I just recently arrived back home from a 5-day meditation retreat I was leading in Romney, WV, and I need to admit that I love our new retreat center, Peterkin, so much that I’m already really missing it.
It was a truly wonderful retreat, and I honestly just wanted to stay for a little while longer!
During our last day there, I offered a longer q&a session, and one thread of inquiry that seemed to keep coming up was this:
When we perceive that some sort of harm is being done – either by another person, people, or even on a more national or even global level – how can we best confront this without nurturing aversion in our own hearts, or letting it consume us in some way?
Along with this was the question: how can we avoid taking on our aversion as a kind of identity – maybe as an angry or mean person, for example – when we experience that need within us to take a stand, or to say “no”, or maybe, “that’s enough.”
And, how can we use our mindfulness practice to best discern when (and when not) to take a stand about something?
So, for this month’s talk, Do No Harm/Take No Sh*t: A Buddhist Lesson on Boundaries” I thought I’d expand on my answers a bit, and explore what the Buddha taught us about how we can use our meditation practice to help us to say “no” or “stop” without doing further harm to either ourselves or others, or allowing our aversion to shut down our hearts.
It includes a brief meditation at the end. As always, I hope that it will serve.
Also, a few important heads up!:
1) We’re so happy to be heading back to the beautiful, peaceful Bon Secours Retreat Center in MD July 6-10 for a 5-day retreat on The Four Foundations of Mindfulness, one of my favorite topics! FYI: This retreat is about 3/4 full and has been filling quickly, but there is still time to join us!
2) The June 8 meditation retreat is full, but there is still an online option available, and still room in the next retreat, “True to Your Heart” on Aug. 17!
In the meantime, I’m sending many kind wishes, and my hopes to see you soon!
~ Shell 🙏🏽💕😊