Morning Sit

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Jeffrey Angelson

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May 9, 2026, 5:50:06 AM (12 days ago) May 9
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Joan Tollifson’s post this morning using the word “God” stayed with me.


It inspired me to sit quietly and notice how it all landed here.


Yesterday morning I sat behind my building in silence.


Seeing.
Feeling.
Smelling.
Hearing.


Everything felt intensely alive.


The shades of green formed by the trees, lit differently depending on how the sunlight touched them, created a background more beautiful than anything I could have imagined.


Above it all was a pure blue sky:
spacious,
empty,
infinite.


Only a few white clouds moved slowly through it, creating a feeling of peaceful movement that somehow felt like life itself.


The air was cool.
The sun was warm.
Everything was silent.


And yet the silence felt alive.


Cardinals appeared and disappeared.
I noticed they were a couple.


Then a bluebird arrived.
A robin.
A cluster of sparrows.


Because I sit there often, I noticed the birds no longer seemed afraid of me. They landed closer now, behaving almost as if I wasn’t there.


And yet there was also a sense that my presence was known.


The trees swayed in the wind and at moments it felt as though they were moving with the music I was listening to — different trees dancing together in quiet harmony.


There was no real sense of “me” separate from what was unfolding.


The scene didn’t feel outside of me.


There was simply one living movement appearing as everything.


I noticed the old shuffleboard court nearby. The painted lines had faded almost completely away. No one plays there anymore.


The benches had once been stained wood.
Now they had weathered into a soft silver-gray.


Time had clearly passed.


And yet somehow it felt like the same moment.


Life changing form while remaining exactly what it is.


The emptiness itself felt alive.


Not empty in the ordinary sense —
alive,
present,
radiant.


An energy surrounding everything and at the same time appearing as everything.


Not separate from me.
Not separate from anything.


And for a moment, the simplest words felt the truest:


THIS is LIFE.


THIS is GOD.


Jeff Angelso



Jeff Angelson

Paul Rezendes

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May 9, 2026, 9:35:46 AM (12 days ago) May 9
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🩷🕊☯️

Paul


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Jeffrey Angelson

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May 9, 2026, 10:02:51 AM (12 days ago) May 9
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Thanks Paul. ❤️


Your pointers over the years about seeing, no subject/object, and that what we are seeing is the universe showing up as us — no separation — really stayed with me.


Lately it feels less conceptual and more directly obvious in experience.


Appreciate you. 🙏




Jeff Angelson

Rani Madhavapeddi

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May 9, 2026, 10:12:09 AM (12 days ago) May 9
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Jeff,
Isness 
💜🧘Joy
Rani Madhavapeddi Patel


On May 9, 2026, at 2:50 AM, Jeffrey Angelson <jeff.a...@gmail.com> wrote:


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Rob MacDonald

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May 9, 2026, 11:58:18 AM (12 days ago) May 9
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A lot of beauty there, Jeff.

But what also is lovely is if your morning sit was in the middle of Penn Station in New York during morning rush, or South Station in Boston, or Union Station in D.C.

The sights and scenes and experience surely will be different than the peace of nature, butall god, all this.  Nothing outside of what is.

Peace,
Rob M.

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Rob MacDonald

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May 9, 2026, 12:31:59 PM (12 days ago) May 9
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Hi All,

To further clarify my above response, I didn't read Tollifson's post from earlier, but as I read Jeff's beautiful observations of nature, it arose that this is an opportunity.

An opportunity to see preference arising - I can't say for sure Jeff mentioned preferences, because perhaps the rawness of the scene was beauty in itself.  An opportunity to get beyond that and 'just see'.  This usually works better in difficult situations, but it appears all the time in this human experience.  We can also 'see' the arising of preference.   

For instance, in a busy train station you might encounter the smell or urine or diesel fuel, the sight of the homeless on the ground, or rats scurrying from a trash can with a half empty Sbarro box, hear the angry exchange of a pair of commuters who are trying to get to work or home. 

