You’ve heard something like this before—without death, we could never know the preciousness of life. When a loved one falls ill, suddenly our relationship with them is imbued with an entirely new quality. But what happens when the loved one who falls ill isn’t human? What if it’s a lake whose life we mourn? In this season finale, Thomas shares about a close friend of his who initiated him in death, and Great Salt Lake, who is now in dangerous decline. He invites us all to reconsider what personhood is, and what it might mean to open our hearts to the lands that sustain us.
Confusion gets a bad rap. When we feel clear, when we know who we are and where our life is headed, we often suppose that this is a desirable way to be. On the other hand, when we feel confused, it’s as if we can’t quite relax. There’s a queasiness in our body that we long to get rid of. But what if clarity and confusion are just two facets of a single gem? What if we need confusion to truly be clear, and clarity to unlock the power of “divine confusion?” Have a listen to this episode and see if your relationship to confusion doesn’t start to shift straight away.
A colleague of mine recently asked me, “How do we be love?” As soon as he asked, I felt any intellectual response buckle under the weight of his question. There were no words. But I walked around with the question, and let it in deep. The following meditation arose out of that inquiry, which I’m honored to share with you here.
Love and Blessings on your day. -Thomas
What is Metalineage? Gloria Pak returns to the studios for part II of this lively conversation.
How can we take the best from all our influences without sacrificing what we take to be essential? How can the lineages and traditions that speak to us individually bring one another to a greater fullness? The conversation culminates with a question for all of us: how is metalineage living through you? How will you express your highest values in this life, leaving nothing good behind?
This is a special episode. Gloria Pak visits the Mindfulness+ studio in Cambridge, Massachusetts to engage Thomas in a conversation about his recent book, At-One-Ment: Embodying the Fullness of Human Divinity. What does it mean to belong to a tradition? What does it mean to leave a tradition? If we’ve left, are there meaningful ways to continue to embody and bring forth the best of the lineages that form us? How do we engage in our “local-ness” while also making way for the universal wonder of Spirit? Listen in to this soulful exploration of a new kind of spirituality that is showing up on our planet.
If you’ve been practicing meditation for some time, you may have heard the instruction somewhere along the way to “sit like a mountain.” But what does that mean? Is it just a nice metaphor? Thomas takes us right to the heart of our mountain nature in this episode, where there is always, right here, an abiding peace, stillness and stability.
Spirituality and human transformation are taking exciting turns in the 21st century. Never before have so many traditions been intersecting, influencing and evolving one another. How can we meet this moment with courage and curiosity? Thomas lays out a vision of “metalineage” in this episode—a way in which all of humanity can realize greater fullness and freedom. For a deeper dive, check out this immersive online experience, Gospel Meets Dharma: The Dance of Buddhism and Christianity in the 21st Century.
Mindfulness practice is simple as it is difficult: we need to be willing to feel what we’re actually feeling. Easier said than done! In this episode, Thomas shares the experience of his grandmother’s recent passing, all that he wasn’t willing to feel, and what came on the other side of being honest with himself.
To be a human being is to be incomplete—in process. No matter where we are in this moment, we are undoubtedly on our way to becoming something else, something new. How, then, do we manage the anxiety of being “in suspense and incomplete”? Thomas points to the part of us that is already complete in this episode, even as we are becoming something more.
Also, check out this new online course, Gospel Meets Dharma: The Dance of Buddhism and Christianity in the 21st Century.
For those of us who live in the Northern Hemisphere, we’re right on the other side of the winter solstice. Traditionally, this is a time when we hunker down, take an inventory on our lives perhaps, and sense into what survives the enveloping dark. When we pay close attention, we’re comforted to discover the light that the darkness never overcomes. Also, check out Thomas’s new online course, Gospel Meets Dharma: The Dance of Buddhism and Christianity in the 21st Century.
