Yesterday Denise Petrizzo (at left in the white shirt) and I visited Allan Lokos in his Manhattan apartment to continue filming his August Tricycle Retreat. Despite the steamy weather (it hit 100 degrees in nearby Central Park, which, being tree-filled, is usually cooler than the surrounding streets) Allan took to his lovely terrace, which he normally uses for kinhin or walking meditation, to film two more teachings in the series.
Allan is the founder and guiding teacher of New York’s Community Meditation Center, and the author of Pocket Peace, a book of practices you can pull out of your pocket whenever you need them, as Allan puts it. Allan’s August Tricycle Retreat will feature seven pocket practices, which are themselves drawn from the paramis or paramitas, meaning perfections, so that these practices can be referred to as perfection practices.
The first Practice is:
Developing Patience Remind yourself often: Only I can destroy my peace, and I
choose not to do so.
The pocket practices have a lot in common with lojong slogans: A small thought that can be unpacked and sat with and lived with to great effect. Allan visited the Tricycle Community Book Club recently to discuss Pocket Peace, and we look forward to seeing his retreat up on our homepage soon!
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