President’s Message

Greetings!

I like to thank everybody who has thoughts of Barbara in their prayers or had a kind word to say about her. I will miss her every day. I was going to say something about death and dying, but I know Barbara would say don’t dwell there. So I found one of her favorite passages from Comfortable with Uncertainty written by Pema Chodron. If you have been to our house, you may recognize it.

May I dwell in the great equanimity free from passion, aggression and prejudice. May you dwell in the great equanimity free from passion, aggression and prejudice. May all beings enjoy the great equanimity free from passion, aggression, and prejudice.

Equanimity is bigger than our usual limited perspective. It’s the vast mind that doesn’t narrow reality into for or against, liking or disliking. Touching in with the place where we feel equanimity.

Cultivating equanimity is a work in progress; we learn to open the door to all, welcome all beings, inviting life to come visit in.

Certain thoughts arrive; we will feel fear and aversion. We allow ourselves to open the door just a crack, if that is all that we can presently do. And we allow ourselves to shut the door when necessary. Maybe next time to open the door just a little bit more. We aspire to spend our lives training in the loving kindness and courage that it takes to receive whatever appears in our life.

Thanks for all you do at NCUU,
Rob