After decades of practice and teaching, what inspires me are those moments when I can see the habitual as if it were for the first time. If such moments occur while I'm giving a talk, then the teacher in me can hear its own words imbued with the freshness imparted by those who truly listen -- the multiple aspects of myself being part of the audience as well. Thanks for your participation in the process.
Our mind often functions in a shared space. In that case it is not sufficient to empty the individual mind, but we need to find ways to extend the clearing to the collective mind as well.
The primary role of the outer teacher is to empower the inner one. And in order to let this empowerment in, we need to drop our shields and embrace freedom.
Much of our daily life is make-believe. To be with the real we have to withdraw from this charade and embrace our actual experience, including the perception of impermanence.
We often see the Earth as just a territory to be subdivided and owned. Meditation helps us to move away from this as it provides us with a sense of connectivity and attunement with the Earth and all its creatures.
The Occupy Wall Street movement questions the hegemony of the 1%, and seeks to empower the 99% instead. Our practice, likewise, questions the hegemony of the ego, and seeks to empower the 99% of us.
In the process of relating to others, we often barricade ourselves behind some form of collective identity; be it our family, clan, race, nationality, religion, whatever. To truly connect we need to drop this we-ego ("wego") and allow ourselves to be vulnerable to love unconditional.
The problem with money is that it takes us to a strange and separate world, where only the bottom-line counts. The wall separating this world from the rest of our life stretches out inside ourselves, and splits us in two. A wholesome life requires that we take down this inner wall.
