Spirituality & Practice

Lawrence Kushner is a master teacher of mysticism, storytelling, and discovering the sacred in everyday life. He has been dispensing the deep wisdom of sacred texts and spirituality for 30 years as a rabbi, writer, lecturer, and teacher. He is recognized as one of the most creative religious thinkers in America and is profiled on Spirituality & Practice as a Living Spiritual Teacher. Kushner's vocabulary of faith offers refreshing insights into our relationship with God. For example: Living responsibly means respecting the ties that bind us together. Blessings are ways to "ritualize our love of life," politics is "the repair of creation," and wealth is a function of generosity so "the more you give, the richer you feel." One of the things we like most about this imaginative spiritual companion is that he consistently helps us to see ourselves as participants in a sacred story. We invite you to discover your place in this sacred story by spending time with Kushner's wisdom, wit, and practices through this e-course in our popular "Practicing Spirituality" series. You will receive 40 emails, each with: • a passage from one of Kushner's books, • a link to the review of the book where we found it, and • a practice suggestion based on the passage. • plus access to the recording of a one-hour teleconference with Lawrence Kushner, held when this e-course was first offered in October 2013. Throughout this e-course, we use Kushner's teachings as a means of mining the meanings of ordinary people as Messengers of the Most High, ways of repairing the broken world, dealing with interruptive thoughts while in prayer, dancing the Hokey Pokey, staying attentive to the sacred things happening all around us, plumbing the depths of God as One, reciting blessings, making a place for Mystery in our faith, and much more. Lawrence Kushner's wisdom has been heralded by spiritual readers and religious writers of all stripes, and people of all traditions and no tradition are bound to enjoy his universal approach. He grounds spirituality in everyday life, and then he constantly reminds us of its mysterious roots. "Core religious experience is beyond words and reason," he says. "That doesn't mean that its antirational, spaced out, or naval contemplating, but merely that the numinous transcends logic. To put it bluntly, if you can explain it, it ain't God." Subscribe to practice your spirituality encouraged by the writings of Lawrence Kushner. (6 CEHs for Chaplains available.)

If you were to give someone a single gift — something they'd never asked for before, but that you know they would treasure — what would it be? This is the question posed by a teacher to their students in this book, and their answers make up the chapters. The teacher lays out guidelines. Students draw from a hat either family member, friend, or "?" — an "other" category for someone who has left a strong impression on them but who doesn't fit as relative or friend: for instance a neighbor, a coach, or a grocer. Most students share their writings aloud and receive support from classmates, but all have permission to turn in their stories as journal entries instead, if what they want to share feels private. A bouquet of distinct voices emerges, all following the class motto: "We protect, affect, respect one another!" Angel drew "Family," and she writes about her cousin Edwin, who misses his mom — her Aunt Dee, in the army, stationed in Germany. She would give her Edwin the gift of a surprise visit home from his mom. "I bet his face would be the best thing I ever saw in my life. And her face, too." David, who drew "Friend," has been talking with a guy he sees in the park every day, drawn together by the guy's dog: "I can't explain it, but it's like dogs got some kind of secret power that makes it easier to talk to people. Like they want the whole world to be friends with each other." He will give to this dog the toys left behind by his Prince, his dog who died and whom he achingly misses. May drew a question mark and chooses to write about the owners of a little shop in her building who are always at work and have long taken care of her and trusted her. They work constantly, and she wishes she could give them a vacation: "Even if they don't leave town, they could sleep in. ..." The many answers range from touching to funny to clever, but every single one has much thought and heart behind it. Taken together, they lead readers to consider the people in their own sphere: What makes them unique; what are their true longings? These reflections strengthen empathy and compassion. Linda Sue Park is a Newbery Medal winner, a #1 New York Times bestseller, and renowned author of many picture books and novels for young readers. Robert Sae-Heng's illustrations black-and-white illustrations include child-like touches (for instance, birds as Vs in the sky) and add both whimsy and important touch points for the varied stories, which are written for readers ages eight to 12.

