Sunday, June 7, 2009
Location: Santa Fe, New Mexico

My time in Santa Fe is finally at a close, for now, I’m sure I’ll be back to this beautiful place. I’ve been sucked into this place much the way I’ve been sucked into others throughout the journey. Every place has its own particular resonance and the vibes here are good.

Yesterday I went up to the Sangre de Christo Mountains for a overnight hike with my good friends Mark and Helen. We left late in the afternoon and after hiking for a few hours came to a clearing at the base of a large rock slide, we pitched tents, drank tea, chatted, ate a wonderful dinner prepared by Helen the day before, and sat by the fire long into the night. Upon awaking, we packed up and then ditched the packs in the bush and headed uphill towards a mountain lake at 11,000ft.

I’m now laying back writing on Mark and Helen’s couch while they are out with some friends. I can’t help but think how again family and community have built up around me. Everyone I’ve met in New Mexico has greeted me with openness and warmth and I will miss my now very dear friend here, both up at the mountains of Prajna, down at Upaya, and in the various households scattered throughout the city.

I haven’t been writing much and I’m not so sure why.. but I’ve had many thoughts to write up on. So I'll try to get them all down in the next few days.

Last night as we sat by the fire we were talking about the spiritual path and I was expressing how although I love so many aspects of the world's different belief systems, I don’t think I'll ever find myself devoted to a single one. I will never be fully Catholic, Native, Zen Buddhist, Yogi or Shaman. I will most likely continue to dabble and learn from all the great traditions and find my way down the road that rests between them… or perhaps rather on the roads they all share in common.

Mark pointed out that it’s the practice itself that is important. And I love to practice! I love the idea that practice doesn’t make perfect, perfect practice makes perfect. But here’s the rub, I don’t want to be bound up in ‘perfect practice’, I want to find the practice that is 'perfect for me', my own truly personal practice not tied into any system or larger whole. I know for me it lays in a layered, multidisciplinary, and multi-faith approach.

I believe that all roads do in fact lead to Rome, that is that all paths, if we carry the intentionality lead towards enlightenment. Perfect practice helps us along the way, and to find a good practice I think is central for those out seeking. But I would also say that it’s important not to become a victim of your own discipline. It’s important to not lose sight of the forest for the trees. It’s important to maintain fluidity as we grow, shift, change, spiritually die and are reborn into something else entirely.

I’m grateful for the time I’ve spent meditating and speaking about meditation with others. It’s been a long time since I really sat in mediation and it’s nice to come home to the silence. I met a man the other day who has meditated twice a day for the past thirty-five years… he says he’s only missed sitting three times in all that time.

It’s wonderful to be in the presence of a man with such a quiet and centered grace about him. It’s nice to see that it’s possible to find the calm center amidst all the chaos of today’s reality. It’s nice to realize that maybe it’s not even chaos at all, but only perceived chaos that we find ourselves projecting from inside ourselves out into the world.

I know that when I sit regularly I feel a distinct difference in my being and the happenings I once perceived as important make way for the things that are truly important. Love. Bliss. Joy. Beauty. Happiness.

So, I’ve been inspired by Roshi, Sensei, Roger, Mark, Temple and all other fellow seekers, and I’m picking up this old practice of meditation where I left off years ago. I have no interest in being a Zen Buddhist or anything else but a man named Daniel, but I do have great respect from those who have chosen this particular way, and I’m grateful for every insight they have to share.

For those who dedicate themselves wholly, often become the best teachers, since in their dedication; they truly understand the meaning of practice.

So that’s some of what I’ve been thinking ;-)

peace,d