them slowly cook, reminding yourself that you don't
have to do anything with them right away, that they
will become more cooked, more easily digested and
understood simply by holding them in the pot of
mindfulness.
Observe the ways in which your feelings are
creations of your mind's view of things, and that
maybe that view is not complete. Can you allow this
state of affairs to be okay and neither make yourself
right or wrong? Can you be patient enough and
courageous enough to explore putting stronger and
stronger emotions into the pot and just holding them
and letting them cook, rather than projecting them
outward and forcing the world to be as you want it to
be now? Can you see how this practice might lead to
knowing yourself in new ways, and freeing yourself
from old, worn-out, limiting views?
Parenting As Practice
I took up meditating when I was in my early twenties.
In those days, I had some flexibility in terms of my
time, and was able to periodically attend meditation
retreats lasting ten days or two weeks. These retreats