Welcome back to the on-line Urban Retreat! Yesterday I was asking you to identify situations in your daily life where the worldly winds were blowing, and to be more aware of your response to them.  How have you got on with that? Was it easy or difficult? Was yesterday a calm or stormy day?!

Like yesterday, we're going to listen to a 20 minute video talk – to get ideas and input – and then reflect on how those teachings apply to our lives. In the subsequent days, there will be less input, just a bit of a daily "top-up"… you won't need to be on-line for so long each day.  So, again quite a bit to read today, don’t forget to click the ‘read more’ button below!  And remember all the reflection exercises are also available on a post from Candradasa in a more interactive form, using VoiceThreads.

Seeing the Worldly Winds as Opportunities, not Obstacles
Today we are going to look more at how to respond when we see the worldly winds blowing. Rather than reacting and just trying to swing back from loss to gain, from blame to praise, and so on, we can try to respond with awareness of the worldly winds. We can try to turn those swings back and forth into spiritual opportunities. If we've allowed our mood or self-view to be swayed by them, this is our chance to regain the initiative. We see the worldly winds as teachers, spurring us on to develop patience, courage, or whatever response the situation calls for. We welcome the challenge, relish the chance to grow. Just having this attitude, bringing it to mind, remembering it in the thick of things, already makes a difference. We've regained the initiative. We've found a way to engage meaningfully and creatively with our circumstances. We may begin to feel quite differently about the situation we're in.

So first I'd suggest listening to another 20 minute talk  from me on seeing the worldly winds as opportunities, not obstacles. After you’ve watched the talk, do the following reflection…

Reflection: sailing with the worldly winds
Here we begin to see the worldly winds as opportunities for spiritual practice

Go back to your notes on yesterday's reflection, where you looked at how the worldly winds blow in your life. Now reflect on whether there are ways you could turn these specific situations into opportunities. Could the worldly winds become spiritual teachers? What would be the qualities that would stop you swinging between opposites, and help you rise above the worldly winds?

* Are there ways you could respond with generosity to times of gain and loss?
* Can you see instances in your life in which you could meet fame and infamy with individuality?
* How might you practise truthfulness when the worldly winds of praise and blame are blowing around you?
* Can you see opportunities to bring mindfulness into situations of pleasure and pain?

The qualities above are only some possible suggestions. You may think of others that are appropriate to your situation. This may take time, so don't worry if ‘answers’ do not come straight away.

When you’re ready, I invite you to go on to consider how you’d like to work with ‘your’ worldly winds in the coming days.  I’ll be suggesting you make some clear resolutions and begin to keep a Practice Diary to record how you get on.  This is what I suggest:

Choose your material under just one of the four pairs of worldly winds to work with, to try to put into practice, in the coming days. It’s more realistic to focus on just one pair, rather than try to take on too much at once.

1. Make a clear resolve.
So, first of all, make a clear resolve. What are you going to try to practise this week? In other words, form some precepts – some principles and guidelines for training. Make them as specific as you can, not just general vague statements of your good intention. Be realistic – it’s better to come up with one or two precepts that you'll actively engage with than ten big precepts that are likely to remain on the level of aspiration. Or rather, have the big aspiration, but remember it is also crucial to translate that into a few more practical propositions.

2. Begin to keep a Practice Diary
Print out six copies of the urban retreat practice diary. We're going to be using this diary quite a lot in the coming week.  I suggest you use it in order to concretise your reflections and to write down all you intend to do during the coming week.  The point is to help you to implement your intentions.  Therefore it is very important that you don’t feel that you have to fill in every box for every day. 

There is a separate page for every day to allow space for making each day’s commitment appropriate to what you are doing that day. Many people start off by writing too many commitments down on the first day retreat and have to change the diaries during the week.  That is okay!  We are doing the retreat in order to learn about how to bring our practice into our lives in a realistic way, and part of that learning process is to be flexible.  What we don’t want is anyone to feel guilty and a failure because they had expectations that they couldn’t fulfil. 

On the first sheet (for Sunday, ie today) record your resolutions in the top left section of the page.

You can also, at the end of each day, reflect on how the day went, writing down something in the "review" sections of that day’s diary, and then look forward to the next day’s diary, changing or adjusting any of your resolutions as appropriate.  But today, concentrate on the "resolve" section.

Suggested Meditation:
You could take some time in your meditation to reflect on how the worldly winds could shift from being obstacles into opportunities. Imagine yourself in a situation in which you can tend to get blown about, and then try to see, or feel, how you would deal with it if you were at your very best. Or maybe think about how someone you admire would respond, or even what the Buddha would do in that situation. Answers do not always come straight-away, so don't try to "force" it or feel impatient. But sometimes, reflecting and imagining like this, you see something afresh, you sense a new possibility…

Comments and feedback welcome; and log in any tiime after 5.30 UK time for tomorrow's material (don't worry - as I mentioned, there'll be less to read tomorrow!)