Anne Cushman tells us how she came to meditation when at university, because this world-religions class was the only class that would allow her to sleep in, as it started at 11 o'clock. Then, of course she found that she loved the class, and all its existential issues. And she ended up getting her major in religion, focusing particularly on Buddhism and Hinduism.
However, reading all these books about buddhism and Hinduism, it became clear to her, that this couldn't be just theoretical, that she would have to start practicing meditation and yoga to truly understand the texts.
We are compelled to continue practicing meditation because there is pain and suffering in our lives, and in meditation and yoga, we find a way through that pain and hardship - a learning to be with life as it is.
The overarching theme of Anne's book, The mama sutra, is the path to awakening through motherhood
I ask Anne if having children isn't an impediment to awakening?
Anne tells us how the teachings were mostly passed down through monastics, who didn't
In any case, practice happens where the intention of our wise heart meets the reality of our lives, and that is so whether you are in a monastery or rocking a baby
Motherhood also makes you meet your edges, motherhood can me very hard...
Motherhood is so good at showing us where we are stuck, where we need to grow
Thich nah Han when asked, said that monastic and lay practice is exactly the same, only that lay practice is harder and more challenging
What Anne really wants to do in the mama sutra is depict the reality of motherhood. At how hard it actually is...
When things are harmonious, its great to practice, but always knowing, that things will change...
The fundamental teaching of mindfulness is, that you always start right where you are, so you can never rely only on your past practice, it is always here and now.
Children are unpredictable, immediate and authentic, so they call forth those qualities in us.
I ask Anne about how her years of prior practice supported her through the loss of a child, and then a year later the birth of her second child, who was very demanding as a baby.
Anne tells us how one of the effects of her meditation practice going through all that was the tremendous softening of her heart and being, instead of a hardening, which is also a possibility when life gets really difficult.
We are attached to life as primal as the umbilical cord, thick and coiled and throbbing with blood
We talk about words like the observer in mindfulness, or witnessing, or meeting experience...
How we can train our capacity to hold our experience with more loving kindness
We speak about "who" or "what" this observer or witness in mindfulness is...
How you can connect deeper to your life through writing, and how sometimes new wisdom you didn't know you had, can emerge through your fingers.
Journaling gives us a place to put things, to put aspects of our lives and our character
when we are writing we are always connecting to the larger humanity, to something larger than just ourselves
We talk about the sacred feminine, or about how some experiences that women have can be qualitatively different. An honouring of the relational, the intuitive, the embodied, the connection to the earth...
Anne tells us how online retreats have been such a blessing for many women with children, and how real life reality can then be held in the support of a retreat.
If we are paying attention, one of the things we feel as we become a mother, is this intimate connection to the web of life, this cycle of life that sustains us all. Motherhood as a portal to loving all of life.
www.annecushman.com
www.duritaholm.com
