There is a famous story from the Zen tradition that has been passed down for more than a thousand years, about two Zen teachers discussing a primary issue of where we put our focus and attention:

One teacher asks another, “Where do you come from?”

The second replies, “From the south.”

The first asks, “How is Zen practice in the South these days?”

The second responds, “There lots of discussion.”

The first states, “How can all the discussion compare to planting the fields and cooking rice?

The second asks, “What are you doing about the world?”

The first replies, “What do you call the world?”

What do you call the world? How do you take care of the world and take care of yourself?

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Balance: Forget about balance. We are always out of balance. Always in perfect balance.

I sat meditation this morning as I do nearly every morning at about 6:00 a.m. This morning it was quiet, dark and cold. A wonderful way to begin my mornings. I don’t take it for granted, the privilege to begin my day in this way. The privilege to live in a place where I can feel safe. The privilege of having a body and mind, to be able to sit cross legged on a black cushion. I know I won’t always be able to cross my legs. What a pity, impermanence. And how wonderful and mysterious. And I don’t like it, that I won’t always be able to sit, to hug my wife and children, to chop fresh garlic for zucchini soup, to walk to the beach with my friends. I often think of creating a support group called BAC, Buddhist’s Against Change.

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With Jennifer Cohen

"Each of us carries within a knowing of how to restore balance, source our own sacred enough-ness, and act in alignment with our deepest truths and knowing." -Jennifer Cohen, Seven Stones Leadership Group

This is a unique and powerful moment in the history of human life. How we choose to live and work right now may, say some scientists and visionary thinkers, impact the course of life on earth for the next 1000 years. Join us for five powerful days to reveal and revel in a movement now afoot to restore, renew and rewire how humanity walks this earth, stewards the land, how we care for one another, and all of life itself. We will share practices for transforming our internal and cultural assumptions of fear and scarcity into joy and generosity.

Jul 7 2012 - 6:00pm - Jul 13 2012 - 12:00pm

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“If you have these two things – the willingness to change, and the acceptance of everything as it comes, you will have all you need to work with.”
- Charlotte Selver

“Don’t stop the line.” For many years this was an agreement, almost an unwritten law of the General Motors assembly lines building cars and trucks. Management believed that keeping the car assembly line going at all times was essential. Keeping the line going was clearly more efficient than stopping the line. According to a 30-year GM employee, management assumed that “If the line stopped workers would play cards or goof off.” As a result of this philosophy and way of working, problems were ignored instead of addressed. Defective cars, some missing parts, or cars with parts put on backwards were put into their own special “defective” lot. This lot grew to enormous proportions. At some point, addressing and fixing these problem cars became too costly.

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“I am always doing that which I cannot do, in order that I may learn how to do it.”
- Pablo Picasso

“The antidote to exhaustion is not rest. The antidote to exhaustion is wholeheartedness.”
- Brother David Steindl-rast

I was recently sitting in the office of a senior executive of a major corporation in the San Francisco Bay Area. We were meeting for the first time. During this conversation he shared with me his disappointment about work. “What happened?” he pondered. He had begun this job with such excitement and enthusiasm and now he felt discouraged and tired. “How did I get so busy, and disconnected? What happened to the enthusiasm and excitement I had for life as a child? When did my life get so out of balance?”

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