About
Who we are
This site is an offering from Myoshin, supported by the generosity of others. Living a life committed to the path of awakening, she has benefited profoundly from a number of Buddhist teachers. It is her desire to continue this tradition of sharing. This space of reflective inquiry and discovery is meant for anyone doing their best and inquiring into their own mind to discover and free themselves from that which is binding.
The aim of this site is not to provide definitive answers, but to gently encourage you to explore and uncover your own inner wisdom. Myoshin shares insights from her personal journey through video teachings and guided meditations, hoping to spark something meaningful for you.
Her approach to meditation emphasizes that it is a flexible and personal path which unfolds in people’s lives, rather than a rigid, linear framework. For those who may find conventional meditation teachings unapproachable, Myoshin offers a perspective that is very much rooted in being a householder in the modern day world. She also seems to speak especially well to those who feel at home in a less conceptual mode, feeling their way through life, rather than relying on quick intellectual thinking.
Join Myoshin on this journey as she shares reflections and practices that invite you to explore and nurture your own path.
Welcome to This Meditative Life with Myoshin Kelley.
THE FOUNDER
About Myoshin Kelley
I was born a highly sensitive person in a world that I perceived as insensitive. Although this is a recipe for suffering, and there was plenty of that, there were a few favorable aspects from early on. From a young age, I was naturally contemplative and found refuge and strength in being in nature. Nature was to become what I consider my first spiritual teacher. Still, there were the challenges of living in a world where the way I experienced things seemed so different from others' experience. This often left me confused and doubting myself.
The next stroke of good fortune was coming in contact with meditation at 16 in a school physical education class. For one session they brought in a yoga teacher, and at the end, she led a one-minute meditation. I went home that day and began what was to become a lifelong journey of exploring meditation. It was a way I could explore all the resistance I had to life and the sea of emotions that so often threw me about, a way I could find some ease and make a friend of my own mind.
There have been many twists and turns along the way. I ended up finding myself most at home in the Buddhist world, as it is based in self-discovery, so I could come to know what seems true for myself. In the beginning, I had very little understanding of the philosophy behind the teachings I heard. Yet, I did resonate enough to be willing to try the practices. I feared if I studied, it would influence the outcome, like setting up an experiment that will give you the outcome you expect. I preferred to let life be a wide open canvas and to apply the practice and see for myself what would happen.
Then at a certain point, I thought, “What did the Buddha say?”. I have since so loved the vast array of teachings and practices to speak to the multitude of types of beings out there. For me, I often seem to need a layer of translation to find my way in a tradition that has so clearly been steeped in other cultures and largely articulated by men.
I was fortunate to have a number of excellent teachers along the way from different traditions within Buddhism. Some of these included Chanmyay Sayadaw, Sayadaw U Pandita, and Sayadaw U Tejaniya, teachers in Myanmar, and a lighthearted Zen teacher named Hogen Yamahata. It never felt like I was looking for new teachers; rather, they kept appearing.
In 1994 I was asked to train as a teacher at a well-established retreat center in Barre, MA, USA called the Insight Meditation Society. I had the good fortune to train with two of the founding teachers, Joseph Goldstein and Sharon Salzberg. Retreats had been so instrumental in my own unfolding and were supportive for me as a highly sensitive being, so it was a great honor to learn how to share this with others. After seven years, I was asked to be the inaugural teacher-in-residence for a new long-term retreat center opening up, called the Forest Refuge. I somehow found myself in a dream life helping to support others on their journey and living and working in a way that supported my own practice.
That was until Mingyur Rinpoche came along and turned my world upside down. His teachings helped me to keep opening new doorways in my mind. The way he taught was so direct and clear with a light-hearted humor mixed in. I was deeply moved by the breadth and depth of his vision to want to help all beings from all kinds of backgrounds who are suffering to discover these practices and find benefits. I couldn’t help but want to support him in this work. This left me moving to Minneapolis, Minnesota in 2010 to help to establish his work in the West through Tergar.
