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Archive for March, 2009

Aging and the Thought of Enlightenment

Posted in Aging and Buddhism, Aging and Meditation, tagged , , , on March 26, 2009 | 4 Comments »

The “thought of enlightenment,” or bodhicitta, is a key doctrine of Great Vehicle Buddhism.  Basically it refers that moment in your life when your perspective widens to embrace the big picture, and to ask the big questions.  Why am I here? Why is anything here? What is life all about? Why is there evil in [...]

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Encephalitis: The Year I was 90 Year Old

Posted in Illness, tagged , , , on March 18, 2009 | 3 Comments »

Beginning in July, 1999 I became 90 years old for a year.  What happened? I was struck suddenly with viral encephalitis and within hours was in a coma so deep no doctor thought I could survive.  Obviously I did survive and regained all of my abilities and functions, but it took several years.  I tell [...]

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What is a Spiritual Practice?

Posted in Aging and Spirituality, spiritual practice, tagged , , , on March 13, 2009 | 8 Comments »

I’ve put the phrase “Spiritual Practice” in my blog title, but it may not be clear to many readers what that means. A spiritual practice is something you do with the body, with speech or with thought that evokes or develops the spiritual in us. The most common spiritual practice in the West is prayer. [...]

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The Yoga of Aging

Posted in Aging and Buddhism, Aging and Meditation, Aging and Yoga, tagged , , , , on March 8, 2009 | 3 Comments »

I believe there is a Yoga of Aging. The word “yoga” has come to mean the various classes and workshops that people go to for stretches, postures, and the associated benefits to health and energy. Since it was first introduced here early in the 20th century, yoga has grown tremendously and is now an integral [...]

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Gratitude is This Moment

Posted in Aging and Spirituality, Gratitude, tagged , , , on March 3, 2009 | 5 Comments »

Gratitude is this moment. Or as my Buddhist teacher Shunyu Suzuki liked to say, “That you are here is the ultimate fact.” But wait. What do we mean, Gratitude is this moment? We might more naturally want to say something like, “Gratitude is to appreciate this moment.” But somehow when I started writing this post, [...]

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