So after a few weeks of good health for all, and the promise of a relaxing summer, it all started again. Michael had an appointment the first week of June with his breast surgeon for a 12-month check-up. The day before he went, he felt a teeny, tiny something in the area of his mastectomy. But there was no more breast tissue there. What could it be? Probably nothing, said Rachel, the breast specialist, but we’ll do a sonogram just to be sure. Humm, the sonogram looked a bit suspicious, so we should do a biopsy, just to rule out, you know, anything bad. Continue reading
Category Archives: Meditation
IMS: Heart’s Release or Heart Attack?
I just got back from the cardiologist and passed my echo and stress test with flying colors. So this tale has a happy ending – now for the story itself: I had signed up for the April monastic retreat at IMS, but was on a long waiting list after the lottery. I also signed up for the May retreat with Kamala Masters, Debra Ratner and Mark Nunberg and figured if I got into the earlier one I could transfer my registration. Continue reading
Well Being Study in Madison, Wisconsin
Sunday, March 26, 2017
It was shortly after the election last November when I was reading Buddha Dharma Magazine that I saw an add for a Meditation and Well Being Study at the Center for Healthy Minds at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. My initial intention was to do something positive that would be of help to others in the face of the devastation and helplessness everyone was feeling in reaction to the election. So I embarked on a very long process of application and vetting for the study. Continue reading
FR – Magic New England Spring Elixir
March 20, 1016
It was spring break at Princeton and I arranged to spend 11 days at Forest Refuge. It had been a pretty mild winter so far and I had no weather trouble driving up to Barre where the ground was bare (no snow as in this picture). The temperature was moderate, with cold mornings, when I loved walking out on the beautiful deck after breakfast, and warmer afternoons for crunching through the dead leaves in the woods. Continue reading
Pierrot in an ice storm
Monday, April 20, 2015
A lot of time has gone by since the Richardson Chamber Players performance of Pierrot on March 1, but I wanted to relate the crazy time leading up to it and my thoughts in the aftermath.
About a year ago I bumped into my wonderful colleague, pianist Jennifer Tao, in the hallway of our underground conservatory in the music building. Jennifer was on the RCP planning committee and asked me if I wanted to request anything for the next season. Continue reading
FR – take care and proceed with caution
Sunday, January 25, 2015
Remember how I have remarked that external circumstances so often reflect your inner state of mind? I had arranged to spend nine days at Forest Refuge with Taraniya teaching. The first thing that happened was that the check engine light came on in the outback just as I was getting on the Garden State Parkway. Is this serious? Should I turn around and go back? Continue reading
Fall Break in New England
Thursday, October 30, 2014
Our travels over Fall Break accomplished a number of things, all having to do with the heart. We started out in Barre at the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies. Remember when I went to seshine with Michael? (see the blog entry from June 17, 2012) Well, he was finally making good on his part of the bargain – to come to something at IMS with me. Continue reading
U Tejaniya at IMS
Saturday, May 10, 2014
This year I got offered a spot in the highly prized retreat with visiting Burmese master Sayadaw U Tejaniya. Some of the 100 folks at this years retreat had been at his last retreat two years ago. Others had been on the long waiting list for that one and were thrilled to be here now. The list of yogis was also filled with well known teachers and celebrities, Continue reading
A bird in the bush – Forest Refuge retreat
Sunday, November 3, 2013
It was wonderful to return to Forest Refuge for ten days just as the peak of fall colors were blowing away in the wintery winds. My yogi job was sweeping the decks and entrance ways, and I learned a tremendous amount about letting go and letting be from the ever blowing leaves. By the afternoon, there were always more leaves on the decks no matter how many I swept away in the morning. Continue reading
Dragon Mother
Thursday, December 27, 2012
I finally have some time to write about Dragon Mother. The whirlwind of the Fall semester has settled a bit over the holiday break and I can look back on the whole process of bringing this project to life. It started almost two years ago in the interval between semesters when I felt restless without enough to do. I decided to ask various composers to write pieces for me in the coming years. Continue reading