dreams

Counting Blessings. Excerpt from Seeing Into the Life of Things

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A main difference between dreams and poetry is that seeing dream images is involuntary and effortless, while seeing images in words—reading with imagination—requires intention and participation. You can’t speed read poetry. The same is true of memory. I must concentrate to bring images to life. The life that comes to mind this morning is a … Read more

Jean Valentine a poet of the dream

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“I had a teacher in college who said, ‘You could write from your dreams,’” she told Ploughshares, the literary magazine, in 2008, “and that was like being given a bag full of gold.” I was sad to learn of the death of Jean Valentine a gifted poet who wrote in the perfume of the dream. … Read more

Dreams and Afflictive Emotions

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I first heard the question during the visit to Dharamsala in 1990 I narrated in The Jew in the Lotus. What are the methods for dealing with “afflictive states of mind”?  In this hour long teaching, which I presented recently to the IMSB (Insight Meditation South Bay) I begin with a succinct presentation of HH … Read more