Going to share a little secret with you...

A mindfulness story of the poison tree, mindfulness book I love traveling with, and a podcast episode I have a love/hate relationship with

Hi friend!

Hawaii is slowly becoming one of my favorite places to visit. I spent a week with my friends relaxing, hiking, eating... just the perfect downtime I needed before heading out of the country.

I'll let you in on a secret: 99% of photos I publish are taken all myself with a tripod and remote. I am traveling to cities by myself and turned my video setup into a photo opportunity. I will admit, it does take me a bit to set up, get my shot, but it's becoming a fun activity of mine. Check out my photos on my Instagram. As a part of this Eat, Pray, Love journey - my creative tank is being refilled. I absolutely love it.

This week, I am in Japan for my second meditation retreat - a Zen meditation retreat in Oita (Southern Japan). Although Kyoto is well-known for their meditation, I will be meeting up with my family in Kyoto next week so I opted to try a new destination in Japan. I tried Zen meditation while I was in SF and, to be honest, it was not my favorite. It could have been a mix of (1) being a bit too cult-ish - you understood or you didn't (2) cramped space and (3) the lack of diversity. I'm giving it another chance. This time, in Japan.

I absolutely love the video for this week. It is a beautiful story pulled from a book I'm traveling with (see first recommendation below) about a poisonous tree and how it relates to difficulties in our lives. Short, few minutes long. Give it a watch. If you like it, hit the "like" button on my video. It helps to give it more traction and visibility other viewers.

In a week I will have a lot more insights on Zen. See you in a bit!

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A Book I'm Traveling With

The topic of this week's video comes directly from Jack Kornfield's book - A Path with Heart (4.27 on Goodreads). Another one of my absolute favorite books on Buddhism, mindfulness, and meditation.

Each chapter dives into a topic of Buddhism, various stories/fables, and meditation practice. For anyone new to Buddhism, mindfulness, or meditation - a great start. You may want to get a print copy or a version you can easily mark up. I promise you will highlight a lot!

Article that I Love

Discovered this gem of an article by Sam Altman, the president of Y Combinator, on 13 thoughts on success.

Most of these seem like common sense, but what stands out to me is that we all have the opportunity to cultivate each and every one of these 13 things. This piece reminds me that we all have an opportunity to be successful (or even redefine what we consider " success"). With patience, perseverance, and compassion... anything is possible.

A Love/Hate Podcast Episode

Rarely I find something that I love/hate. Sam Harriss (great podcast series overall) recently interviewed Jack Dorsey (CEO of Twitter and Square) on life, censorship, and controversies.

Here's a quote I love: "If someone is going off on you... It's most likely that they are doing that to other people as well. It's our job to determine whether or not we want to amplify that." He also lays out some interesting thoughts on why we should identify humans (finite) vs robots (infinite).

So, what I don't love: Regarding Jack's recent visit to Myanmar for a Vipassana meditation retreat. (I wish Sam prodded on more)

As a part of my meditation journey, I looked long and hard at Myanmar. It is supposed to be one of the most beautiful destinations in the world and home of many meditation practices. It would have been an extremely convenient stop on the way to India, but I turned down the opportunity.

There is a level of privilege that I (and Jack) am afforded to travel safely throughout Myanmar, but no level of wanderlust or curiosity can overshadow the pain, fear, and agony people are suffering. It is incomprehensible how he could meditate while genocide is happening next door. TIME even recognized this issue as part of their 2018 person of the year.

As a part of being more mindful, it's great to check our privilege and recognize what we are often afforded that others do not. Even the smallest effort can start a mighty snowball effect. That is our individual and collective power.

As always, thanks for reading!

P.S. If you enjoyed this, share or sign up here: mindfulmoments.substack.com

Anything else? You can always hit "reply" to email me directly. 💌

Have a beautiful day!

Metta (loving-kindness),
Steven

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