A Steady Mind in an Unsteady World

As we begin a new year, many of us are doing so in the midst of profound heartbreak. Recent violent events alongside the ongoing turmoil and uncertainty within the U.S. government and across the world, can leave us feeling shaken, overwhelmed, and unsure how to hold it all. Feeling deeply is not a personal failure—it is a human response. The question becomes how we stay present with what we feel while remaining aligned with our values and capable of caring for ourselves and others.

As we move through the paramitas—generosity, discipline, patience, and exertion—we arrive at the fifth transcendent action: samadhi, or meditative absorption. Samadhi isn’t about achieving a special state or escaping what’s happening. It’s about learning how to stay—how to remain present with our experience, even when that experience includes grief, anger, fear, or uncertainty.

If patience is about riding the waves of experience, samadhi is about deeply abiding in that experience. From this kind of absorption, perception naturally sharpens. Clarity arises. Goodness accumulates—not as self-improvement, but as clear seeing. This is how we give ourselves the best chance to feel our feelings in a genuine way.

In the Heart Sutra, the Buddha simply sits in samadhi while the entire path to awakening is revealed. Through the power of meditative absorption, insight spreads, the right questions arise, and clarity becomes shared. Samadhi is not only an internal refuge—it quietly supports our capacity to spark sanity in others.

During our annual Building a Mindful New Year program, we’ll explore samadhi as a lived, accessible practice—one that helps us support ourselves first, so that we can more reliably support the people in our lives and respond to the world from our values rather than from reactivity or despair.

Our conversation on meditative absorption will be led by Kevin Townley, a writer, filmmaker, actor, singer, and meditation teacher. Kevin is known for his grounded, compassionate teaching style, his sharp sense of humor, and his emphasis on integrating meditation into everyday life.

If you’re curious about beginning the year with more clarity, steadiness, and kindness—rather than more striving—we invite you to join us for Building a Mindful New Year.

It would be great to see you there.

Love,
Susan