23 Comments

Thank you Joan. I read this when I woke up and I find it the most helpful and meaningful practice instruction I’ve ever received. Deep and simple. Just this life as it presents itself in every moment. Pain and all, pleasure sometimes. The way we were before all the distractions and technology invaded our minds.Simplicity is the hardest practice,I find.

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Thank you, Marina. I'd just add that maybe regarding technology as something "invading our minds" is not a helpful way to frame it, as it immediately creates imaginary separation, the thought-sense of "me" and "it," and resistance. Ultimately, nothing is a distraction. There is always just this aliveness or presence, sometimes showing up as thoughts, stories, screens, news, movies...and sometimes showing up as the experience of silence and boundlessness. We can never really lose presence or not "be here now," although in another sense, we can. But ultimately, it's ALL presence, Here-Now, aliveness. Much love to you...❤️🙏

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Yes to every word you wrote! And no to clinging to the words. ;)

The way i live (my) practice is "to live". No method, no cookie-cutter. A sensorial experience that drives everything back to the center, the point of no*thing, God, to then almost simultaneously expanding all in the wholeness. Being no-one and All-in-One. Words are always limiting but i found you beautifully articulated the modalities and state of mind of what we can call a practice, whichever form it will take for us. On that note, i will just breath in- breath out and send a smile to you Joan, and to everyone reading. :)

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"A sensorial experience that drives everything back to the center, the point of no*thing, God, to then almost simultaneously expanding all in the wholeness. Being no-one and All-in-One." Beautiful! ❤️

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Thanks Joan, a very good explanation about an incredibly simple practice for complicated minds…

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Joan, deep thanks. This is it in a nutshell. I don't need to read or listen to another thing. Just this..... ❤️

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Agreed, just this is plenty!

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Awesome Joan! This is very helpful at this time. Thank you! I'm about to have Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow, which means entering a possible pressure-cooker of differing political / social stances, views, and arguments. I haven't been looking forward to it. At all. Still, taking what you have written to heart, fits in with other stuff I've been reading / experiencing lately. Right now, all I'm thinking about is what's right in front of me. Thank you...

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I notice that often we imagine what a situation will be like, and then it turns out not to be that way at all. Maybe it's possible to go to dinner with no expectations. And maybe if others there voted differently or have different views from you, maybe it's possible to be genuinely interested in learning how they see things, and maybe not going with the powerful urges to judge them, correct them, convert them, disprove them, or resist them, but simply to be aware of these powerful impulses and perhaps the deeper feelings underneath them (such as maybe fear). I often fail at this aspiration myself, so I know it's not easy. My Zen teacher Joko Beck would have regarded this as a perfect opportunity for practice in the deepest sense. So, I wish you a wonderful Thanksgiving full of genuine love and gratitude. Good luck! ❤️🙏

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Yes, I'm resigned to not talking politics. I just want to enjoy the meal and my family around the table. Thanks for this response. It helps...

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Thanks Joan. Love you back...

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Beautiful !! I echo all of the sentiments below !

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Joan, this writing clarifies practice as a way of living. I resonate strongly with devotion to this actuality right now, as it is, nothing to avoid, nothing to grasp, just this awareness meeting this moment wholly. And, yes, we are in some sense always right here, right now, AND heaven and hell are very different experiences. Thank you, Joan.

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Hola ¡ quina emoció llegir aquestes paraules ,, la veritat toca al cor. Dona com has fet per ser així ? és experiència ? ve de cop? són els anys ? que has begut ?

Gracies a la Vida per ser.

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Joan, Thank you. Once again your words and heart have rearranged what is familiar and have a refreshing look again at just this , here and now.

Your reminder to me to take time throughout a day and orient myself to sensational fields,thought patterns, and the livingness surrounding and within is well received. I find I am hardly ever bored with self or my situation as there is so much dynamism and change, renewal and release occurring all around. Sending love and caring your way.

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Thank you Joan. Much love to all

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Life, what a awesome teacher ! You're part of it Joan

Gratitude ❤️🙏

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Lovely piece Joan.

I have been practicing silent sitting (which I have, in different moments, known as shikantaza/centering prayer/contemplation) daily for many years now....

It has been, and continues to be, my experience that there is a "trickling through" of perspective shifts into the time I spend NOT sitting - although, of course, this is not consistent and unfolds from moment to moment...as does everything. I wish you well.

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Another beautifully written and conveyed post on a topic so challenging to write about and convey, i.e., the mystery of what we are and what this is, which is one and the same? lol It’s gotten so still here, that being in the Houston airport today, on the Sunday after Thanksgiving with delay after delay is no problem. Pure peace, resting here, delighting in just this. Deep gratitude.

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Thanks Joan. Much enjoyed. Just found this Substack. Been listening to your waking up stuff for a while!

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Lol wish I’d read this when I got up this morning, before I had a blazing argument with someone at work, but that illusory moment has gone now, just exists as a memory, every second is a new moment

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