We welcome Mike Stiler as the guest speaker at this Saturday’s online Open Meditative Dialogue. When we asked Mike to share a brief description of himself and his work, he replied:
“Mike is an artist with a lifelong interest in meditative inquiry. He first came to awakening in 1973 at the Rochester Zen Center with Roshi Philip Kapleau. For over 20 years he attended retreats at Springwater Center with Toni Packer, where he came to the end of seeking. Since 2000 he has facilitated sittings, dialogues and small retreats in Maine and Ojai, CA. His bi-weekly illustrated posts about the impact of awakening in everyday life can be found at: mikestiler.substack.com.”
In a recent post titled “Listening To The Rain, , Mike offers this:
Sitting quietly, listening to the rain,
the mind returns to its natural home.
Listening until there is nothing left to do…
nothing to gain and nothing to lose.
The sound of rain on the roof,
the beating of your heart…
the end of seeking
is happiness itself.
—Ojai, CA 1/3/23
Pictured below: the much-loved circle artwork in the solarium at the Center created by Mike during a visit a number of years ago.