Are we able to sit and take that in as well?

Can we also see what arises from our interior as we are impacted?  Is there a feeling of compassion for the homeless person?  That is also arising....  Is there disgust over the smells of the station?  That is also arising.... 

I know it doesn't make for a good spiritual post, but lately this reminder keeps arising.  I'd like to say it is a call to equanimity, but it is even BEYOND equanimity, because equanimity is a state of mind.  And the THISNESS we are pointing toward beckons us to keep looking beyond these arisings to what is 'just over the horizon'.  

Sorry, this isn't very Socratic or dialogic or me, and I really enjoyed your posting Jeff, but my morning was a severe calf cramp, shortness of breath and feeling very sore and achy, as well as the preferences of wishing things were different, but sitting with that for a moment, it is no different than the cool air, curious birds, or bright sunshine, all ofthat.... together, included, appearances of THISNESS that is ever-present and all-inclusive.

Peace,
Rob M.

Jeffrey Angelson

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May 9, 2026, 12:40:53 PM (12 days ago) May 9
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Rob Everyone

Rob,


There’s a beauty to the morning rush in NYC too. I experienced it for many years.


A kind of high-energy symphony…
thousands of people moving as one through staircases, escalators, and wide corridors, as if guided by some mysterious inner radar.


The sounds of the city coming alive.
The smell of fresh roasted coffee and hot donuts.
Grabbing a newspaper fresh off the press, paying and getting change without even breaking stride.


Same energy.
Different speed.


The quiet park and Penn Station at rush hour appear completely different, yet both are expressions of the same movement of life.


Still one.


You can take the boy out of Brooklyn… 😊




Jeff Angelson

On Sat, May 9, 2026 at 11:58 AM Rob MacDonald <rjma...@gmail.com> wrote:

Janet Asiain

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May 9, 2026, 12:54:18 PM (12 days ago) May 9
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Or the New York City Subway at any hour — a lot of people there just hanging on by the skin of their teeth. I just spent three days there (from the easy-to-love visual beauty of the Hudson Valley where I live), taking a look at my variable level of equanimity on the streets and underground.  Spent most of my time in Memorial Sloan Kettering Hospital with my daughter who had surgery this past week and is there until next week sometime. A premier hospital with a fantastically upbeat staff, but the level of anxiety of the patients’ loved ones Is palpable. There are not many people around appreciating “just this” — they’re (we’re) just trying to hang on to our composure as the staff operates at a high level of energy to get and keep patients on the road to recovery — little time to stop and smell the roses! (Although I did notice a staff “Zen Den” in my endless trips to and from the cafeteria) 

Make of this what you all will. I hope my point is clear. Thank or blame Rob M for inspiring it

Janet A

On Sat, May 9, 2026 at 11:58 AM Rob MacDonald <rjma...@gmail.com> wrote:

Jeffrey Angelson

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May 9, 2026, 1:10:16 PM (12 days ago) May 9
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Rob Everyone

Rob,

There are people dropping money into a homeless person’s hat… while others rush by trying to catch a train. Luxury beside poverty. Chaos beside beauty.

The smell of urine and diesel fuel muted by thousands of people moving to work.
Nobody stopping because life itself isn’t stopping.

And yet people do help each other when necessary. Someone struggling with a stroller on subway stairs suddenly has three strangers helping. An EMT appears in a flash if someone falls. Tiny green sanctuaries with transplanted trees sit quietly between concrete and noise so people can pause for a moment if needed.

There’s a beauty to that too.

I think people often misunderstand New Yorkers. It’s not that they are unsentimental or unkind. It’s that there is so much happening at once — beauty, struggle, tenderness, indifference, exhaustion, extravagance, survival — all unfolding simultaneously.

A kind of built-in equanimity in real time.

Not:
“I prefer this moment.”

More:
“This is the moment.”

And I appreciated your sharing this morning’s experience so openly. The part about the calf cramp, shortness of breath, soreness, and the wish for things to be different made the post feel very real and human to me.

Not theory. Lived experience.

