Episode Details

Deep Autumn Greetings Fellow Travelers of the Way!

As autumn becomes us, I have been contemplating darkness and the creaturely way my body seems to respond to the cold-dark. Maybe you too feel a little more intimate with the night and the dark creature of the body at this time of year.

Sometimes I feel, and I know others feel, that we are living in dark times—and whether this feels true for you—I think we all know something about the dark.

Whether its as the seasonal darkening of autumn, energetic darkness, or political, personal, emotional, technological, relational, spiritual—darkness is often something we fear or feel uneasy about.

Is it what is potentially lurking in the dark, or the darkness itself that sends shivers up the spine, drops dread in the gut, and perpetuates a sense of an impending doom?

We often invoke darkness when hope feels sparse.

When the way ahead feels hard, dismal, heavy, untenable or uncertain. Will we be ok? Will those we love be safe? Will the things we value and care about continue to be available?

Dharma teachings throughout time remind us that there is a light within the dark.

Call it bodhi, the awakened heart, vow, love. When we recognize even just an ember of this light—liberation is unstoppable.

I feel grateful for my dharma friend Taishin Michael Augustin for reminding me of the unstoppable nature of bodhi this week.

Having friends and practice companions on this path is essential. Our warm hearts and bright minds can point out a path together, footstep by footstep through whatever apparent darkness. I’m grateful for the many teachers, guides and friends that grace my life—they are truly bright points of light in this great mystery.

Sometimes, and I imagine you have experienced this as well, we even find the dark nourishing in itself. The dark invites unknowing, unbecoming, self-forgetting, openness, mystery, shunyata.

Darkness is alive—emergent, subtle, bright.

darkness is the home from which we come—zen koan

Jogen and I will be exploring this theme of the Bright Dark in our upcoming non-residential retreat at Deep Waters in Portland, OR. What is your relationship to the dark? What happens when you get curious about the darkness? Is there a bright thread in the dark in your life? How do you nurture it?

Universe Somatic: The Bright Thread in the Dark — January 22nd - 25th

Universe Somatic is a practice that integrates group meditation, movement and energy work with a spirit of experimentation and playfulness. We explore the union of spaciousness and embodied energies in a contemplative practice that is embodied and expressive.

The theme for this Universe Somatic is The Bright Thread In the Dark. We will play in knowing and not-knowing, hope and despair, yin and yang, creation and destruction, dancing in deep relationship with these polarities while also listening for the thread that doesn’t get stuck on either side.

During this retreat you will be invited to give expression to a full-range of energetic experience some of which may be familiar and comfortable, others which may challenge core implicit beliefs about who you are and what you do. We will be engaging in practices using our voices and our bodies, integrating movement and stillness, sound and silence.The retreat will commence on Thursday January 22nd from 7-9pm. The schedule on Friday and Saturday will run from 9am to 9pm with two separate two hour breaks for lunch and dinner. Sunday will conclude the retreat and we will meet from 9am-2pm.

You, Darkness by Rilke