Inhabiting a body of joy Subject: Leo, you won’t believe what’s happened in the past week I can’t remember exactly how that subject line went, but here goes: The energy in my
On thinking big Today, during a meeting in the French Hill kicking off a new project in Issawiya, I found myself explaining a mentality of scarcity to my partners: Let's start by assuming we can work for free.
A bowl of soup You are invited into this house of love, Melanie. Come, wash your hands and sit down for a bowl of soup. It is cozy and warm inside, and the water is delightfully cool at the kitchen sink. The fixtures are metal, solid, glimmering.
Openness Aware of the suffering created by fanaticism and intolerance, we are determined not to be idolatrous about or bound to any doctrine, theory, or ideology, even Buddhist ones. We are committed to seeing the Buddhist teachings as guiding means that help us develop our understanding and compassion.
Being with the void I am afraid of what happens when everything stops and I’m left in this void, alone, with me. Immediately my hands rush to fill the gap, twitching to open the New York Times, Ha’aretz, Whatsapp, Telegram.
Including My Loneliness in God It’s Yom Kippur today. I’ve been told that the English translation is poor and it’s not quite the Day of Atonement, but rather the Day of Return. Of returning to perfect communication between you and God.
Anger in a secluded forest There is a place, out where nobody can find me, where I go to nurse my wounds and cry. Let us go to that place now, weaving past mountains of fear and remorse, to a secluded forest.
Rainbows and windstorms along the Causeway Coast Celebrating progress in Palestine, two weeks at Plum Village, and three weeks in London
Touching immediacy in the clay fields An exploration of authenticity and true self in a coaching session with Leo
Navigating the barriers to an open heart The race to submit eight Palestinian visa applications in time for waking up at Plum Village
Articulating a framework of belief for operations in Palestine Inclusivity, wise speech and communication, systems change, and taking good care
Women paving the path of peace My encounters with three women teachers at the European Institute for Applied Buddhism in Germany (and other happy news)
Practicing Aimlessness and Goal-Setting on the Camino A reminder to the current Melanie to go slowly, take care of the body's needs, and to re-commit to aspirations of the heart.
Crafting islands with raw almonds, poppies, and 20 kids from Dheisheh Stories from Bethlehem, Jericho, and Jerusalem
Violence is very close to home today. Mourning the death of an 18 year old volunteer medic killed by sniper fire in Dheisheh Camp.
Rockets, Imagination Camp, and other stories Lots has happened in the past two weeks in Beit Jala and Jerusalem
