Hello and welcome to another episode of Minds from us Plus. I'm your host Thomas Mokonki. Thanks so much for listening today.

Okay, people, let me get a few things out of the way. First, I'm in solitary retreat this week, so I'm stealing down into the recording

studio in the basement to cut this episode from Noble Silence. So welcome to my personal retreat, at least

the moment of it. Happy to share it with you. Also, for the third time in my life, my back has

seized up. I think it's the second time it's happened during retreat. It tends to happen when my cushion is too hard.

And after logging lots and lots of hours sitting, my back just protests.

So if you hear me wince or sense me grimacing at any point,

that's because I might be in some pain, but I'm okay because I

know how to work with pain. Anyway, I just wanted to get that out up front so we can relax and

spend some time together. What I want to talk about today from the depths of silent retreat

is the theme of appropriateness in a mindfulness practice. So I'll tell you my teacher,

John Kessler, one of my many teachers, he has used this word a lot over the years.

And from the first time I heard it to the last time I heard it, even as I'm saying the word

now appropriateness, it sounds kind of lackluster to me and tasteless in my mouth.

Appropriateness. We're going to get, we're going to become masters of mindfulness meditation so that we can

be more appropriate. It's, yeah, not as hot, sexy and flashy as other claims that the practice will make.

But actually, when you look beneath the frumpy surface of this word appropriateness,

it's actually quite profound.

And I've seen John do this in just remarkable ways. Maybe I'll tell a story

in another episode, or maybe this episode, if I distract myself enough. But when a human being

actually shows up appropriately, it's breathtaking. In the context of an awareness practice, appropriateness means something like bringing a totally fresh and open beginner's mind to every moment and responding to the moment with what the situation asks for.

The challenge here is that human beings were learning machines,

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