News
Liberating Beads and Tending Karmic Seeds: Each Thing in Its Time and Its Place April 30, 2025 18:45
If you prefer to listen to this month's offering, please click HERE for the audio link.
Over the past ten years, I have collected an assortment of beads that I had intended to use as guru beads for mala designs. I purchased some online, I found some in local bead shops, and I received some as gifts. However, I couldn’t use them—all four cords of the mala—two from one side, and two from the other--wouldn’t fit through the openings of these beads. These lovely focals were too beautiful to return or to donate, but because the openings were too narrow, I couldn’t use them in mala designs. They were haunting reminders of what could be.
This was so disappointing because these stunning beads carried lovely potential. So, I kept them safe, storing them in various compartments in my bead boxes, knowing that I couldn’t use them…yet! However, I was hopeful that one day I would be able to.
For my birthday this year, Jim gave me an electric drill with several tapered pins designed specifically for reaming beads. I was overjoyed! Honestly, I didn’t know such a thing existed.
I searched through all of my cases of bead boxes and found over 100 gurus that, until now, I could not use—Tourmalinated Moonstone bicones, Eagle Eye ovals, Chalcedony puff coins, Carnelian barrels, Mookaite Jasper twisted spirals, 30x40mm Goldstone, Silver Leaf Jasper, Red Tiger Eye, and Dragon Blood oval discs, and Ocean Jasper teardrops—truly, it was like finding hidden treasures in my own workspace.
I sat at my kitchen table and submerged each bead, one by one, in a shallow container of water with one hand—and held the drill in the other hand. Slowly, slowly, I liberated these beads and possibilities for future designs. While I worked at my kitchen table, I thought about a line from “Streets,” a poem by Naomi Shihab Nye:
“Each thing in its time, and its place/it would be nice to think the same about people.”
It took weeks, and several tapered pins, but in the end, the patience and effort paid off.
Some of these beads took hours to liberate; others, just took a few minutes. One by one, bead by bead, possibilities were opening up, literally, for new mala designs. I’d been hanging on to some of these beads for over a decade. Now, they had potential and beautiful purpose.
I also discovered that I have a new problem, and it’s a good problem to have. I have an abundance of guru beads to choose from, and these “teachers” and “mountains” are waiting to fulfill their potential and realize their time to shine.
***
Whether we know it or not, we create the causes for happiness, and we also create the causes for suffering. We plant karmic seeds all the time with our thoughts, words, and actions.
Our intentions and our motivations drive us to act, and our actions produce effects. That’s karma, in a nutshell—actions and their corresponding results—cause and effect.
Actions and Results
Positive results tend to arise from positive actions, and negative results come from negative actions. Of course, positive and negative actions are relative, and they are also dependent on the results.
For example, last year, we planted a few cherry tomato plants in a sunny patch of our front garden. The soil was hard and rocky. Even though we watered, weeded, and tended to these plants, the results were three cherry tomatoes…three! The conditions were not right for a bumper crop…or even a decent salad.
We also planted two irises in front of our kitchen window. The soil was softer, and we surrounded the plants with mulch. Thankfully, both of these plants are still thriving, and iris blossoms are almost ready to bloom.
Big Results from Small Seeds
Small causes can create big results! Small seeds can produce a plant or tree that has many fruits…that is, if the conditions are conducive for abundance.
I observe this daily in the halls of the school where I work. I’ve witnessed a single snide remark, eye roll, or dismissive comment from a student explode into a full throttle shouting match that affects everyone in the hall. By contrast, a simple smile or a sincere compliment can have a positive ripple effect that not only keeps the peace, but also keeps the flow of traffic moving during a passing period.
Causes Create Results
Constructive causes create constructive results, and destructive causes create destructive results. This is why our intentions, motivations, and actions matter so much. Karmic seeds are principal causes. They are little, but mighty.
Accumulating, organizing, and keeping the various guru beads over the years was an essential principal cause for me. I didn’t have any expectations. I wasn’t grippy, clingy, or impatient about how I was going to make use of these beads. Honestly, I didn’t know if I would ever be able to use them.
I just kept doing my thing, creating hand-knotted malas with the beads that I COULD use, and over time, when the conditions were right, I was literally given a tool that would enable me to liberate all of those gurus that were waiting for me.
“Each thing in its time, and its place…”
Results WILL Manifest
Results come from corresponding causes and conditions. We may not know exactly when or how, but they ARE coming.
I don’t know exactly what designs I will create from these liberated gurus, and I don’t know who they will eventually benefit. I do know that through right motivation, patience, and skillful effort, I have the confidence and ability to create meaningful designs for others.
These liberated guru beads are like karmic seeds, and their potential is just beginning to germinate and grow.
***
Thank you for taking the time to read or listen to this month’s offering. The photo above includes some of the liberated gurus mentioned in this article. If you are interested in a custom design with a guru of your choice, please send me a message using the Contact Us page. I would be happy to create a one-of-a-kind design to support and inspire your own meaningful practice.
Slow Down: Savoring the Practice of Pausing November 30, 2023 10:00
If you prefer to listen to this month's offering, click HERE for the audio link.
At various times throughout this month, I have received several nudges from the universe to slow down. For example, as I was driving home from school a couple weeks ago, I slowed down while entering a roundabout. I heard a car horn beeping behind me, and from my side mirror, I saw a small blue car. Inside, a cranky man was shaking his fist at me, urging me to go-go-go.
Apparently, he didn’t notice the giant “YIELD” sign to our right—or the three cars whipping around the circle from the left, which motivated me to slow down and pause.