Pema Chodron, one of our Living Spiritual Teachers, is resident teacher at Gampo Abbey in Nova Scotia, the first Tibetan monastery in North America established for Westerners. She is a very popular Buddhist writer with a relaxed and accessible style. She spices up her meditations with colorful illustrations and always seems to have a fresh way of expressing spiritual subjects. Emotions play a central role in our lives, and Chodron is especially good on ways to deal with fear, insecurity, being stuck, or feeling abandoned or ignored. In her view, the spiritual life means embracing rather than fleeing from the unwanted, painful, and messy parts of ourselves. She brings the riches of the Tibetan Buddhist tradition to bear on these feelings. In her books and audio retreats, Chodron encourages us to look at ourselves clearly, to touch the soft spot of our hearts, and to dissolve the barriers that separate us from others. We have personally benefited enormously from her teachings. Whether focusing on loving kindness, the art of peacemaking, or tonglen meditation practice, she has enabled us to develop a sense of sacredness and tenderness toward ourselves and others. And she offers everyone a perspective that draws us close to others in our world of divisions. "True compassion does not come from wanting to help those who are less fortunate than ourselves," she writes, "but from realizing our kinship with all beings." This e-course, created by Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, consists of 40 short readings from Pema Chodron's books and a related practice suggestion. If you already are familiar with Pema Chodron's work, we know you will enjoy this fresh approach to it. If you don't know her teachings, it's time you did! This e-course provides a very special practice experience with a true spiritual master of our times! (6 CEHs for Chaplains available.)

Omar Suleiman is a Palestinian American from New Orleans, Louisiana, an imam1, scholar, social justice activist, public speaker, and author. He is an adjunct professor of Islamic studies and member of the Ethics Center Advisory Board at Southern Methodist University in University Park, Texas. He is also the founder and president of the Yaqeen Institute for Islamic Research. While Oman Suleiman is well-known for his public speaking and activism, he is the author of numerous books providing religious instruction, such as Prayers of the Pious, Meeting Muhammad, Jannah: Home at Last, Judgement Day: Deeds that Light the Way, Angels in Your Presence, For Those Left Behind: Guidance on Death and Grieving, 40 on Justice: The Prophetic Voice on Social Reform, and The Virtues of Dhul Hijjah2, as well as papers on topics related to Islamic ethics, religion, and culture, including activism, gender equity, and the prophetic example. In Allah Loves…, Suleiman offers 30 short chapters on who Allah loves, what Allah loves, and “how we may become people who are loved by Allah and do things that Allah loves.” Chapters cover such topics as piety, repentance, excellence, supplication, trust, patience, and consistency. Each chapter includes the relevant āyah (verses from the Qur’an), hadīth (statements or actions of Muhammad, may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), and notable commentary. Suleiman offers context and explanation for each of the topics, and often closes each section with his own summary prayer. In this way, Suleiman offers a means of practicing everyday spirituality while striving “to pursue Allah’s love and to meet Him in that state of love.” try a spiritual practice on kindness Go Deeper: Presence - Relationship with Divine Love: This e-course provides practices for enhancing our awareness, intention, contemplation, and relationships, to enter a more conscious relationship with Divine Love. ----- 1 Imams lead the ritual prayers and perform the sermon for the Friday noon prayers that are obligatory for Muslim men (voluntary for Muslim women); they often provide religious guidance and leadership in their communities. 2 Dhul Hijjah is the twelfth month of the Islamic calendar during which Hajj (the Islamic pilgrimage) and the holiday Eid al-Adha (Feast of Sacrifice) take place.

