Dearest Friends,

It was deeply nurturing to be in your gracious company yet again.

In our last session, we continued exploring the relationship between the body and our experiences of stress and anxiety using the framework of The Five Remembrances. By way of review, this Buddhist teaching is summarized by five brief statements from the Upajjhatthana Sutta that highlight the inevitability of aging, illness, death and loss. While these phenomena have always been sources of stress and anxiety for human beings, the difficulties they present are amplified in our current era simply because all of us are embedded in a dominant global culture that vilifies every single one of these processes.

In our most recent gathering, we zoomed in on the truth of illness and how getting sick has become an arguably more harrowing affair than what it was during the Buddha’s time. Some of the causes and conditions that contribute to this include the following:

• Information Overload, Medical Complexity and Systemic Burden. Illness today often involves navigating an abundance of confusing or downright contradictory information, specialists, treatments, hospitals, insurance policies, etc.—a cognitive and logistical maze that adds layers of strain beyond the sickness itself.
• Societal Expectations and Pressures and Cultural Stigma. Modern economies prize productivity, so illness is seen as a disruption or weakness, fueling guilt and anxiety. The burden is amplified for illnesses that are invisible or carry stigma, e.g., mental health conditions, chronic pain, HIV, etc.
• Isolation and Social Disconnection. Unlike the communal care of the Buddha’s time, modern life often leaves people sick and alone. Urban living, nuclear households and relentless mobility mean illness can bring profound loneliness.
• Technological Prolongation and Ethical Dilemmas. Advanced medicine can extend life but sometimes prolong suffering. This raises difficult questions about dignity, impermanence and acceptance.

In short, practicing with the Second Remembrance today means cultivating compassion not just for bodily fragility, precarity and vulnerability—but also for the personal and collective suffering that comes with peculiarly modern causes and conditions.

SUGGESTED PRACTICE:

Sit quietly and attend to your breath with your gaze lowered or your eyes closed. Attend to your breath for a few moments to come home more fully into the present moment.

Then recall a recent instance when you were sick. Imagine cradling your ill body in lovingkindness and compassion.

Then after a few minutes, bring to a mind a beloved being who is currently sick. Imagine immersing their ill body in lovingkindness and compassion.

Then after a few minutes, bring to mind a neutral being who is presently sick. Imagine holding their ill body in lovingkindness and compassion.

Then after a few minutes, bring to mind a difficult being who is currently sick. Imagine surrounding their ill body with lovingkindness and compassion.

As you engage in the meditation, silently remind yourself: “All bodies are of the nature to get sick. Not a single body escapes the inevitability of illness.” Allow this truth to soften your heart. Hold your body and all other bodies that are vulnerable to illness with tenderness and care. Rest in the awareness that sickness is natural. End the meditation with this silent affirmation: “May I live with presence, love and wisdom…knowing that illness is part of life.”

RECOMMENDED POEM:

Jan Richardson’s Blessing for a Broken Vessel
Jan Richardson’s Enduring Blessing
Jan Richardson’s The Healing That Comes

REFLECTION PROMPTS:

• What feels most challenging to you about illness today? Is it the physical experience itself or the causes and conditions around it (e.g., information overload, healthcare complexity, health- and productivity-obsessed cultures, isolation, etc.)?
• How does illness shape the way you see yourself and/or others? In what ways (if any) have you been conditioned to perceive illness as a failure or a shortcoming?
• Illness reminds us that everyone is vulnerable and that there are limits to agency. How might reflecting on this truth help you cultivate compassion—for yourself, for loved ones and for the wider community of those who are ill?

EVENT ANNOUNCEMENT:

I’m delighted to share about an event that I’ve had the privilege of co-creating! Alchemized Women is a free 10-day online series for women navigating change, loss and the work of coming home to themselves. I’m one of a dozen teachers who are offering teachings, practices and pathways back to peace and presence. In a world characterized by constant disruption on multiple levels, it’s vitally important that women find sources of stability, refuge and balance.

The series is completely free with offerings being delivered straight to your inbox and it begins on Tuesday, August 25, 2026. You can reserve your place by clicking here.