Inner and Outer Landscape – Andrea Traber’s Painting Path
Sarah C. Beasley
1 September 2017
“Painting is my life’s inspiration. Through the act of being with an empty canvas. . . the fullness of infinite possibility . . .. .
Creativity and Contemplation explores the intersection of meditation and creative expression. Impulses for creativity originate deep in the soul, psyche, or what Buddhists call “mind.” The arts give voice, shape, feeling, or color to this human journey of living and dying, and are modes of integrating our experiences of reality. Visual art, sound work, spatial exploration, and even cooking, dreaming, and work can be forms of meditation in action if engaged in with awareness.
Sarah C. Beasley (Sera Kunzang Lhamo), Nautilus Gold award-winning author of Kindness for all Creatures: Buddhist Advice for Compassionate Animal Care (Shambhala 2019), has been a Nyingma practitioner since 2000. Sarah is a Certified Teacher, and an experienced writer and artist, with an MA in Educational Leadership and a BA in Studio Art. Sarah spent six years in traditional retreat under the guidance of Lama Tharchin Rinpoche and Thinley Norbu Rinpoche. With a lifelong passion for wilderness, she has summited Mt. Kenya and Mt. Baker, among other peaks. Her book and other works can be seen at www.sarahcbeasley.com.
Stepping into the Mandala – A Journey to Ankor Wat
Sarah C. Beasley
28 July 2017
I have practiced visualizing and making mandala offerings for years, but when I entered the main temple at Ankor Wat, I found myself stepping onto
Seamless Stitches: From Emptiness, Springs Form – Helene Rein’s Crafted Works
Sarah C. Beasley
9 June 2017
A long-time Vajrayana Buddhist practitioner, Helene Rein moves seamlessly between contemplation and immersion in the natural environment of tactile crafts. As a child growing up
Self, Other, and the Spaces Between: Behind the Lens with Niçoise Photographer Fiorenza Menini
Sarah C. Beasley
5 May 2017
“It is so magical, it is so wondrous, this meeting, as in a dream—”** I met artist Fiorenza Menini during late summer 2014. After visiting
Adornment as Offering — The Felted Jewelry of Iva Hladis
Sarah C. Beasley
24 March 2017
The story of a jewelry artist on embodying the sensual and…
Who is the Guru? Accessing Inner Wisdom When the Teacher Has Passed
Sarah C. Beasley
2 December 2016
The light of the guru is a lamp that never goes dark. My root teacher is still the North Star in the night sky, though
My Grandmother’s Greenhouse and Other Portals to Wonder
Sarah C. Beasley
2 September 2016
During a Hakomi* session some years ago, my lama Yeshe Wangmo asked me, “What would be a nourishing statement for you?” In this therapeutic context, dialogue
Tale of Three Whales: Life after Long Retreat
Sarah C. Beasley
3 June 2016
Walking along the prairie cliffs north of Santa Cruz I come across a whale skeleton, stark unexpected sight, exhibit of the Marine Discovery Center. I
Meditation as Sustenance for Death and Dying
Sarah C. Beasley
18 March 2016
Who is dragging this corpse around? This huatou, similar to a koan, was popularized by Hsu Yun, a famous Chan Buddhist master of the late 19th/early