Dennis Genpo Merzel, a successor to Zen Master Taizan Maezumi, taught traditional Zen for more than 25 years until he developed the Big Mind process in 1999. Since then he has been presenting his work with great success to thousands of people from all religious and philosophical backgrounds throughout the United States and Europe. This self-awareness program blends Eastern and Western approaches to the mind and has been heralded by Ken Wilber as "the most important and original discovery in the last two centuries of Buddhism." Big Mind integrates the finite or dualistic selves with the Infinite or Non-dual Self. It has roots in Zen and in Voice Dialogue, a technique that has been used in Western psychology for years as a means of dealing with aspects of ourselves we have disowned. According to Merzel, each of us has innumerable voices or aspects within us. Like Rumi, in his poem "The Guest House," we are challenged to welcome them and understand how they operate. The author begins with dialogues with the Voices of the Self, which include: • The Protector • The Controller • The Skeptic • Fear • Anger • The Damaged Self • The Victim • The Vulnerable and Innocent Child • The Dualistic Mind • Desire • The Seeking Mind • The Mind that Seeks the Way • The Follower of the Way As you can imagine, Merzel's exploration of these voices leads to an appreciation of the sub-personalities within us: their benefits, drawbacks, and challenges to the life of the self. In his probe of the Non-Dual and Transcendent Voices — Big Mind, Big Heart, Yin or Feminine Compassion, Yang or Masculine Compassion, The Master, Great Joy, and others — the author deepens our understanding of compassion, joy, and gratitude. The process of finding our Big Mind and Big Heart opens us up to a shift of perspectives and makes us more tolerant of flexibility as a way of living. We also gain access to our inner wisdom and come to respect our shadow selves. Merzel hits high stride in chapters on "The Ten Perfections of Excellence" (generosity, patience, skilfull means, and more) and "The Eight Awarenesses of the Awakened Mind (meditation, wisdom, mindful speech, and more). This paperback also includes a CD on ways to experience Big Mind and Big Heart.

"Learning to live without definition or restriction is not easy. For the mystic there is no visible set of rules to follow, no prescribed patterns or imposed order. I was once told this very clearly in a dream: 'You cannot walk the path of straight with rules.' The path is too straight, too one-pointed to be defined by rules, because rules by their very nature are limiting, and the path to the infinite has to be unlimited. What is right for one person is wrong for someone else. Some people have to learn to be poor, while others need to take the responsibility of having money. Some wayfarers have to learn to love, while others need to discover the vulnerability of being loved. Each in our own way we are taken by God to God, according to His ways; and His ways are often the opposite of what we think is spiritual. The great Sufi Dhu-l-Nun expressed this very simply: 'Whatever you think, God is the opposite of that.' "However, although the path is too free to be defined by rules, the Sufi has to live by the highest ethics. On our path we are taught that to have something you do not use is like stealing; even keeping an overdue library book is stealing. One should also try never to hurt another's feelings. The Sufis call the ethics required for the path 'chivalry.' We stress generosity, having a good nature, refraining from passing judgment on one's fellow men. We do not impose our beliefs upon others, because 'we respect the variety of human paths, beliefs, opinions, and ways of conduct,' and 'we believe that all paths lead to the Beloved.' Also 'we try to give precedence to our friends over ourselves; yet we use our honest discrimination so as not to abuse our self-respect.' "But these principles of the path are only guidelines, because what is more important is that we learn to follow the hint, the guidance that is given within the heart. This guidance belongs to the moment, not to any defined set of principles. In the West we are conditioned to define and plan our life, to follow the course set by our goals and outer objectives. But if you follow your heart you have to give yourself to a path that promises insecurity, vulnerability, and an openness to the unexpected. You have to learn to read between the lines of life, to catch the subtle hints that are given by both the inner and the outer world, for in the words of the Qur'an (Sura 41:53), 'We will show them Our signs on the horizons and in themselves.' "Catching the hint that is given, we live the mystery that calls us, not deviating from the single purpose that draws us Home. This mystery is His imprint within the heart. When someone comes to a Sufi group for the first time, he or she is often asked, 'Why have you come?' This question has tremendous significance for it brings into consciousness the soul's purpose, the heart's imprint. The wayfarer has to find out why he came and then live this answer, live it with the passion and determination that are demanded by the path. "We have to discover what really matters to us, what is the most important thing in our whole life, and then have the courage to live this deepest dream. Carl Jung said, 'Find the meaning and make the meaning your goal.' Whatever is most meaningful should be our purpose, whether this is to be a successful businessman or to climb a mountain. But if this one thing is to realize the Truth, then you are a mystic. And to follow the path of a mystic takes courage because you are doing something which does not belong to the mind or to the senses, but to the unknown and the unknowable. As the Sufi Inayat Khan said, 'It is like shooting arrows in the dark, you see the bow and the arrow, but you don't see the target.' "

