à la carte spirit by ilona fried
zen
On the Importance of the Right Container
Imagine you’re handed a precious elixir that requires immediate refrigeration. All you have is a used plastic supermarket container. You wash, rinse and wipe it dry before transferring the elixir. The next day you notice a leak from a pinprick in the bottom. Quickly, you tape it. Shortly thereafter, you observe that the amount of … Continue reading
What is “Spiritual Practice”?
When I began this blog nearly 18 months ago, I chose not to limit myself to a single topic or focus, curious to see what would emerge. Last week, buoyed by an increase in traffic, I redesigned the blog, making the home page more user friendly and dynamic. And I tried to look at my … Continue reading
Windsurfing as Zen Practice
We are going to do one thing at a time. My tanned Colorado windsurfing instructor uttered those words on the shore of Big Soda Lake, but they could have also come out of the mouth of a Zen teacher, sitting on a black zafu at the front of a room. He repeated that phrase frequently, … Continue reading
Knitting as Zen Practice
For years, I’ve had a knotty relationship with knitting. As a teenager, I envied friends who, having learned the skill from their mothers, aunts or grandmothers, whipped up scarves and sweaters. In my freshman year at college, I decided to learn, and took a lesson at a yarn shop down the road from my suburban … Continue reading
Zen Moment: Tea House Turnabout
Last week I stopped at a Denver tea house to write. Expecting to stay a while, I ordered the tea service which, the menu said, included a full pot and a treat. That turned out to be a handful of mouthwatering Earl Grey cookies. The cheerful employee delivered it all to my table on a … Continue reading
à la carte spirit by ilona fried 
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