Getting Back On Track

It's been a couple of weeks since my last post but don't worry, I haven't forgotten Buddha At My Table. Rather, I have been doing a lot of thinking! You see, I am a working mother of a preschooler with special needs and with a partner who works evenings. I get 3 hours once per week to myself and I usually spend them at a cafe writing this blog, but the last two weeks I had the opportunity to attend a Dharma Centre for a meditation and teaching and I jumped at the opportunity. Afterall the blog is useless if I don't put the tools that we discuss into practice myself. how luxurious it was to spend some time with other meditators and spiritual seekers!

I found it somewhat entertaining when I sat down on my meditation cushion at the first session and learned that the teachings for the two weeks were to be on patience and attachment! Perfect I thought. I wished I had brought a pen and paper and deperately tried to remember every word so i could recount them here. However, after nursing my family back to health from a nasty cold and then spending a week with my inlaws in the country, where eating masses meticulously prepared artery clogging Italian/Australian dishes is mandatory,  I unfortunately remember very little.

So today I finally have  time to write but have fewer things to say. A book on the Buddhist monastic code sits beside me on the table as I sip my tea, but I will need more than these three hours to absorb the details enough to discuss them. Next week we will get back on track with a new topic related to Buddhism and food. I will leave you this week with some interesting links and a question. Do any of you say grace, a prayer, or express gratitude at meals? Do you have rituals around eating like taking a deep breath before starting, eating in silence or chewing each bite 20 times? I think we will discuss some of the Buddhist blessings and practices performed before or during eating soon.

I am curious what you think of this one...do any of you feel like the author sometimes?
http://www.thenervousbreakdown.com/amonticello/2012/08/against-the-pursuit-of-happiness-a-meditation/#comment-243544

The latest Zen Habits post on foodaholism is great...

http://zenhabits.net/foodaholic/

And a teaching on the roots of addiction from Venerable Metteyya on Tricycle...

http://www.tricycle.com/blog/video-teaching-venerable-metteyya-addiction

Practice: This week let's focus on gratitude. For what are you grateful? Have you expressed it lately? 

Metta, 

Dharma Mama

With gratitude....