What Are You Doing This Summer?

Happy April. I just wanted to pass along news of all the summer meditation retreats I’ll be leading or assisting with, including one with my own teacher, Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche in Vermont at the end of May; IDP’s first ever weeklong retreat in Massachusetts in June, and a retreat in Colorado with my friend, teacher, and mentor Dr. Gaylon Ferguson, Acharya in August. Whatever happens, I hope we all make some time to deepen our practice this summer.

Also, I’m happy to announce my first ever video livecast talk and discussion on Thursday May 10. It’s a free event (details below), and I hope to do it about every six weeks in the future.

Please see what’s new below, and let me know how you are doing!

All best wishes for an awesome Spring,

Ethan Nichtern

http://www.ethannichtern.com
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Every Muppet Needs To Go On Retreat!

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OK, It’s been a full year so far. The new book took a lot of work. Teaching is always a pleasure. It’s been draining and exciting.

Now I’m taking Kermit’s lead and taking the next 9 days to deepen my practice. Partially, I have to, since I have certain practice requirements to attend annual group retreat with my teacher, Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche each year. As I discussed last night, having a teacher is a great thing, because they keep you honest and accountable for your practice. Partly, I want to go. My schedule will consist of two long meditation sessions each day, some shorter ones, a yoga practice, and reading. I will be leaving the social network behind.

Retreat, especially a solitary one, is an amazing practice of self-care. I can’t wait. Of course, if you haven’t done a group intensive retreat, I’d start with some of those. As one of my dharma brothers and great mentors, Acharya Adam Lobel likes to say when he is away, “Please Enjoy My Absence!” I also like to say peace, and mean it.

(photo courtesy of my friend Helen Carter).

Why I Write

My new book, Your Emoticons Won’t Save You, came out with a very limited release on my website as a print copy and as an ebook. We had very few advanced readers, so I’m just starting to hear what people think of it now. The early readers’ reviews are amazing to receive. And then I got this long multi-parted text message earlier this week from a dear old friend, another NYC native:

“I just finished your book. I read it in one sitting without meaning to. You took me there, brother. I was right back all up in it. I finished the last chapter like running off a cliff – shocked that the story was over. Mazel Tov! It’s a super fun, nostalgic read that comes across as snarky and meaningful at the same time – just like the early 20′s characters themselves. Whooph. Now I’m going over the last 12-15 years in my head…oy. Love you man – tremendous congrats on a great read! See you soon.”

I do not write to make money (it’s almost impossible to). I write to connect. I write on the off chance that every once in a blue moon, I might receive a midnight text message like this one. It made my year.

May all beings receive such a text message every once in a while, just for doing what they love.

Tonight We’re Gonna Party Like It’s…1998

Hi Dear Friends,

Tonight We’re gonna party like it’s…1998. Apologies to Prince. Alex Bardo, the protagonist of Your Emoticons Won’t Save You, is DJing tonight.

4 1/2 years after publication of One City, My 2nd book is out today. The print copies are amazingly gorgeous. Thanks to Nieto Books for the amazing production and Douglas Einar Olsen for the lovely illustrations. Readers are already starting to say very kind things about Your Emoticons Won’t Save You. The most rewarding part of being a writer is when people you care about take the time to read your work, and I am sincerely grateful for everyone who has checked out my work.

You can get one, signed sealed and delivered to you here. Or at the release party Tonight (January 19, 2012, 7-10pm, 237 Lafayette 10th Floor, NYC – the reading will happen around 8:15), rsvp to info@ethannichtern.com. To make you have a book waiting for you at the party you can, pre-order here. You can also get a book at any upcoming event.

The book is also available, of course, as an Ebook.

Independent Book Publishing requires lots of grassroots support!  If you’d like to help us spread the word about the new book, here are a few suggestions as to how you can.

Briefly, in other news, it looks like the Shambhala Training retreat I’m coteaching this weekend in NYC with David Nichtern is full and only accepting waitlist registrations. However, the Friday night talk is open to the public. Maybe I’ll see you in the coming weeks in Washington, DC or the San Francisco Bay Area.

OK, I hope to celebrate with you, and to hearing what you think of the new book.

Otherwise, see you soon, in person, or in cyberspace.

Gratefully,

Ethan Nichtern, Shastri
Connect On The Web:
http://www.ethannichtern.com
http://www.twitter.com/ethannichtern
http://www.facebook.com/ethannichtern
BOOKS:
Your Emoticons Won’t Save You: http://amzn.to/yoHHqZ
One City: http://amzn.to/oAoOth

A Wary Invitation To My Future Child

Click Here to Pre-order Your Emoticons Won’t Save You, and to download a free preview poem from the new book called “A Wary Invitation to My Future Child.”