"When people come to me for spiritual direction, I always assume that, at some level, they are concerned with formulating a rule of life. They may not use these words, since the term is traditionally associated with religious or monastic spirituality and has a medieval aura about it. But they are concerned with the stewardship of their time and energy (as well as their substance) and are looking for help in shaping their days. Most commonly, our discussion begins with the question of time: how can they find time for prayer and contemplation in a crowded schedule? "While most people go through life without thinking of it, we all have a rule of life, a pattern for our days reflecting our deepest beliefs. For fifteen years I lived next door to Wilbur, who was not religiously observant and who had probably never heard of a rule of life. Yet there was something almost monastic about his faithfulness to his unwritten rule: he rose every morning at 6:30, left his house at 7:00, and returned home from work by 3:30. In the summer he then sat on his porch; in the winter he sat in the living room. He drank beer until he was almost unconscious and then somehow put himself to bed. He had held the same job for years and never missed going to work. He was a quiet, affable neighbor; his yard was always neatly kept. Even if he never articulated it to himself, Wilbur had an austere and workable rule of life. Unfortunately, his god lived in a bottle and eventually killed him. "It is not enough to live by an unconscious rule. For Christians, there are predictable components related to prayer and worship. A typical 'bare bones' rule of life would deal with such questions as, how and when do I pray? What are my rhythms of corporate and solitary prayer? What is the place of the sacraments in my life? How often do I join in the celebration of the eucharist? If it is part of my tradition, how often do I avail myself of the sacrament of reconciliation? "I think a good rule would go beyond and build upon these bare essentials, for they are essentials. It would include a commitment to the guidance and companionship of spiritual direction or spiritual friendship. Given the complexity and overstimulation of life in the industrialized West, it would encourage the cultivation of simplicity. This is by no means the same as harsh self-denial, but rather an attempt to reduce the spiritual and material clutter that choke off our growth. "Further, a good rule would be committed to generosity; this would go beyond the simple allocation of money for charitable giving to include gifts of self and service. Baron von Hugel instructed Evelyn Underhill to work in a soup kitchen as a way of grounding her spirituality; we too need our 'soup kitchens' — whatever form they may take — to keep us honest and embodied. I am always uneasy with directees who have cut themselves off from the pain and grittiness of the world around them and who seem to have no impulse even to see the needs of others. For those living in urban centers, the opportunities for service are myriad. For those in gentler places, where need can be masked or denied, the opportunities are still present. Miss Marple would be able to point them out in a flash, even in St. Mary Mead. "A good rule also includes provision for self-care. Again and again, I talk with people who are very specific about patterns and disciplines for their devotional lives but neglectful of their physical and emotional selves. This part of the rule is concerned with re-creation, and each individual knows best how he or she can be re-created. Does time need to be built in for study? music? solitude? manual labor? fasting? (In her book Fullness of Life, Margaret Miles offers the provocative suggestion of fasting from the media.) The sedentary need to include regular exercise as a holy obligation, and the variously addicted need to look hard at the idols that have crept into their lives. Workaholics must build a Sabbath into their rule, and clergy should remember that the Sabbath can be observed on any day of the week. "The purpose of the rule is too keep us clear and attentive, to enable us to live contemplatively in the midst of activity. The temptation, of course, is to be overambitious and to set ourselves impossible goals — and then to fail. There is also the danger that the structure will become an end in itself, so that our spirituality becomes joyless, life-denying, and self-centered. Particularly in regard to 'spiritual disciplines,' less is frequently more. A good rule can set us free to be our true and best selves. It is a working document, a kind of spiritual budget, not carved in stone but subject to regular review and revision. It should support us, be never constrict us."

