lara simmons

          Once upon a time there were two siblings who lived together in their father's house. Upon the death of their father it was his wish that they split all of his assets fifty-fifty. When the time came, they divided his houses, his livestock and his money equally.           After this was done, however, they discovered two rings which had not been mentioned in the will. The first ring was made of pure gold, encrusted with diamonds and it sparkled from a great distance. The second ring was made of plain silver. It was old with many scratches and any shine it may have had at one time was long gone.           The older sibling immediately took charge and said,  "As the oldest one in the family the gold ring should be mine, I will give it to my oldest child when the time is right."   The younger sibling did not complain and so ...

Once upon a time there were two brothers who lived together in their father's house. Upon the death of their father they were to split all of his assets fifty-fifty. When the time came, they divided his houses, his livestock and his money equally. After this was done, however, they discovered two rings which had not been included in the estate. The first ring was made of pure gold and encrusted with diamonds, which sparkled from a great distance. The second ring was made of silver. It was old and scratched and any shine it had once had was long gone. The older brother immediately took charge and said, "As the oldest male in the family the gold ring should be mine, I will give it to my oldest daughter when the time is right." The younger brother did not complain and so he received the silver ring. Many years passed. The older brother had made a great fortune out of what his father had left to him and yet he was dissatisfied with his life. The younger brother st...

"The great thing about JOY is not that it lasts, but that it always comes around again." --The Universe As I have mentioned, I struggled this time at the ten-day silent meditation retreat I went on last month. One of the things I struggled with, ironically, was the lack of JOY I felt in the discipline and austerity of the program this time. Normally I am very comfortable with this kind of environment. Discipline. Austerity. To-the-minute timekeeping. These are things at which most mid-western-raised adults excel. Not this time. This time I was hungry for joy, for freedom, even a little bit of excess. I knew this flew in the face of the idea of anicca , or impermanence. The whole point of this meditation is to learn not to crave positive feelings and sensations, as well as not to have aversion to negative feelings and sensations, because both have the inherent quality of impermanence, but I couldn't help it. I wanted to feel some JOY. So on my daily post-lunch ...

"Help Yourself First." -- S.N. Goenka In one of his nightly lectures via videotape , S.N. Goenka advised against getting involved in any situation or taking any action until you are feeling equanimous .  If you know anything about Vipassana meditation , you know it is all about equanimity . Equanimity is the thing. Equanimity is defined as, " mental calmness, composure, and evenness of temper, esp. in a difficult situation ." I like to think of it as getting to neutral. This advice reminded me of the part in the airline safety speech about putting on your own oxygen mask first before assisting others and made me realize how often I leap into situations when my equanimity is something less than perfect. This is especially true when my kids are fighting. Nothing gets under my skin like the two of them going at it. Invariably I jump in, blood pressure rising, voice raised, and more often than not, make things worse. There are certainly times when we need...

"You are the master of your own life; you are the master of your own future." -- Gautama the Buddha One of many quotes from the retreat whose basic message is: you create your reality. What the Buddha is saying here is that we decide each day, each moment what kind of life we want to live by HOW we live it. By how we act. By how we think. By how we treat others. By how we treat ourselves. Decide what kind of life you want to live and then plant the seeds of that life. At the retreat S.N. Goenka told a story during one of the nightly video-taped discourses , about a man who planted seeds from the Neem tree (known for its bitter fruit) on his land. When the tree grew and began to produce fruit he was very upset that the fruit it produced was bitter and not sweet like sugar cane. Of course we are meant to laugh at this man for his foolishness, but are we any different? We lie, we cheat, we steal (in large or in small ways), we give into anger and then we want life...

While sitting for hours - HOURS - in meditation during my most-recent Vipassana retreat, I remembered something I read recently in Malcolm Gladwell's book, " blink " - that our bodies don't know the difference between a fake smile and a real smile. That when we smile, certain chemicals are released, certain reactions take place, in our body that make us feel good and our body does the same things when we fake a smile. While observing my breath for what seemed like the 40th hour in a row, I decided to give it a try and - low and behold -  it works!  When I started to smile, my mind calmed down, my body relaxed and I could turn my attention to my meditation once again, instead of focusing on the pain, discomfort and sometimes overwhelming boredom I felt. Smiling, even when I was faking it, really did help.

"Just let things be, just as they are." --Evie Chauncey, Assistant Teacher at the NW Vipassana Center Whew! It's good to be home. My intention was to start blogging immediately upon my return, sharing all the insights and inspiration from my latest ten-day retreat , but The Universe had other plans.... If I recall correctly, last year it took me a few days to "plug back in" also and I had a hard time writing about the experience. Oh how I wish I had now. Last year is, in my mind, a lovely memory of a week of great peace and discovery and ultimately, a greater awakening. The things I remembered were the food (delicious!), the walks (peaceful), the naps (also delicious). The harder things are fuzzier in my mind: the early rising (4:00am), the hours of sitting with your legs crossed (painful), and the mind-numbing boredom that sometimes creeps in after 90 minutes (or sometimes 9) minutes of meditation. This year was harder. Much harder. Not being new ...

"Change begins within." --David Lynch

"We are the custodians of our inner world." --David Pond

"It's not about escape, it's about experience." --The Universe

"The precondition to sensitivity is stillness. In the same way that a pond on a still day will visibly register the smallest insect alighting on its surface, but on a windy day it won't, our ability to feel the whole is directly proportional to our ability to become still within ourselves." --Phillip Shepherd

"Breath is the power behind all things. Your breath doesn't know how old you are; it doesn't know what you can't do. If I'm feeling puzzled or my mind is telling me that I'm not capable of something, I breathe in and know that good things will happen." --Tao Porchon-Lynch (a 94-year-old yoga instructor)

"One's heart is the only safe place to be. There's light there, there's company, and quiet." --Anne Lamott

"I think no thoughts, and thus am free...." --The Universe

"Sit down, shut up and pay attention." -- James Ishmael Ford

"If you get the inside right, the outside will fall into place."   --Eckhart Tolle

"ENJOY, do not attach. SUFFER, do not attach. Be happy." --The Universe, at last year's retreat

“...[T]o make a place for light the mystic shuts his eyes." --Louise Gluck, from her poem "Bats"

"If there is no peace in the mind...how can there be peace in the world?" -- S.N. Goenka Last year at about this time I went on my first 10-day silent meditation retreat at the NW Vipassana Center. When I came back, I knew I wanted to go again. And that time has come. I leave today for another ten days. Last year I was a bit nervous and unsure. This time, I am excited. I know what to expect and what will be expected of me. And I am ready. I can't wait to sit in meditation for most of my waking hours. To walk in silence for all of them. And to be free from the constant barrage of mind-thoughts that I am subject to each day. I look forward to oatmeal and stewed fruit for breakfast every day. To the delicious vegetarian lunch. And nothing but a cup of tea for dinner. I know that there will be new things too. New ideas. New discomforts. New fears. I look forward to these as well. While I am gone I will be posting one meditation quote every day to inspire your...