Dear Friends:
“The Buddha summarised his teaching as ‘The Middle Way’ with its nuances of balance. But balance is one of the most difficult (and beautiful) states to achieve.

We are often ‘top-heavy’ (as if our heads were at the centre of our bodies) or ‘all talk and no listen’, or unable to arrive at a cooperative relationship with others, or to otherwise live in a poised but easeful way.

– Ajahn Sucitto, London Insight

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Here’s an interesting post from Meditation Practices:
The Self Never Did Exist Says The Dalai Lama
This quote teaches us that the self never did exist says the Dalai Lama. He is saying that we need to identify something that is nonexistent as nonexistent. Selflessness is not a case of something that existed in the past becoming nonexistent: rather, this sort of “self” is somet …

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May you be free from suffering and the causes of suffering!

All my best,

Jerome Freedman, PhD
–Jerome

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Words of Wisdom for March 24, 2024

Dear Friends:
In the World

Meditation is not just a rest or retreat from the turmoil of the stream or the impurity of the world. It is a way of being the stream, so that one can be at home in both the white water and the eddies. Meditation may take one out of the world, but it also puts one totally into it.

– Gary Snyder, “Just One Breath”

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Here’s an interesting post from Meditation Practices:
Recipe For Life
In this video, scientists in Manchester, England have successfully created a building block of RNA in the laboratory.  John Sutherland and his collaborators at the University of Manchester began to search for the recipe for life. They created conditions in their laboratory that …

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May you be free from suffering and the causes of suffering!

All my best,

Jerome Freedman, PhD
–Jerome

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Words of Wisdom for March 23, 2024

Dear Friends:
The Root of Forgiveness

The practice of forgiveness happens when we are able to realize the underlying cause of our anger and impatience, and this allows us to distinguish between someone’s unskillful behavior and essential goodness. Serenity and calm develop as we learn to accept imperfection in others and ourselves.

– Michele McDonald, “Finding Patience”

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Here’s an interesting post from Meditation Practices:
Unlock Your Intuition
There is no doubt that intuition is real – the question is, can we use it reliably to enhance our lives. Have you ever had that feeling or sense that something wasn’t right? Maybe you “knew” that something was wrong with a loved one without knowing why… Or that you just met …

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May you be free from suffering and the causes of suffering!

All my best,

Jerome Freedman, PhD
–Jerome

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Words of Wisdom for March 22, 2024

Dear Friends:
“Remember that wherever your heart is, there you will find your treasure.”

– Paulo Coelho

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Intentions
This article is based on a talk on intentions that I gave on June 15, 2022 to the Mindfulness In Healing Sangha. It was inspired by a quote from lay dharma teacher, Dr. Larry Ward: The work we are required to do is the same no matter who wins. To heal and transform and create a …

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May you be free from suffering and the causes of suffering!

All my best,

Jerome Freedman, PhD
–Jerome

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Words of Wisdom for March 21, 2024

Dear Friends:
The summary of the advice of all prophets is this; find yourself a mirror!

– Shams Tabrizi, Daily Peace Quote

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Here’s an interesting post from Meditation Practices:
Roshi Joan Halifax Is Coming To Stanford
Roshi Joan Halifax is coming to Stanford University in one week on February 20, 2013. She will be in conversation with Dr. Jim Doty, Stanford neuroscientist and founder of The Center for Compassion And Altruism Research And Education (CCARE). When I met Roshi Joan Halifax sixte …

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May you be free from suffering and the causes of suffering!

All my best,

Jerome Freedman, PhD
–Jerome

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Words of Wisdom for March 20, 2024

Dear Friends:
“I felt bad because I had no shoes until I met a man who had no feet.” Probably the man who had no feet felt bad until he met a man who had no arms or legs and lived in a basket. Perhaps the man in the basket then could compare himself to the man dying in extreme pain and say, “At least I’m comfortable in my basket.”

– Father Eli, The Second Book of Widsom

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Words of Wisdom for February 25, 2024
Dear Friends: “The most important step in spiritual growth is the first: the decision to avoid evil and cultivate goodness within your stream of being. On the basis of this fundamental discipline, every spiritual quality becomes possible, even the eventual perfecti …

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May you be free from suffering and the causes of suffering!

All my best,

Jerome Freedman, PhD
–Jerome

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Words of Wisdom for March 19, 2024

Dear Friends:
“Touching What’s Within”

Each one of us carries within us beautiful, wholesome qualities that we can always be in touch with when we need them. I want to lift up four of them that have been incredibly supportive for me to reflect on and nourish.

The first quality is freshness. Like a flower, we each have the capacity to offer beauty and joy to ourselves and others. Thich Nhat Hanh often said the Buddha is our freshness, our sense of wonder, gratitude, creativity and generosity. We can consciously cultivate this quality of openness, enthusiasm, curiosity, and interest in our own experience and the world around us, both in our meditation and in our daily life.

The second quality is solidity. We can touch the strength of the mountain inside of us, by contemplating mountains outside of us. We each have the ability to remain steady and unwavering, even in the face of challenges. We can develop this capacity for stillness, stability, focus and magnanimity by stopping and checking in with ourselves and also by remembering the times in our lives when we have been trustworthy, loyal, or have offered friendship or refuge to others or ourselves.

The third quality is calm. We can visualize a quiet forest pool and experience this same tranquility inside of us. It is possible for us to connect with the reality of quietude, peace, undisturbed, unruffled clarity in us and we can grow this ability. Every time we allow what is happening in our minds and emotions to settle, we are developing the ability to reflect reality clearly, as it is.

The fourth quality is freedom. When you picture the vast open sky, with no obstruction, full of space, that is something we can experience inside of us as well. Like a moon floating in the night sky on a cloudless night, we, too, have infinite space within. We can learn to give ourselves and others space to be who we are, without expectations and projections. The freedom that arises with this spaciousness is the most precious gift.

– Kaira Jewel Lingo, Sangha Live

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Awakening to the Dream | Tricycle
Awakening to the Dream | Tricycle. …

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May you be free from suffering and the causes of suffering!

All my best,

Jerome Freedman, PhD
–Jerome

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Words of Wisdom for March 18, 2024

Dear Friends:
Our Devotion to Transformation

Poetry is leading us.

– November 3, 2015

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Here’s an interesting post from Meditation Practices:
What to Think About
yada “People by and large become what they think about themselves. The idea is so simple that it is easy to dismiss. People become what they think about themselves. It’s almost all a person needs to know about how to be happy. If someone came to me and ask …

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May you be free from suffering and the causes of suffering!

All my best,

Jerome Freedman, PhD
–Jerome

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