"Wholeness implies that we have all the virtues as potential within us, that is, in our positive shadow. For instance, courage is always resident in our psyche. Like all virtues, it can be activated in any of four ways: It can happen by effort: keep acting as if you were courageous and eventually you will build the habit of courage (A virtue is a habit.) It can also happen interactively as the natural result of experiences that provide encouragement. For instance, if a person is appreciated by others, she may notice herself becoming more generous. Likewise, our sense of self-worth and power in the world may be build up by people who support us and by events that we handle well. As a result we notice that we automatically have more courage. This is the interactive dimension of virtue. "Virtue can also happen by grace, which takes two forms. It is sometimes available in an essential ongoing way so that it seems to be part of our personality. Sometimes grace is existentially available, suddenly granted in the here-and-now moment of need. When the grace is essential, courage is an innate gift that we have always been able to access. The daredevil you remember in grammar school may be an example of someone with that gift. When the grace is existential, courage comes to us suddenly: we see someone in need or are confronted with a challenge and we respond courageously without thinking. It seems to come from nowhere, not from familiar ego resources but from a power beyond our limitations; hence it is called grace. "So virtues manifest in four ways: by effort, interaction, essential grace, and existential grace. Look within yourself and ask how courage lives in you. Has it come naturally (essential gift) or occasionally (existential grace)? Is it happening through experience and support? Is it taking effort: you feel afraid but are overriding the fear and acting as if you had all the courage you need? Who is there to thank? "Here are some virtues: love, trustworthiness, courage, honesty, humility, gratitude, openness, conviction, compassion, cheerfulness, simplicity, hopefulness, generosity, courtesy, candidness, flexibility, appreciativeness, confidence, loyalty, justice, serenity, respect, humor, forgiveness, truthfulness, cooperativeness, and the ability to temper desire. "Write each one on a separate index card. Working with one card each day, keep the word in mind throughout the entire day. Write it out and hang it in a prominent place or carry it in your pocket to help you remember to do this. As you begin in the morning, ask for cooperation from your assisting forces in the practice of the virtue. Say the word in your head or aloud throughout the day. As often as you can, form an image of yourself practicing that virtue in some specific way. Look for ways to practice it with the people and events of the day. At the end of the day, draw a picture of yourself practicing the virtue of the day. Give thanks for all those who helped you in this work. "Here are specific examples of the building of a virtue by devising a plan and following a practice: The virtue of justice means respect for the rights of others. This includes honesty in our dealings and accountability for our actions through responsible behavior. If when you drink you act violently or engage in behaviors that are risky to yourself and others, the plan has to be to stop drinking. Alcoholics Anonymous is the program already in place for this. Given your circumstances, joining it and staying with it is building the habit/virtue of justice. If you speed on long trips, the plan is to form a conscious intention of slowing down. If that does not work, you might take a plane or hire a chauffeur or install a governor on the accelerator. The point is to notice when you stray into dangerous territory in your behavior and not simply to regret it or think of yourself as stupid for doing it. Holderlin says: 'Danger itself invites the rescuing power.' There is always a program to put into place that intelligently and effectively change things. It is a virtue even to be the kind of person who uses this approach whenever you notice yourself in the wrong. It is a way of taking preventive measures to become more responsible rather than promising yourself you will do better and leaving it at that. "To be human is to be born into the world with something to achieve, namely, the fullness of one's human nature, and it is through the virtues that one does so . . . The virtues are the only guarantee against a wasted life — Paul Wadell, C.P. "The heart continually generates electromagnetic energy. Egoless love makes waves harmonic and serene and the rest of your body follows suit. Our autonomic nervous system comes into balance and we then less vulnerable to disease. Stress is considerably diminished and our lively energy is released. The neurocortex of our brain, responsible for higher level reasoning, works more efficiently and our decisions have a sounder base. All this happens in a matter of seconds. David McClelland, a Harvard psychologist, has generated research that suggests that heartfelt, that is, egoless, love actually leads to a greater production of antibodies (salivary immunoglobulin A: IgA) that help in fighting flu viruses. Letting go of ego and feeling loving builds the immune system. "All her adult life the great Spanish mystic Saint Teresa used a practice of devotion as she drifted off to sleep at night: she formed an image in her heart of her favorite scene from the life of Jesus, his prayer in the garden of Gethsemane. What if each night we were to picture in our heart the spiritual scene, person, situation, or place that has been most moving to us in life. This might even be a recollection of being loved by someone. It is important to do this in the context of falling asleep so that it can be the heart's bridge between the conscious and the unconscious. The heart can combine these opposites; the mind only divides them further. To try to fall asleep while thinking does not work, but images do, as those who visualize sheep jumping a fence have noticed. Use these affirmations: As I let go of being subject to desire, real joy enters my life. I am brave when I return good for evil. I am heroic when I forgive. I let go of the option of retaliation even in my mind. I bypass and override my ego's appeals and seductions. What I criticize in others may be true of me. I look into my motivations and actions and endow them with gentle love. I create my path by walking. Every religious traditions recommends the letting go of ego by humble compassionate service and nonviolence. Nonviolence is not submission to injustice but an alternative way of resisting it. It is the healthy ego's creative response to injustice rather than the inflated ego's automatic reaction to it. Basically, this means letting go of the will to retaliate in favor of self-transformation and the desire to transform others. It is found in Christianity, Hasidism, Sufism, Buddhism, Hinduism, and elsewhere."

