James: When we were carving up the CEC pie, trying to embody the spirit that kept us coming back to our practice, we wanted to both capture the essential and be intentional with how we placed it during the year. As we marched down the calendar, approached its end, after so much attention to practice, mindfulness … Continued
James: At the CEC, we celebrate a plurality of practices. It is our hope that holding an attitude of non-judgement and sampling widely gives us the best chance of finding an approach that works. There is a cost, though, typical of our modern world. With so many options, how do we choose? Once we do, … Continued
James: There are at least as many bits of advice about how to meditate as there are on how to write stories. The most important rule, though, is shared by each: ass to chair. Or cushion, depending. From these, answers emerge. Questions. Characters. Plot lines. There’s something else that helps with both too. Vocabulary. Not … Continued
James: With time spent calling our attention again and again to the now, it can appear that things happen less TO us, and more through. Minor annoyances, visions of the past or anticipations of the future rise and fall like the whine of passing ambulance. On what window does this experience rise? Is it the same … Continued