The following talk was given at the Insight Meditation Center in Redwood City, California.

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So, the continual exploration of poetry and practice, or the poetry of practice.

We'll share something that John Brown, who's created a collection of mindfulness poems.

None of the poems that I have been sharing are in this collection, but these mindfulness teacher, I believe.

And he writes that poetry presents a powerful way to disrupt the habitual momentum of the mind.

It's automatic reactions and obsessive self-concerns.

And he continues saying, to fully enter a poem, we must first stop and step away from the more immediate demands of life and engage in an imaginative activity that has no obvious practical value.

So, I appreciate his bringing in this way and that to enter a poem is where we have to stop or interrupt the normal way of thinking or the usual way of doing whatever it is we do.

And to engage in an imaginative activity.

So, the poems do require certain imaginations, especially when they have a lot of imagery.

And then I like that John Brown includes, it has no obvious practical value.

Yeah, right? So often we're concerned with what's practical.

But, and lastly, this is the last thing I'll say from John Brown, he writes, more importantly, we must shift out of our everyday consciousness, the speedy mind wrapped in itself centered stories and projections.

But usually our minds are, you know, trying to make us happy and avoid difficulties and stave off pain and difficult emotions.

But if I were to stretch John Brown's discussion about poetry, I would say that maybe to fully enter a poem, he's talking about it is to interrupt the momentum of what the mind usually does.

But what if we say to fully enter a poem is to enter the temple of the heart, rather than being in the thinking of the mind.

And we, in this way, the form of today's offering was so kind of fun, it's related to the content, the fact that it's a poem.

So I'll read this poem again, one that I just dropped into the guided meditation.

The title is, after reading what's in the temple by Tom Barrett, I consider it his question.

And I'll unpack that a little bit, after I read the poem, poet is Rose Mary Traumor.

I just love Rose Mary Traumor's poems, she has a lot of whimsy and she's a Buddhist practitioner as well and it kind of shines through in her poetry.

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