05/28/2026
Reflecting before Responding
One of the most profound benefits we can receive from a regular meditative practice is the ability to pause before we react to a difficult situation. Only if we have developed some degree of present-moment awareness, can we see clearly what we are faced
with. Only by pausing can we make a conscious choice to respond in a mindful way that brings benefit instead of harm.
Reflecting in non-judgmental way on both the circumstances we find ourselves in, and on the feelings that have arisen within us, we can consider the well-being of everyone involved. This one skill can transform our lives and prevent a great amount of suffering.
One of the most truths we can learn in order to live a healthy and meaningful life, is that we cannot control the events in our lives. With mindful practice, we can train ourselves to pause from reacting. Then we can touch our hearts and respond consciously,
committing ourselves to do no harm and to bring whatever benefit we can.
05/26/2026
Emotional Intelligence
Events in our world this year have given rise to strong emotional reactions: fear of life threatening illness, frustration at the way of life we must endure, grief at the loss of so many lives, and longing to see loved ones. These feelings are a natural part of the human experience and it’s important that we acknowledge them, allow them move through our hearts, and reflect on the messages they bring us. Then we can learn from and release them, without judgement and repression. Then we can keep our hearts open to recognizing equally well the gifts of being alive and loving each other.
05/19/2026
Freeing the mind from the grip of habit
“A regular meditation practice gradually cultivates the ability to consciously focus our attention in one direction and thus stand apart from our habitual train of thought. Observing the contents of
our minds enables us to be less identified with our thinking, thus freeing us from simply trusting and acting on the deep-seated ideas ingrained in us from our culture. We can begin to think, speak and act with a more universal purpose in mind.”
Swami Divyananda
05/14/2026
This poem reminds me that changing the world starts with me in the present moment, in the words of Rosemerry Trommer, "walking down the street heart first."
Peace to all, Ramananda
Small Kindnesses
Danusha Lameris
I’ve been thinking about the way, when you walk
down a crowded aisle, people pull in their legs
to let you by. Or how strangers still say “bless you”
when someone sneezes, a leftover
from the Bubonic plague. “Don’t die,” we are saying.
And sometimes, when you spill lemons
from your grocery bag, someone else will help you
pick them up. Mostly, we don’t want to harm each other.
We want to be handed our cup of coffee hot,
and to say thank you to the person handing it. To smile
at them and for them to smile back. For the waitress
to call us honey when she sets down the bowl of soup,
and for the driver in the red pick-up truck to let us pass.
We have so little of each other, now. So far
from tribe and fire. Only these brief moments of exchange.
What if they are the true dwelling of the holy, these
fleeting temples we make together when we say, “Here,
have my seat,” “Go ahead — you first,” “I like your hat."
05/19/2026
05/14/2026