In the Buddhist tradition, we make the distinction between “ordinary” and “extraordinary” happiness. Extraordinary happiness, simply put, is a happiness beyond conditions. Thomas shares about this teaching in the context of Advent, a time when we can bring more awareness to our “distorted values” and let in greater Light. Also, check out Thomas’s new online course, Gospel Meets Dharma: The Dance of Buddhism and Christianity in the 21st Century.
In this episode, Thomas invites his very first meditation teacher, David Timpson, to share about his meditation practice, his medical practice, and the profound power of the intentions of our heart. The conversation is a beautiful window into how mindfulness can transform us over the decades. Prepare to be inspired!
We take a quantum leap on the spiritual path when we learn to really trust our basic goodness. The challenge: layer after layer of socialization, education, and shame tend to obscure our connection to this goodness. What can we do? Listen to today’s episode for insights and practices to “return to innocence.”
We’re back! Thank you for joining us for a brand new season. Thomas kicks off the festivities with a close reading of a timeless text from the Mahayana Buddhist tradition. In this episode you can learn to relax your inner control freak (okay, for some of us it’s more like an outer control freak) and let go more fully into the natural ebb and flow of life.
Have you ever had the experience of trying to meditate, only to find yourself constantly frustrated that you’re endlessly distracted? Have no fear! Thomas offers a simple, proven remedy to turn this deficit into a great strength. Your practice will never be the same. Also, join us for our home retreat, Sep. 12th: https://lowerlightswisdom.org/upcomingevents/home-retreat-a-day-of-sacred-living
Suzuki Roshi said it well to his students: “Each of you is perfect the way you are ... and you can use a little improvement.” What delightful play! Let’s dive into this paradox together. If we are only aware of the Relative, our practice becomes pressurized and grim. But if we get stuck in the Absolute, well, in Zen terms, we start to stink. Held as an inseparable union, though, the Relative expresses the Absolute; the Absolute liberates the Relative. Freedom and Fullness. Wisdom and Compassion. Anyone who goes to the heart of this Reality is sure to discover Good News, indeed. Also, join us for a day of retreat, in the comfort of your own living space: https://lowerlightswisdom.org/upcomingevents/home-retreat-a-day-of-sacred-living
What we sometimes refer to as “the path”, that is, the process of transformation, has been expressed in different ways in the Wisdom traditions throughout history. We can learn a great deal from the similarities—and differences—in these formulations that seem to be pointing to very similar territory. Listen in as Thomas compares snippets from St. Teresa’s “Interior Castle” and Master Guo An Shi Yuan’s commentary on the Oxherding Pictures of Zen Buddhism. What a joy to walk this path!
In this practice, there are two currents always at play: that of Transcendence, that which moves beyond all form, and Immanence, that which embraces all form. In Hinduism, these principles are deified as Shiva (Transcendence) and Shakti (Immanence). In the end, these currents are not two—they are different movements of the same Divine Reality. Listen in today’s episode to the story of Ramana Maharshi and the very intimate way in which the Divine danced his life.
It’s time for another extended guided meditation on Mindfulness+! Thomas shares a quote from the famous physicist, Erwin Schrödinger, and invites listeners to participate in the great Mystery that mystics and sages across the ages have invited us into: What is the self? Who is aware? What is it that is aware in this very moment of the words on this screen? Come fill your heart in this exploration.
Mindfulness practices teaches us to relate to the discomforts of life in a dramatically new way. Conventionally, all we want to do as biological organisms is to get comfortable and stay comfortable. But when we look closely, we realize that pain is not just something we can learn to tolerate, it is a kind of grace, opening us up to a world beyond suffering.
We’re in the dog days of summer in Salt Lake City. Thomas shares a modern mindfulness parable on a broken air conditioner and working with discomfort. He guides listeners in becoming experts at diagnosing the suffering in their own body-mind. In the end, it is never one’s “own” body-mind. Any suffering we alleviate in “ourselves” is an alleviation of suffering for all beings everywhere in all worlds.