Since ancient times, men and women have been on a personal quest for wisdom. It's hard to put into words exactly what we are seeking, but it has to do with discovering the meaning and purpose of life in general and specifically what's happening in and around us. This month you and other college graduates will start the transition from the academic world where you have learned from books and the great minds of history to the larger world where consciousness is informed by the popular culture of television, movies, music, Ted Talks, and posts on social media like Facebook. Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok. In this speeded-up world, wisdom is delivered in sound bites rather than in the lectures and discussions of college classes and seminars. Despite the differences in format, all this wisdom sharing is part of a conversation that has been going on for thousands of years in the sayings and writings of spiritual sages, philosophers, scholars, novelists, poets, scientists, and theologians. The moment you step out the gates of your campus, you'll encounter strange and unfamiliar sources of wisdom. To help you navigate the options, we have some recommendations. Our tools for self-growth are short (an important quality in our distracted times), deep (they can take you on an inward journey), and playful (they'll draw out your creative soul). So here's some wisdom to go for this age of fast food, fast cars, and fast movies. Proverbs The first stop on your quest for fresh sources of meaning are proverbs — people's wisdom passed from generation to generation. Robert Peter Tristram Coffin writes of them: "Proverbs are not merely decorations on life, they have life itself in them. They are the bedrock substance of living built up by many people and many years." In Elizabethan England, schoolboys memorized hundreds of proverbs and maxims. According to Abraham Ibn Ezra, "wisdom is to the soul as food is to the body." You will want to integrate these vitamin supplements into your education diet. Here are some examples. • There is a Arab proverb that goes: "If you have much, give of your wealth; if you have little, give of your heart." This wisdom pulls down the walls between the rich and the poor and shows that each of us in our own way can practice generosity. • The Chinese have a proverb: "If you keep a green bough in your heart surely the singing bird will come." Joy and happiness do not just come about magically. We have to use intention and in all our deeds demonstrate a positive attitude. • "God did not create hurry" is a brief but profound Finnish proverb. We live in times when "hurry sickness" is a national outgrowth of our worship of speed and productivity. Slowing down is a spiritual antidote to our habit of rushing through things and often ignoring what is right in front of us. Pith Instructions Another source of wisdom, not very well known in the West, are the pith instructions of Tibetan Buddhist sages. Buddhism is a very practical tradition that reveals how we can navigate through the emotions and encounters of our ordinary experiences. As Lama Surya Das explains in his book Natural Radiance, pith instructions are teachings which are not only helpful in meditation but also as tips for daily life. They address fundamental wisdom questions such as the nature of God, the soul, birth and death, and the purpose of life. Here are a few examples of Lama Surya Das's pith instructions: • "Let go and let be" is a spur to the practice of not clinging or getting too attached to people, ideas, or stories about ourselves. • "We are all Buddhas; we only have to recognize that fact." We spend far too much time and energy trying to prove ourselves to others when we already possess the miracle of Buddha's natural mind. • "Not too tight or too loose" expresses in a nutshell the Buddhist emphasis on living a balanced life that eschews one extreme or another. Mind-Training Slogans Also from Buddhism comes wisdom to go in the form of mind-training slogans. In Training the Mind and Cultivating Loving-Kindness, Chogyam Trungpa, one of the great Tibetan masters of meditation, presents 59 slogans which have been used for centuries to engender loving-kindness. They are designed as exercises to reverse the ego and all its campaigns to keep us focused on self-absorption. Here are three of the slogans: • "Be grateful to everyone" challenges us to see how dependent we are on others, even difficult people who can teach us patience and empathy. • "Abandon any hope of fruition" is a slogan that advises us to stop trying to control the future or acting so as to insure that things go our way. • "Don't expect applause" goes against the cultural shibboleth of winning and admonishes us to not take credit for making things happen. 