Even though I was leaving my dream job and stepping into the unknown, it was what my heart felt called to do. Oh, and I don’t think I have shared that I am on this path with my husband, Edwin. Our good fortune is that we keep finding our paths woven together, so this was a shift we both made.
In my new role as one of the Tergar instructors, for some reason I was the one flung out into the far corners of the world to teach. I think that was partly because the other instructors had responsibilities that wouldn’t allow them to do so. I found myself offering programs primarily in Europe, Russia, Brazil, and Canada. I used to call the airline “Delta” my second home.
Wonderful and exciting as this was, again it was a stretch for a sensitive introvert. I took it on to make my practice “being at home wherever I was”. This included airports, planes, subways in countries where no one spoke a language I could understand, and wherever I would find myself. People attending programs made this easier, as I felt like I was invited into people's hearts and able to witness transformation in their lives.
During this time I also had responsibilities putting together a training program for new Tergar group leaders and facilitators, as well as helping to shepherd the communities sprouting up and hungry for Mingyur Rinpoche’s teachings. Life continued at more than a full pace for the next ten years.
Now as I enter into a new phase in life and have let go of all my administrative work, I find myself both wanting to continue my own learning as well as doing what I so love in helping support others in their unfolding. I am grateful that Mingyur Rinpoche has encouraged me at this time to continue supporting others in whatever ways I can.
To a troubled world, I aspire to bring more love, compassion and clarity. This website is offered through the generosity of others to help bring this into being!
Influences
Our lives are a tapestry of the influences that have touched us. Some of the influences of my life are:
Nature - was my first teacher. Amongst many things, I learned from nature; the equanimity of a mountain amidst the truth of suffering, and that impermanence is a fact of life. I have seen that the earth can hold all my tears and leave me feeling a part of all life. When I look to the vastness of the sky, and become a speck of stardust, the weight of the world drops from my shoulders.
Mingyur Rinpoche is a Tibetan teacher who is steeped in both practice and study. From a young age he has carried a vision to bring these ancient teachings into the modern day world. He reinforces the potential of a human life, walking so lightly, as he carries tremendous responsibilities. There are no words to express my gratitude to him.
Joseph Goldstein and Sharon Salzberg are two of the founding teachers of the Insight Meditation Society (IMS), one of the first retreat centers in the US. They have been pioneers in Buddhism coming to the west. Joseph had more faith in me than I had in myself and kept me going through the training process of learning to teach meditation. Sharon helped me to see that every being at a program was important and that our job is to help people rediscover their beauty.
Sayadaw U Tejaniya, the abbot of Shwe oo Min monastery in Myanmar, reaffirmed the importance of practicing not just on the cushion but throughout the day. When people interviewed with him, he had a wonderful sign that he would flip over if they were waffling around in their practice. It said, “Just do it!”
Daw In Ye Tee was the abbess of the nunnery I stayed at in Saigain Hills, Myanmar, when I practiced as a nun for a short period of time. She was a role model as a woman monastic in a position of power. She walked so lightly and joyfully, lighting up any room she walked into. I always thought she would give me the clothes off her back if I needed them. Her generosity and kindness were balm in a challenging time.
Chanmyay Sayadaw, the abbot of Chanmyay Yektha in Myanmar, taught me about the nuts and bolts of meditation and the teachings of the Buddha from the early Buddhists. I was fortunate to spend several months with him in intensive retreat over a period of years. The clarity of his instruction was instrumental for me in understanding the causes of suffering and the path to freedom from suffering.
Hogen San was a Zen master from Japan who frequented Australia and eventually set up a center here. He used his Zen stick to help me see the habit of unenlightenment as he playfully pointed out any intellectual understanding being misrepresented as embodied wisdom. Walking through daily life with him, he would use any opportunity as a teaching moment and I never knew what would come next!
Daily Life with Edwin: just being human beings and trying to do the best we can as we share this journey of life! We have had many different chapters together, ups and downs, twists and turns and still we love and grow together.
To all my teachers, I bow in gratitude.