Hi Everyone 👋 A week of small things. Nothing heavy. No homework. Just a bit of light for anyone who needs it. Day 1: The Smallest Thing I spent years waiting for the big moments. The holiday. The good news. The thing I'd been saving for. And all the while the actual days were going by, full of small good things I was too busy waiting to notice. A hot cup of tea. The first bit of sun through the window. My dog deciding my lap was the only place in the world worth being. I'm not going to pretend everything's fine. It isn't. The world's a mess and some days are bloody hard. But the mess isn't the whole story. And what you pay attention to decides which story you get to live in. The Buddha didn't say wait for the perfect moment. He said pay attention to this one. It's the only one you've got. Today: before you look at your phone, name one good thing. Out loud if you can. "The beauty of seeing the sunrise" counts. I mean it. With Love ❤️ Always Mark

Hi Everyone 👋 Some days the practice is easy. The breath comes, the mind settles, and there's a bit of space around things. Those days are lovely. They're also not the point. The point is the days when it all feels impossible. When you're low, or ashamed, or so tired you can't remember what calm ever felt like. When sitting down to meditate feels like the last thing on earth you want to do. Those are the days the practice is actually for. The Buddha didn't teach mindfulness for people who already had it together. He taught it for people in the middle of the mess—grief, regret, fear, confusion. The whole path is designed for exactly the state you're in right now. So here's what I'd offer, from one imperfect practitioner to another. On the hard days, lower the bar. Not as a compromise. As wisdom. Three breaths is a full practice. Noticing you're clenching your jaw is a full practice. Saying "this is hard" and meaning it is a full practice. Putting your hand on your chest for ten seconds is a full practice. You don't have to feel peaceful. You just have to show up, however briefly, however badly. The practice isn't the feeling. It's the turning towards. The Tao abides in non-action, yet nothing is left undone. Even three breaths count. Especially three breaths. With Love ❤️ Always Mark

Hi Everyone 👋 “If it were not laughed at, it would not be sufficient to be Tao.” – Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching 😊 You know those days. The ones where everything just goes to pot. You’re completely caught up in the anger, the frustration, the wallowing. It’s one thing after another, until you hit the final straw,....say, you’ve just watched the last bus pull away, and you're still running. And right at that peak of sheer awfulness, something snaps. The ridiculousness of it all hits you, and you can’t help but laugh. It’s in that exact moment that you rise above the whole mess. You catch a glimpse of the cosmic joke in your own suffering. Meditation gives us that space. It creates a bit of room around our thoughts and reactions, so we’re not entirely consumed by them. Just watching the passing show of your own life lets a bit of lightness in, right where it was heavy as lead a moment before. Humour is brilliant for putting things into perspective. There are so many different flavours of it—the humour of survival, of sex and gratification, of power. But beyond all those, there’s a humour that’s filled with compassion. You can see it in the faint, enigmatic upturn of the Buddha’s mouth. He sees the humour in the universal predicament: we’re all completely caught up in the illusion, yet he knows we’ll eventually wake up, because at our core, we’re already enlightened. He knows that what feels like an impossible struggle is, from another angle, our own unique path to liberation. The perspectives you stumble upon in meditation often make you want to giggle. It’s a giggle without any malice. A cosmic giggle. I always associate it with my guru, Khyentse Rinpoche. His giggle isn't of this world. It isn't a social or personality-driven laugh; it's a cosmic chuckle, a pure delight in the fun of it all. A Day without laughter is a wasted day 🤣 With Love Always Mark