🙏🏽 A few weeks ago, a dear friend of mine and I were talking, and after many hours of sharing a seemingly-never-ending lists of all the things we want and don’t want, all of our fears and regrets, we recognized that what we’re truly longing for is a sense of acceptance or ease with what actually IS … right now, in the present. 

In other words, a sense of contentment (or passaddhi, in the Pali language).

After we’d named this, my friend shared a quote she’d recently learned about from the artist Pablo Picasso, who apparently said, “It takes a long time to grow young.” 

This not only rang true to me, but immediately reminded me of a story about the Buddha’s enlightenment, which as the story goes happened very soon after he’d remembered what contentment had felt like to him, as a young child. 

In fact, this very memory is what suddenly made all the difference, and led him not only to enlightenment, but to the profound teachings of The Middle Way itself – the whole thing.

So, for this month’s talk, “It Takes A Long Time to Grow Young: Nurturing Contentment,” I thought I would explore how the Buddha was led to this understanding, along with some of his teachings on how we can train ourselves to experience even more of this precious quality in our lives. It includes a 10-minute meditation at the end. As always, I hope that it will serve. 

Also, just few heads up! 

1) In just 2 months from now, I’ll be offering a new 5-day retreat “Keep Calmly Knowing Change,” at the beautiful, peaceful Peterkin Conference Center in Romney, WV, our newest retreat venue – which was very well-received in October, and has been filling! The center is excited to have us back, and has hired a host of new kitchen and facilities staff to help grow and care for this wonderful center. We are so joyful to be a part of this!

2) I’ve finally honored my longtime promise to record the “Either Way, I Am & Really Will Be Okay” meditation – a 30-minute retreat favorite, designed to help us get in touch with the quality of equanimity (or upekkha, in the Pali language) which is considered the “fruit” of our practice. I hope it will serve!  

With joy and kind wishes, and my hopes to see you soon! 

~ Shell 🙏🏽💕😊