Resolution #1: Meditate in the new year

Ananda (Dharma Buddhist Meditation), Jen B., Ashley Wells (ed.), Wisdom Quarterly

It's the same every year. Hundreds of people come to Dharma Buddhist Meditation events in and around Los Angeles. We had a sit in Malibu at the beach, in Pasadena along the redwood-lined foothills near the Norton Simon Museum, in Silver Lake where the wild hipsters roam.

Whether we include yoga, ecstatic breathing, plant medicines, play, sutras, journeying, remote viewing, or heart-opening work, attendants say the same thing: "This is the best event ever. I'm coming back every week!" They come for a while and fade.

Does the world know that the No. 1 thing about meditation is perseverance? Stick-to-itiveness when nothing seems to be happening or improving is what wins the day, because when things do happen, it becomes clear how much was happening when it didn't seem like it.

Others may notice a change in us, but we're slow to notice because we have high expectations and impatience about making dramatic improvements like right now! It's always now. And there may always be time. But we won't last forever with FREE events or donation-based workshops.

Place won't last forever. Wherever you are, there you are. Somehow when being at the previous place was a much better option for peaceful progress and rapid development. Start where you are. It's just two days until (Chinese) New Year, a second chance to make a first impression on 2022.

• Dharma Buddhist Meditation (Disclosure Project)
• Dharma Buddhist Meditation (Nature Center)
• Dharma Buddhist Meditation (PasaDharma)