Wishing you an easier day physically.

Peace,
Jeff




Jeff Angelson

Jeffrey Angelson

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May 9, 2026, 1:14:25 PM (12 days ago) May 9
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Janet Rob Al

Janet,


Your point came through very clearly.


And honestly, your post brought the conversation down from abstraction into real lived human experience.


Hospitals have their own kind of intensity — fear, hope, exhaustion, composure, tenderness — all moving together at once.


I loved the image of the “Zen Den” quietly sitting there in the middle of all that activity and anxiety. Somehow very NYC too. 😊


Wishing your daughter a smooth recovery and wishing you moments of rest in the middle of it all.

Peace 
Jeff 


Jeff Angelson

Jeffrey Angelson

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May 9, 2026, 1:27:04 PM (12 days ago) May 9
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Janet Rob All

This whole conversation reminded me of an interview I saw with Jeff Bridges after surviving cancer treatment and then nearly dying from COVID.


They asked him how he could still be so enthusiastic and full of life after all he had been through.


He simply said:


“You gotta love it all.”


That stayed with me.




Jeff Angelson

On Sat, May 9, 2026 at 12:54 PM Janet Asiain <janet...@gmail.com> wrote:

Dan Kilpatrick

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May 9, 2026, 1:47:14 PM (12 days ago) May 9
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Jeff, 💜

An imteresting question: is there a choice as to whether we appreciate for ourselves, in the living moment, that which Jeff Bridges pointed to? 

Maybe realizing this in any given moment is already what he was saying. No where else to be, since living doesn't depend on what is happening, including how we are feeling about it all. How we are experiencing is never separate from anything...

-Dan


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Paul Rezendes

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May 9, 2026, 2:43:46 PM (12 days ago) May 9
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Everyone on this thread,

I'm really appreciating some of the emails on this thread. I don't think I can add much.

Janet, sorry to hear about your daughter. Hopefully, she'll be fine, and people will take good care of her.

With affection,

Paul















Jeffrey Angelson

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May 9, 2026, 3:43:51 PM (12 days ago) May 9
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Janet
I second Paul’s post about your daughter. She is in the right place and hope things go well. 


Jeff Angelson

Janet Asiain

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May 9, 2026, 3:46:21 PM (12 days ago) May 9
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Thanks Paul. She will be fine and people are taking good care

On Sat, May 9, 2026 at 2:43 PM Paul Rezendes <pho...@paulrezendes.com> wrote:

Dan Kilpatrick

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May 9, 2026, 6:55:43 PM (12 days ago) May 9
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Great to hear Janet 
-Dan

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Rani Madhavapeddi

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May 9, 2026, 8:34:48 PM (12 days ago) May 9
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Janet,
Wishing the best for your daughter and sending my prayers to her for a speedy recovery! 
Love peace and joy! 

Rani Madhavapeddi Patel


On May 9, 2026, at 9:54 AM, Janet Asiain <janet...@gmail.com> wrote:



Janet Asiain

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May 10, 2026, 8:08:29 AM (11 days ago) May 10
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Thanks Rani

Paul Rezendes

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May 10, 2026, 9:40:51 AM (11 days ago) May 10
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Janet, good to hear.

Paul

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Jeffrey Angelson

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May 11, 2026, 4:19:56 PM (10 days ago) May 11
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Dan Everyone

Nothing is outside of what is appearing.


The first arrow often isn’t chosen.


But the second and subsequent arrows shape how much we suffer.


He didn’t build an identity around suffering.

He chose Gratitude 🙏 


Jeff Angelson

Dan Kilpatrick

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May 12, 2026, 4:28:44 PM (9 days ago) May 12
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Jeff, thanks for responding here. I sense we are using the words choice or choosing differently, perhaps. I also realize that my previous email could be confusing. I'll try to clarify what I meant and mean here now. Maybe it isn't necessary but just to be sure.

