Namaste Consulting Inc.

March (Photo credit: flavijus)

Thanks so much for your kindness and generosity but most of all your patience.  I’m new to Blog Talk Radio and am feeling my way as I go.  I previously thought that this show had not taped, however, when I went into my archive tonight, I found it wait for me.

As I was doing some research for this show on the Four Boundless Qualities for Blog Talk Radio (click on the Blog Talk Radio Link), I found this information on an upcoming retreat at  San Francisco Zen Center.  They will actually be putting on a retreat during the Saturdays in March on these practices.

Look on their website for the Practices for a Boundless Heart and Mind retreat.  http://www.sfzc.org/cc/display.asp?catid=&pageid=2978

If you’re in the Bay area, check out these Saturday retreats.  Check it out on their website.

Other resources for using the Four Boundless Qualities in your meditation practice include Joan Halifax Roshi and Pema Chodron‘s work:

http://pemachodrontapes.com/store/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=4

http://manchestershambhala.org

Why I chose these meditations for recitation tonight was because as Ani Pema stated in her book, they are power self-care meditations.

They are essential for those of us who are grieving losses, not just due to the death of someone we love but also the great and small losses we face in our lives every day like betrayal of by those who are close to us or betrayal of our bodies through disease.

We take so little time to be present to our everyday wounds that we are overwhelmed when we suffer one of those great losses in our lives.  So why not create a practice in our lives to be present to and cultivate kindness for those losses and wounds we are constantly living with?

When we foster kindness for ourselves, we start to touch the essence of compassion and with practice, we’ve able to foster that compassion for those around us and eventually for all sentient beings.

These are timeless practices that have so much relvance to our every day lives today, maybe more so than ever before.  People are stretched, stressed, and suffering.

We have less and less time, more and more worries, and we don’t know where to turn.

We don’t have extended families where we see older generations going through things that we will one day nor do we have their wisdom to help us with what we are going through right here and right now.

But what we do have is a global sangha and meditations that have helped ease suffering in individuals for thousands of years.  I hope that the recitation of these phrases will bring you comfort and will broaden your daily practice.

When you have been practicing the phrases for some time, I would love to hear how they have informed your daily life.  Please drop us a note and let us know.

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• Buddhist Gift Guide. (whuffling.wordpress.com)
• Relaxing with the Truth (chakralivingroomaz.com)
• Crazy Wisdom (theartfulblog.com)