Marcy has extensive experience in meditating and teaching. Beyond that, she's of an age that makes meaningful bios too long to be enjoyable to read. Let's just say she's been there.
“It is fine to investigate what others have said or written in books. But to say, “I’ve understood something that I didn’t understand before,” that is not Zen practice.” - Sekkei Harada Roshi [all unattributed stanzas in this essay are from the poem Wild Geese, by Mary Oliver] You
“There is just a mysterious tacit understanding and no more.” - Zen Master Obaku (Huang Po), On the Transmission of Mind The copies of this book you’ll find, even the one at the temple, are all entitled The Zen Teaching of Huang Po on the Transmission of Mind, but Huang
“Have patience with everything unresolved in your heart and to try to love the questions themselves as if they were locked rooms or books written in a very foreign language.” – Rainer Maria Rilke This essay has been edited from its original form, which was published to the True Nature community
Q: “Which part of the future is real and which is not?” A: “The unexpected and unpredictable is real.” – Nisargadatta A little over a week ago, seven of us were sitting here meditating in my living room (“the zendo” whenever we have a residential retreat). I noticed my cat Izzy
“Fearlessness is trust.” – Ursula Jarand This essay was originally published to the True Nature community on August 1, 2024. The timing to publish again here seems apropos, as I started another week of training at the temple yesterday, November 25. Here’s hoping some of what I learned last year
“Which part of the future is real and which is not?” “The unexpected and unpredictable is real.” - Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj Edited from original publication on July 1, 2024 to the True Nature community I thought I might be writing about the retreat I just finished managing, or my favorite talk
This essay has been modified from the version first published to the True Nature community on June 3, 2024 Earnestness: /ˈərnəs(t)nəs/ sincere and intense conviction When my youngest went to Washington D.C. for his 8th grade class trip, my movie-buff 17 year old (at the time
Recently I caught a clearer glimpse of a phrase that’s supposedly been front-and-center for me for many years now: “pay attention.”
A note from Marcy: This essay was first published for the online CCE community, True Nature, in April 2024. As the opening essay there, it seems again like an appropriate introduction to a new audience, and an opportunity to revisit an important meditation theme for continuing members. I picked up