In this week’s practice story, I continue to explore the famous Buddhist parable about the tiger and the snake, and I suggest how the core images of this story symbolize the central dharma themes of our practice and life.

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In this old Buddhist parable, we are presented with a description of the human predicament. In the face of being caught between death and something worse, how does our practice serve us to live, as Munindra put it, “the life fully?”

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In this episode, I share Jung’s famous story of the Rainmaker. I suggest ways in which this story offers insight into the direction of the spiritual path. But when there was a prolonged drought in China, and the Rainmaker was fetched, this is what happened…

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In this talk, I reflect on the heart-rending story of a mother who lost her young son, experienced inconsolable grief, and what happened when she met the Buddha. Kisagotami’s story is nearly identical to my teacher’s teacher’s story, that teacher being the great Buddhist master, Dipa Ma.

Dipa Ma: The Life and Legacy of a Buddhist Master

May the grief of loss crack open our hearts into immeasurable compassion.

Practicing Yin: Join our newsletter, Practicing Yin, and get your copy of Josh’s new FREE ebook, The What, Why and How of Yin Yoga along with two Free weeks of Yin Yoga, Fluid Yin Yoga and Yin Meditation classes with Josh and Terry. www.joshsummers.net

In this episode, I offer a few reflections on the passing of my dear companion, Ozzie. On February 15, 2023, Ozzie died peacefully in our arms, in front of his hearth, and as I try to convey in this short talk, the dharma of his life continues to open and deepen for me.

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In this episode, I try to speak to the implacable heaviness many are feeling in the face of the overwhelming number of ongoing disasters in the world. What, if at all, does the Dharma have to offer?

Fluid Yin Yoga and Meditation: Join our newsletter, Practicing Yin, and get your copy of Josh’s new FREE ebook, The What, Why and How of Yin Yoga along with two Free weeks of Yin Yoga, Fluid Yin Yoga and Yin Meditation classes with Josh and Terry. www.joshsummers.net

In this episode, I reflect on the roots of anger in my own conflicts and share the tools I’ve learned from mindfulness-based modalities to de-escalate tensions and nurture harmony. I share from my own challenges and difficulties with practicing wise speech, and how Active Reflective Communication is my go-to model for any generative and important conversations.

Fluid Yin Yoga and Meditation: Join our newsletter, Practicing Yin, and get your copy of Josh’s new FREE ebook, The What, Why and How of Yin Yoga along with two Free weeks of Yin Yoga, Fluid Yin Yoga and Yin Meditation classes with Josh and Terry. www.joshsummers.net

In this episode, I republish a conversation I had with Robert Wright on his Nonzero Podcast. Bob and I discuss my struggles with cognitive empathy in everyday life. Not my struggle with the concept, mind you. I know that the ability to imagine another person’s perspective is enormously important in communication and relationships.

We explore my struggles with practicing cognitive empathy – especially when I’m under a lot of stress and/or seeing things through distorted lenses. I talk about how easily distorted perception feeds into cycles of conflict and misunderstanding, even with the ones we love the most.

Bob is now working on a new book loosely tilted, The Radical Power of Cognitive Empathy, and I encourage all globally-minded Yin practitioners to check out his Nonzero Newsletter on Substack.

In this episode (#207), Josh reflects on the four foundations of practicing Yin Yoga, and how the first two foundations – safety and relaxation – inform the development of the meditation process.

This dharma theme closes with a prompt from Josh: What does it mean to practice non-grasping in meditation?

Further reflection:

“Great genial power, one would almost say, consists in not being original at all; in being altogether receptive; in letting the world do all, and suffering the spirit of the hour to pass unobstructed through the mind.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Join Us in Practice and in Conversation: Join our newsletter, Practicing Yin, and get your copy of Josh’s new FREE ebook, The What, Why and How of Yin Yoga along with two Free weeks of Yin Yoga, Fluid Yin Yoga and Yin Meditation classes with Josh and Terry. www.joshsummers.net

In this episode, I am joined by my friends and colleagues Linda Modaro and Nelly Kaufer to talk about their new book, Reflective Meditation - Cultivating Kindness and Curiosity in the Buddha’s Company.

Order your copy of Reflective Meditation, by Linda Modaro and Nelly Kaufer

Linda Modaro’s website: https://satisangha.org/

Nelly Kaufer’s website:  https://pinestreetsangha.org/

What is Reflective Meditation? Nelly begins an answer by saying, “A big difference is that we really mean it when we say you're free to do whatever happens when you meditate; which means let your thoughts in, let your emotions in. if something just feels really awful that's going on internally, you're free to get up, you're free to take a walk; you really have freedom to let it go where it goes. And also to contain it as you need, which is really, as is becoming more known, trauma-informed.” - Nelly Kaufer