{"id":1654,"date":"2011-09-27T08:39:39","date_gmt":"2011-09-27T12:39:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/mindfulnessmatters\/?p=1654"},"modified":"2011-09-27T08:39:58","modified_gmt":"2011-09-27T12:39:58","slug":"fall-in-the-north-country-transitions-color-and-bliss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/2011\/09\/fall-in-the-north-country-transitions-color-and-bliss.html","title":{"rendered":"Fall in the North Country: Transitions, Color, and Bliss"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>The leaves are changing color, a little later than usual in the North Country of Vermont. Fall is here and winter inexorably behind. Cool nights attest to this transition, as the living world of flora gets ready to go to sleep. It’s impermanence in action with an artist’s palette.<\/p>\n

It was a glorious summer. Warm, wet, and wild. We saw record rainfall; we saw massive destruction with Hurricane Irene. The world seems unsettled. Not just turning gently from one thing to the next. Violence is, perhaps, not too strong of a term. And yet, the warm days of late September have been still; the restless winds of summer quieting for a moment.<\/p>\n

Fall is the time of year that embodies the Buddha’s teaching of impermanence the clearest. The Buddha pointed out that things are constantly changing, including what we take to be “me.” Nothing exists other than change–is the radical reading of the impermanence teaching.<\/p>\n

Surely, some things exist outside of change? If you know of something, I’d like to hear about it. The universe is changing; the sun, the earth, changing. The weather, itself a changing pattern, is changing (and apparently for the worse). We are changing, moment-by-moment; breathing, moving, digesting, talking, thinking, et cetera make up who are. And there is nothing other than these changing processes. So, we are challenged to go with this flow (and be happy) or resist it,by wanting it to be some other way (and thereby not be happy).<\/p>\n

Bliss is found kissing this moment as it moves by. Kissing it hello and good-bye. Embracing it with an open heart, but releasing that embrace before it becomes clinging.<\/p>\n

If you are in a place where the colors are changing or will be changing soon, enjoy this transition and let it teach you about impermanence. Let it show you the freedom that comes when we can open to the unfolding of each moment without getting caught up with trying to hold it still. Bliss won’t be far behind.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The leaves are changing color, a little later than usual in the North Country of Vermont. Fall is here and winter inexorably behind. Cool nights attest to this transition, as the living world of flora gets ready to go to sleep. It’s impermanence in action with an artist’s palette. It was a glorious summer. Warm,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":268,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,7,8,9],"tags":[243,67,21,245,244],"class_list":["post-1654","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-buddha-101","category-metaphors-for-mindfulness","category-mindful-living","category-mindfulnesss","tag-fall-foliage","tag-impermanence","tag-mindfulness","tag-north-country","tag-vermont"],"yoast_head":"\nFall in the North Country: Transitions, Color, and Bliss - Mindfulness Matters<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/2011\/09\/fall-in-the-north-country-transitions-color-and-bliss.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Fall in the North Country: Transitions, Color, and Bliss - Mindfulness Matters\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The leaves are changing color, a little later than usual in the North Country of Vermont. 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Dr. Kozak's ability to translate ancient healing traditions into pragmatic applications suitable for modern lifestyles through the use of metaphors have made him a strong voice in healthcare and business. Beginning with a journey to India in the 80\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s where he took the Bodhisattva vows from His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Arnie Dr. Kozak began his lifelong practice in mindfulness meditation. Intent on finding a way to bring the practical healing attributes of mindfulness he began incorporating these techniques in his private practice. In 2002 Dr. Kozak created Exquisite Mind in Burlington, Vermont as a vehicle that could expand his wisdom to larger audiences beyond individual psychotherapy to professionals and corporations, health care providers, public groups and, most recently with Exquisite Mind Golf, amateur and professional golfers. His award-winning new book, Wild Chickens and Petty Tyrants: 108 Metaphors for Mindfulness (Wisdom Publications, 2009) is a thoughtful, funny, and inspiring translation of mindfulness practice through the inventive use of metaphor applicable to our daily lives. In addition to his work with Exquisite Mind, Arnie Kozak, Ph.D., Licensed Psychologist\u00e2\u20ac\u201dDoctorate has been a Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Vermont and is a Clinical Instructor in Psychiatry and Medicine, University of Vermont College of Medicine. He has studied and practiced clinical psychology, meditation, and yoga for more than 25 years. He has studied with several meditation masters, including S. N. Goenka, Larry Rosenberg, Gurumayi Chidvilasananda, and His Holiness the Dalai Lama. After receiving his bachelors degree with honors from Tufts University, he was awarded a Presidential Fellowship to get his Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University at Buffalo. He completed his training as a Psychological Fellow at the Harvard Medical School. Prior to founding the Exquisite Mind in 2002, Arnie worked ten years in the private sector for the PKC Corporation consulting on mental health content for this revolutionary software company.","sameAs":["http:\/\/exquisitemind.com"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/author\/akozak"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1654","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/268"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1654"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1654\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1662,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1654\/revisions\/1662"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1654"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1654"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1654"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}