lara simmons

"A violent dragon met a bodhisattva on the road one day. The bodhisattva told the dragon that he should not kill anymore and should instead adopt the Buddhist precepts and care for all life. The bodhisattva inspired the dragon and afterward the dragon became completely nonviolent. But now the children who tended to the animal flocks nearby, seeing that the dragon had become gentle, lost all fear of him. And they began to torment him, stuffing stones and dirt into his mouth, pulling on his tail, and jumping on his head. Soon the dragon stopped eating and became very sick. When the dragon encountered the bodhisattva again, he complained, 'You told me that if I kept the precepts and was compassionate, I would be happy. But now I suffer, and I am not happy at all.' To this the bodhisattva replied, 'My son, if you have compassion, morality, and virtue, you must also have wisdom and intelligence. This is the way to protect yourself. The next time the children make you suff...

"Saying 'No,' can be the ultimate self-care." --Claudia Black I think most of us when we hear this quote will immediately think of saying No to other people. And that is a good interpretation. For the sake of our challenge I think it also works to say that saying "No" to YOURSELF can be the ultimate self-care. But don't we say "No" to ourselves all the time? "No, don't take a break, keep working." "No, don't make plans with friends this weekend, stay home and be with the kids." "No, don't sit down and read, do the dishes instead."  No. No. No. No. No. We say "No" to ourselves all of the time, but not when we should. Which may be one reason why we have been saying "Yes" to whatever it is that we are abstaining from. Often we say "Yes" when we should say "No" and "No" when we should say "Yes."  So today let's turn that aroun...

Another "mud" day, when my husband's car got stuck in the sand on Long Beach, WA " ...[S]ome days are magic, some days are mud." -- Donn "Murph" Murphy I am having a "mud" day today. My body feels heavy, everything feels hard and the darkness seems to be squeezing out the light.  At first I fought against it. I sat at my desk, "to do" list in hand, waiting for inspiration to strike. Nothing.  I surfed the Internet. Checked my email. Wasted time on Facebook. It only got worse. I decided to take a walk.  At first it didn't help. Instead of sitting in the mud, I was trudging through it, but I kept going. And going. And going.  And then I remembered this quote, which I heard many moons ago in Xcalak, Mexico, and I remembered: some days are just mud. And there is nothing you can do to change that. But there are things you can do to make it more bearable. And soon the darkness cleared a bit.  Here ...

I have no idea who Ashleigh Brilliant is, but I like her style. The urgency of fall is upon me. I am starting to feel the pressure of all that needs to be done. Lazy summer days by the pool are numbered and the truth of this is seeping in... So I post this today to remind myself - and perhaps you as well - to slow down, take rest, and breathe.  Sometimes it's the most urgent thing to do. UPDATE: So, Ashleigh Brilliant is a man. You can find out more about HIS work and life here . And, one of my favorite card readers, Lee-Anne Peters couldn't agree more. This week is all about the urgency of a complete rest.

"Meditation is a gift that you give to yourself." --Rev Karen Lindvig and Sada Simran This month, starting yesterday, our whole congregation at Seattle Unity is entering into 40 days of meditation.  Won't you join us? Commit to just 10 or 20 minutes a day of whatever meditation best suits you. Do it, then see what happens! Give this gift to yourself!

"be awesome. now!" --my younger son's iTouch A few weeks ago we finally bought our kids iTouches. I was not sure that this was a good idea, but they had been asking for months (if not years) and finally for the older one's birthday, I gave in.  Last week I was sitting on the couch doing my morning meditation when my younger son's iTouch went off. I wasn't sure what it was (his alarm sound is Chewbacca growling ) so I opened my eyes and looked around briefly. His iTouch was sitting on the end table right next to me and I could see that a reminder had come up for him. It read: be awesome. now! My heart melted. So often I can see my bad parenting in them so clearly. When they struggle with anger. When they give into hopelessness. When they rail against someone's unjust behavior instead of finding compassion. But there are also moments when I know I am having an influence on them that is positive and this was one of those moments. This is totall...

 "Appreciate yourself." --My massage therapist I have been feeling unappreciated as of late. By my husband. By my kids. By the mailman (I am always super-friendly to him, but left to his own devices he pretty much does his job and doesn't bother with pleasantries). So when my massage therapist asked me what was going on for me emotionally right now, I told her how I was feeling and why. Expecting her to come back with empathy ("That must feel terrible.") or commiseration ("Those ungrateful people!") what I got instead was a radical reframe of the issue at hand. She paused for a few moments, as if really thinking it through, and then said, "What if you were to appreciate yourself for all you do?" At first I thought she was talking crazy. Appreciate MYSELF?!? Isn't the whole point of appreciation that it comes from someone else? Or is it? We all want to hear "Thank you," when we do something nice for someone else ...