“As long as you are kind and there is love in your heart
A thousand hands will naturally come to your aid.
As long as you are kind and there is love in your heart
You will reach out with a thousand hands to help others.”
While I love the message behind this mesmerizing dance, what’s more extraordinary is that all 20 dancers are hearing impaired. With the help of trainers posted along the edge of the stage, the China Disabled People’s Performing Art Troupe created a piece that is both moving and entrancing.
Posted on: April 27th, 2009 by Lori Deschene - 34 Comments
In a recent post I explored a few ways to practice kindness on a daily basis. What I failed to mention is that I sometimes limit my kindness–and I wish I didn’t have to.
Six years ago when I was living in NYC, I met two middle-aged men at a Times Square Internet Café who were homeless. They were bright; in fact, they operated an online software help company that had once been a promising business. After 9-11, they lost their funding and clients, and decided to go for broke–to stay in NYC, despite their dwindling funds, and put everything into the company. When I met them, they were thousands in the hole and close to having their servers shut down.
I could relate to being destitute and determined. I’d blown all my money on a work-from-home business that failed, and had just moved into a single room occupancy building where my entire living space totaled 49 square feet. I was struggling and a little lost. But I had yoga to keep me focused and a whole lot of heart to keep my going. It would take a lot more than debt and unemployment to make me pack my bags and run home.
Posted on: April 20th, 2009 by Lori Deschene - 11 Comments
At a recent family gathering two family members got in a fight that ended with screams and tears. Though it doesn’t happen often nowadays, I grew up around similar chaos. Oftentimes I drowned it out, but sometimes I fueled it–and other times I caused it. Then I discovered a few Buddhist principles that changed the way I acted and reacted. I learned to offer compassion instead of judgment–to diffuse hostility with understanding and kindness. When I saw how profoundly that affected my state of mind and everyone around me, I decided to practice and get better at it.
That, I believe, is the core of Buddhism: clearing your mind of fears, selfishness, and anger so love can work its magic. And it truly does take practice. It starts with meditation or yoga. They’re like mental maintenance; you stop your persistent internal monologue and find a sense of stillness. From that place of just being–instead of seeing the world around you with a critical eye–you can respond to people with loving-kindness, also known as “love without attachment.” That’s selfless love. And its effects are addictive. (more…)
In a recent post I explored a few ways to 
At a recent family gathering two family members got in a fight that ended with screams and tears. Though it doesn’t happen often nowadays, I grew up around similar chaos. Oftentimes I drowned it out, but sometimes I fueled it–and other times I caused it. Then I discovered a few Buddhist principles that changed the way I acted and reacted. I learned to offer compassion instead of judgment–to diffuse hostility with understanding and kindness. When I saw how profoundly that affected my state of mind and everyone around me, I decided to practice and get better at it.
