How (and why) to accept the unacceptable (aka impermanence)
September 29, 2024 | 10 CommentsAudio only version is here
Meditation begins at 12:14
Hello, I hope you and your loved ones are well. Before today’s 10-minute meditation, I share some thoughts about the first noble truth of Buddhism–that life is suffering (or unsatisfying). Thanks a lot, Buddha! Not exactly what I was hoping to hear. Nonetheless…there is power and even joy in abiding in reality. In your life. IRL (in real life). It’s one thing to have an intellectual understanding of a spiritual teaching but another thing entirely to live it out in your own life, today. In this video, I offer a few thoughts about how (and why) to try.
One of the stories I told took place in a conversation in the Open Heart Project sangha, our membership community. Please think about joining. It’s important–some would say necessary–to journey together with others, to be held, and accompanied. Even though each path is solitary, to tread the path alone together changes…everything.
With love,
Susan
categorized in: dharma, open heart project
10 Comments
Dear Susan,
So good to hear your voice again and how you wisely blend teachings and real life.
Here is what deeply touched me in today’s mini teaching:
Accepting impermanence: first step is accepting that I am not accepting it… so true… it opens a window so to speak.
Moments of life and death, truthful moments of impermanence – self doubt and self criticism disappear- fullness comes along with it, fleeting but with a sense of being complete – that is so beautiful.
And when we start freaking out about all this, key is being present to what we are doing.
Wishing you a lovely day and sending much love from Switzerland.
Love to you always, dear Nathalie. xo S
I’m grateful for the teachings repeated as I also take away something new with each session. I had experiences sitting with the dying before learning the Buddhist path. I did not have the experience described in Susan’s and the other Sangha members. I felt resistance as I look back in each of our parents’ passing.. I so appreciate the teachings that help me and see the Sangha as part of these experiences, as you say profound moments. Also, these teachings have impact on the not so profound but stress IRL. I am sometimes slow on the uptake but so helpful when I finally get the message.
P. S. I like the videos!!
So glad these videos are useful and I also benefit from repetition! xo S
Thanks for your real life teachings and beautiful meditation guidance it’s so helpful. Blessings from Monrovia, California.
You are so welcome, Will. With love, S
An idea that comes to mind when you are thinking about someone you love passing is to also think of how grateful you are for the time you have with them. They are both real and true.
Agreed. <3 S
Thank you for your teachings. A phrase you used to describe your early mornings at Barton Springs—“swimming in the dark”—struck me as an apt metaphor of how we live our lives—proceeding day to day not knowing what the future may bring but moving forward with faith and trust and acceptance of the mystery of life on earth and beyond.
<3
xo S