Monday, November 8, 2010

Second Week Naikan

Dear Ones,

I thought I'd post a bit about my own experience of working with this practice, in the hopes that some of you may wish to share your experience.

Tonight I wish to share about just some of the things I have received today. I suspect that while there are many particular things unique to each of us, we may also find that -- due to our shared humanity -- we will find that we all receive many of the same things or at least the same kinds of things throughout the day. Also, in sharing about what we have received, we may remind others that they too received these benefits, but perhaps overlooked them.

For those of you wishing to take part in this 'experiment,' perhaps limiting ourselves to listing between five and ten things would be enough.

1. My wife, Monica made a delicious breakfast for me this morning.
2. My baby daughter, Giovanna, made me laugh today with her facial expressions.
3. Our two dear chickens, Daisy and Violet gifted us with two beautiful eggs this morning.
4. A man at the bank let me ahead of him when he saw me wearing Giovanna in the sling.
5. The barista at Scott's 47 made me a 'perfect' cappuccino this morning.
6. Our friends, Didar and Zirkan, brought over a generous sharing of the birthday cake Didar made for Zirkan.
7. Monica made a wonderful apple crisp and served me a nice heaping portion.
8. The plumber came to our house and fixed the leak in our bathroom tub.
9. I was served a delicious slice of pizza and glass of wine at Time Market this evening.
10. People I don't know have worked to create this technology allowing me to write up and publish this blog.

Tomorrow, I'll share my experience of contemplating the second question: What have I given today?

in metta,
poep sa frank jude

4 comments:

  1. What I have received today:
    1. Hugs and kisses from countless adorable toddlers whom I teach.
    2. A delicious (and free!) vegetarian Thai lunch in the school caf.
    3. A much needed pick-me up iced coffee from sweet Vicki.
    4. The physical mobility, time, and space to go to my mat tonight (I know that's actually 3, but it is my intention to cheat :).
    5. Scott Ross and his Inhale yoga podcast.
    6. Frank Jude and his blog, reminding me that I am one with a huge, beautiful community of intention.

    namaste.

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  2. What I have received today...

    The gift of meditation from a lineage of teachers going all the way back to the Buddha.

    Many hugs from my husband.

    Oatmeal, raisins, almonds and chia seeds from farmers unknown to me.

    Unexpected lap time from a kitty who doesn’t like to be still.

    Connection with a faraway cousin through Facebook.

    And that was just within the first two hours of being awake!

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  3. What I have received today.
    *My 2 dogs were cooperative during my meditation time this morning.
    *My dear husband checked on me (as he does every morning) when he awoke just to make sure I really was out there meditating and hadn't just disappeared.
    *My dear husband installed the gate to keep the dogs from running rampant all over the house
    *My daughter Maggie came up to me in HER school library (didn't know I was on campus) and unashamedly hugged and kissed me in front of everyone :-)
    *My son William took out the garbage without arguement.

    What have I given today?
    *I woke up my children with a smile and a kiss
    *I made the coffee
    *I didn't lose my patience when Maggie had a hard time "getting it all together" to leave for school
    *I took some time to draw out the cashier at Home Depot - she seemed to be having a tough day and she is usually very outgoing
    *I put out fresh hummingbird food and suet cakes for the birds

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  4. What I have received today.

    I walked to work in the crisp fall air, under a
    bright blue sky.
    I had some very good conversations with several co-
    workers.
    I ate a yummy lunch that I brought from home.
    We received a new gong for our meditation group that
    met this evening and all had fun trying it
    out.
    I had a delicious cup of dandelion root tea.
    A good friend gifted me a loaf of his homemade herb
    bread.

    ReplyDelete