In saying "is there a choice as to whether we appreciate for ourselves, in the living moment, that which Jeff Bridges pointed to?", this was implying we actually have no involvement as a chooser or decider as to what arises for us, in any given moment. As you said here, there is nothing outside what appears in and as our consciousness. If there is a choosing what appears, this is appearing as our consciousness, as if the choosing is separate from appearing itself.

This brings to mind something K said during a talk. He related a situation in which someone challenged what he said. In that moment, the separate self was active in him and showed up. But it did not interfere with anything because it was immediate and clear, it was appearing.

In reading this, it was clear to me that we do not have separate consciousnesses. We all share in this movement that sees itself as separate from others and everything else. So while our experiencing and appearings seem to happen locally, this seeming is also what is appearing. Being local is shared, and therefore obviously never local. It is very much a shared experiencing, which in a physical way is of absolute and total necessity. It is to be a condition, living as the condition's physical reality. It is implicit and operates naturally.

But what is truly significant to me is how obvious our lack of being separate etc reveals itself in every moment, right here and now. It is not some philosophical or spiritual affair, just right here in the nitty gritty mundaneness of living. So when any of us truly is listening to someone or something, what is happening here? Is there any distance involved in the listening, or has any sense of separation simply dissolved, naturally? And taken to the physical realm, when we are communicating, one brain is moving together with another brain. Where is the dividing line? It all just seems so totally obvious that we can never ever be separate from one another even as we move as if we are! It is in the very dirt we walk on and dig into. Again, not some sort of transcendent experience, but just so implicitly simple that it is undeniable.

Ok, I'll stop, the words just keep coming, even as words are not necessary. It is all around us, as our lives.....  -Dan



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Jeffrey Angelson

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May 12, 2026, 6:38:32 PM (9 days ago) May 12
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Dan, 

Dan, I feel we are very much aligned regarding the underlying inseparability of life. The waves are never separate from the ocean.


Where I still see differentiation is in the relative human experience. The same ocean appears as calm waves, turbulent waves, or thunderous waves crashing into a jetty. This human apparatus responds differently depending on the conditions. If the waves are crashing against the jetty, this organism stays out of the water. 😊


So while consciousness itself may not be separate, perception and interpretation still appear through differently conditioned nervous systems. We are participating in and co-creating one movement, but not experiencing or expressing it identically.


To me, that is the beauty of non-dual duality: one ocean, many waves.




Jeff Angelson

Jeffrey Angelson

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May 12, 2026, 7:02:36 PM (9 days ago) May 12
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Dan, I think you are pointing to the fact that non-separation is already the case and becomes obvious when looked at directly, as K often suggested.


Where I still pause is that not everyone seems able to perceive or express life from that direct seeing. Conditioning and identification still appear to shape how clearly that is seen  




Jeff Angelson

Dan Kilpatrick

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May 12, 2026, 7:13:32 PM (9 days ago) May 12
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Thanks Jeff. Identifying is what is appearing. It may not be apparent this is happening. But it is always available as it is happening, but not as something separate happening. The appearing of separating makes itself self-evident, but not in words or cognitively. It is its own wordless dissolving. So there really is no other place or time to be or go, no matter where and when we are. It is all right here now. Our.moving as if in time and distance is it's own revealing, always it's own opportunity, nonconceptually and nonverbally, now.
-Dan

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Jeffrey Angelson

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May 12, 2026, 8:52:36 PM (9 days ago) May 12
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Dan, this really resonates.


What I hear you pointing to is that nothing ever actually leaves THIS — not conditioning, not the appearance of separation, not the apparent movement through time toward realization. Even the sense of being separate is already the revealing of it.


So there’s nowhere else to get to. The movement itself is the unfolding.


I get glimpses of this very clearly sometimes, then the mind seems to lose it again. But even that appears to be part of the same unfolding — gradually sinking in over time.


“There is a mountain…” 😊


Beautifully expressed.




Jeff Angelson

Dan Kilpatrick

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May 12, 2026, 8:58:01 PM (9 days ago) May 12
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Jeff, beautifully said, in return. Thanks, -Dan

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