Being Busy in 2012 – Two Simple Tricks To Not To Get Overwhelmed

I’m not sure about you, but I have a lot going on. I always have to preface talking about feeling busy by stating that most people I know feel like they have a lot going on, especially in the major cities of America. It is no badge of honor, no mark of worth. I also don’t have a family or children, which adds a whole level of “busy” to one’s life, a realm of responsibility I only know about tangentially.

Still, the first few months of my 2012 look extremely “busy.”

-My new book is coming out, and somehow I’m more proud of it than my first one, as well as much busier preparing for its release. I’m teaching, in multiple cities on both coasts, including what we believe to be the first ever weekend of a Shambhala Training meditation retreat co-directed by a father and son. I’m working with Buddhist students, trying to stay up-to-date with friends, trying to keep the plants in my apartment from dying during my frequent absences, trying to take all the dietary advice my acupuncturist gives, trying to do my tiny personal part to help nonviolence and generosity overtake aggression and greed this century and most importantly…Trying to find two hours a day for my meditation and yoga practices.

I’m sure you have your own list of current activities. I’m sure it feels partially like a prideful resume and partially like a list of charges presented against you in a court of law. I’m sure that reviewing your to-do list sometimes provokes feeling overwhelmed. Read the rest of this entry »

Hope, 2012 Edition

I’ve been thinking a lot recently about optimism vs. pessimism. Embedded in this conversation is the question of “Hope.” In the Shambhala teachings, hope is a dangerous notion, because it contains the possibility of fixation on the future that is really nothing more than an unaddressed mirror image of fear. Some of us feel a bit down on the word hope itself these days, as it oscillates between naivete and cliché in our minds. Read the rest of this entry »

Your Emoticons Won’t Save You!

Click to Order a personally signed, highly limited edition print copy of Ethan’s new book and to download a free preview poem from the new book called “A Wary Invitation to My Future Child.”

The book is also available, of course, as an Ebook.

Independent Book Publishing requires lots of grassroots support!  If you’d like to help us spread the word about the new book, here are a few suggestions as to how you can.

Join us for the release party in NYC on Thursday January 19, 7-10pm. 237 Lafayette, 10th Floor, NY NY – rsvp to info@ethannichtern.com! if you plan on attended.

About the Book (A short novel with poetry):

Alex Bardo is witty, heartbroken, and lost. Going on 21, he is more interested in being the CEO of the Wannabe Poet’s Brigade than in his expensive education. Trying to find his way in the world after a debaucherous and painful summer of 1998 with his hyper-intellectual, trés annoying best friend Gabe, he sets out on a road trip to their childhood summer camp. Grabbing shotgun for the trip are his old camp friends, now all grown-up (sort of): Gideon the Player, Anthony the Traveling Man, and Lucas the Patron of Playtime. Alex is a true seeker and only a partial f-ck up: seeking spiritual aspirin to treat his perpetual hangover, seeking love, and seeking a mystical place called the “real world.”

Early Praise:

“A charming  coming-to-maturity romp in the post-modern highly peopled American landscape, engaging the endlessly inter-connected relationships and talk. A very human endeavor.”
-Anne Waldman, Author, Poet

“Your Emoticons Won’t Save You is provocative, compelling, and somehow both timeless and totally right now. Let Ethan take you on this journey within and without.”
- Sharon Salzberg, NY Times Bestselling Author

“Student, teacher, author, activist, and now poet–Ethan is changing the world one seed syllable at a time. He shares his path through this new work in a way that helps us locate our own.”
-Susan Piver, NY Times Bestselling Author

Praise for Ethan’s Writing:

“Nichtern writes passionately and innovatively…His toolbox is deep and original…and his voice is resonant and refreshing.”
—Courtney E. Martin, The American Prospect

Upcoming Events With Ethan Nichtern

Order A Signed Copy of Your Emoticons Won’t Save You, Or Download the E-Book!

The New Book is Out!

Order a Personally Signed Copy to Be Delivered to You Below!

Get the Ebook For Kindle
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Pay to: Ethan Nichtern
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Thanks for supporting this work!

Download “A Wary Invitation To My Future Child” as a free preview for the book!

Download “Alex Bardo’s Party – The Rules” as a free preview for the book and release party on January 19 in NYC (237 Lafayette, 7pm)!

Thanks so much for supporting this work. By ordering directly from here, a MUCH higher percentage of your money goes to support the author directly.

Print Copies of this book are currently available signed through Ethan’s events or this website, but all E-book versions are available.

Is Public Meditation an Act of Aggression?

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I was moved to read this story about Pancho Ramos Stierle, the meditator arrested at Occupy Oakland, who also faced the possibility of deportation after his arrest. This picture of him and a friend being arrested went viral:

Pancho was also recently interviewed on Democracy Now. This whole story made me wonder about the efficacy of public demonstrations of mindfulness. Is it a good way to practice? Is it effective? Is it indulgent? Is it aggressive?

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