I gestured toward the fast-moving cars—but cranky man just shook his head in frustration. When it was safe, I entered the circle. Cranky man in the little blue car buzzed by me, irritated, agitated, and totally unaware that I was not just looking out for myself, but I was looking out for him and others as well.
***
Another nudge from the universe came in the form of a poem that I came across by one of my all-time favorite poets, Naomi Shihab Nye. This poem, “Every Day,” is from her collection A Maze Me: Poems for Girls, published in 2005.
Every Day
My hundred-year-old, next-door neighbor told me:
Every day is a good day, if you have it.
I had to think about that a minute.
She said, Every day is a present
someone left at your birthday place at the table.
Trust me! It may not feel like that,
but it’s true. When you’re my age,
you’ll know. Twelve is a treasure.
And it’s up to you
to unwrap the package gently,
lifting out the gleaming hours
wrapped in tissue,
don’t miss the bottom of the box.
Busyness is a habit of mind, and it can be an indication of an agitated nervous system. We are encouraged in American society to go-go-go, do-do-do, hurry-hurry-hurry, constantly chasing the mind as it leaps ahead into the future, leaving the body behind in a state of rattled confusion. The mind screams, “Look how busy I am! I am soooooo important!!!”
Right. I get it! I have certainly been caught up in this cycle. When I taught high school English, there were times when I was hyper-aware of the clock on the wall, and my days were measured in fifty-five-minute intervals, with ringing bells and five-minute passing periods. I remember the constant cycle of planning lessons and grading essays. I remember times when I was so focused on being prepared for anything that I was rarely focused on “what is” and present with my students sitting right in front of me. In other words, I was missing the bottom of the box.
Ironically, running around from task to task, obligation to obligation is just another form of laziness. According to Venerable Thubten Chodron, abbess of Sravasti Abbey in Washington state, “Being super-busy in a worldly way is another kind of laziness because it keeps us from our practice.”
***
A go-go-go, do-do-do, hurry-hurry-hurry mindset is a limiting one…and an exhausting one. It distracts us from what is most meaningful, and it prevents us from seeing the bigger picture.
Paradoxically, the most meaningful, big-picture moments, often involve taking the time to slow down, notice, and contemplate the small things:
*the rhythm and flow of the breath
*the syncopated sounds of rain on the roof
*a passage from a book or line from a poem that makes you stop, underline it, and read it again
*the sound of a child’s laughter in a grocery store
*watching leaves flutter to the ground
*watching the full moon shift and rise through bare branches
Small things, for me, are my portals to deep awareness. Small things encourage me to slow down—to pause—to do less and enjoy more—and to notice, really notice, what’s going on around me.
I’ve also noticed that making time for consistent, daily practices (for me, that includes meditation, mantra recitations, and Feldenkrais lessons) increases the likelihood that I’ll notice and appreciate the small things with big-picture potential—these tiny portals of awareness.
***
The biggest nudge from the universe came the other morning when I made time to visit a dear friend and former colleague. She has survived more than one stroke, has experienced slow, but steady cognitive decline, and is currently recovering from a recent heart attack.
The hospital where she is staying is close to the school where I work as a part-time tutor, and I was able to spend time with her between student sessions.
When I walked into her room, she was sleeping. I talked to her while she rested, describing the view outside her window. I told her about the large, billowy clouds and the streaks of sunlight shining through them. I told her about the air traffic control tower that I could see from the nearby airport, and every few minutes, an airplane would rise up and disappear into the billowy clouds streaked with sunshine.
She was surrounded by gently beeping monitors and was covered with a fleece blanket with turkeys and pumpkins on it. A muted National Geographic program about Egyptian art was playing on the television.
A friend had visited her the day before and brought her a green stuffed rabbit. She hugged it close to her as she slept. The color made me think of Green Tara, and I softly sang the mantra to her like a lullabye: Om Tare Tutarre Ture Soha, Om Tare Tutarre Ture Soha, Om Tare Tutarre Ture Soha, Om Tare Tutarre Ture Soha…
I told her how grateful I was for her friendship over the years, how her mentorship was extremely helpful when I first started teaching.
I thought about all the places she’d traveled with her family, all the stories she’d shared about her adventures, and how much her students admired her.
I didn’t know if she would awaken while I was there, so I made the most of the time I had with her. I was fully present with her.
Fortunately, she did wake up after a short while, and we had time to chat. Her eyes lit up when she saw me; she was delighted to have someone waiting to talk with her when she woke up. She struggled to find words at times, and her mind would catch in cognitive loops, bringing the conversation around to the same topics or questions. She confused me for other friends at times, or one of her daughters, but it didn’t matter. I was happy to have time to see her and to talk with her.
This visit with my friend did not make me feel sad. Instead, I felt joyful and relieved to have a chance to thank her for all of her helpful advice and friendship over the years. I had time to hold space and be present with her while she slept and while she was awake.
Slowing down means savoring the present moment, accepting what is with grace and dignity.
Listening to nudges from the universe, taking in these small moments, and appreciating the joy of pausing—these are the “gleaming hours/ wrapped in tissue.” Paying deep attention to these portals of awareness: this, too, is practice.
I hope you all are finding joy during this Holiday Season. May you be able to slow down and appreciate your own portals of awareness during this time. Please know that I have added several new designs to the Middle Moon Malas online collection, and they make thoughtful gifts for loved ones who have a meditation practice, or for yourself. Please consider purchasing a hand-knotted mala design to inspire meaningful practice and to support a small business. Much gratitude!
Warmly,
Teresa