12 Step Sayings Meeting Wisdom: Tap into the Wisdom and Insight of Thousands of 12 Step Meetings in a Single Book by Brian L. contains his favorite slogans picked up in 12 Step programs and tried out in everyday life. You don't need to be dealing with an addiction to find these short sparks of wisdom helpful. Turn to them whenever you are facing a challenge that requires courage, patience, and perseverance. Here are three examples from Brian L: • "Everything can go wrong today and I will still be okay" offers a note of encouragement when we are disheartened by setbacks and feel like giving up. • "Visualize yourself getting out of the Director's chair" is a clever way of surrendering the idea that we can control everything. • "Whenever you have a problem, you will always find your fingerprints on it" is a reminder that we must take sole ownership of our problems and mistakes. Playing victim and blaming our problems on others is a dead end street. Aphorisms Last but not least we have aphorisms which are defined as catchy observations that contain a general truth. Under this wide umbrella we can find many different kinds of wisdom from sayings of famous writers and spiritual teachers to playful observations that at one time or another have held the public's fancy. Here are three examples of both genres: • "Work of the eyes is done/ Now go and do heart work" from poet Rainer Marie Rilke wisely advices that we all do inner work to fulfill our potential as rounded and creative human beings. • "To be impatient is to be hooked on the future" is a right-on-target observation by psychologist and spiritual teacher Gerald Jampolsky about how we miss the gifts in the present moment when we focus on tomorrow. • "Maybe so" is a favorite saying of Buddhist Zen master Suzuki Roshi who liked to emphasize the "don't know" dimensions of everyday life. And here are three popular saying with no specific authors: • "Drink it all in" helps us stay fully present and be open to what unfolds within us and around us. • "Don't look back" carries with it a warning against getting hooked on yesterday and past events and experiences. • "A good time was had by all" celebrates those magical moments where everyone is pleased with what happened at a party, meeting, or social get-together. The seeds of wisdom are found in everything that life brings our way from good to bad experiences, from failures and successes, and from all our relationships. Wisdom is one of life's grandest gifts but we have to keep our eyes open and our hearts and minds responsive to her comings. When we practice this wisdom, it becomes like a flower, giving out a fragrance that is so alluring that we want to return again and again to re-experience the scent, the sweetness, and the beauty. As graduates, you are all already on the path of wisdom. There is no turning back. Come join the rest of us on this continuing quest. Plant the seeds. Pick up the scents. And use these out-of-the-box teachings to transform your life. Thank you and bon voyage to those traveling with wisdom to go!

Sister José Hobday, an influential spiritual lecturer, author and storyteller, died April 5, 2009, at age 80 at the Casa de la Luz Hospice in Tucson, Arizona. A memorial Mass will be held on Wednesday, April 15, at 6:30 p.m., at Our Mother of Sorrows Parish in Tucson. Her body was donated for science to the University of Arizona. In the National Catholic Reporter, Franciscan Sr. Florence Deacon, director of the Sisters of St. Francis of Assisi congregation based in St. Francis, Wis., remembers Hobday “as a very charismatic, warm woman, both down-to-earth but also fanciful. She was holistic long before it was in vogue, encouraging us to have a zest for living and to experience the spiritual life with all our senses. I can still see her purposeful stride, rhythmic and strong, beneath the skirts of her flowing religious habit. She led us on a five-mile walk to a park so we would discover that we, too, had much more strength and endurance than we realized.” Born in Texas to a Seneca-Iroquois mother and a Southern Baptist father, Sister Jose Hobday was a Seneca elder and a Sister of the Franciscan Order. She had a Masters' degrees in theology, literature, architecture and space engineering, but called herself a "Student of Life" and a "Missionary-at-large." She traveled 75,000 miles a year giving lectures and workshops. Sister Jose was one of America's most popular speakers on prayer and spirituality. Her stories, told in both her books and her cassettes, draw from her own experience growing up as a Native American Catholic in the American Southwest, eloquently communicate her relationship with and commitment to God, family, community, and the Earth. Read For: Native American spirituality Stories that reveal the Divine in the midst of everyday life Fresh slants on devotional practices, especially ways to pray