Michelleanne Bradley is a practicing Pagan and Buddhist in the San Diego area. She was ordained into the Order of Interbeing by Thich Nhat Hanh in 2013. She completed two years of facilitator training with Against the Stream Buddhist Meditation Society, and has completed a Year to Live practice. She founded the Luminous Garden Sangha, and is a facilitator with Los Palomitas de Paz Sangha. Michelleanne’s focus in practice has been on the role of women in Buddhism (and really, everywhere).Michelleanne is a feminist, and writer, and consultant who says fuck a lot.
Right Now it is Like This
By Michelleanne Bradley These are the signs that I am avoiding “things” in my life. I get really snappy with people, I start binge watching stories on television (not news, but series) and I want to spend way more time in bed than usual. I will set up any kind...
Grief, Love and Loss: Practicing A Year to Live {Part 3}
By Michelleanne Bradley We are of a nature to grow old; we cannot escape old age. We are of a nature to get sick; we cannot escape sickness. We are of a nature to die; we cannot escape death. All that is dear to us and everyone we love are of the nature to...
Grief, Love and Loss: Shit Got Real {Part 2}
By Michelleanne Bradley See Part 1 here The next few days were surreal. I remember watching the setting sun that first night---beautiful blazes of orange-red through the hazy clouds and brilliant blues that look so different than where I live in California. I...
Grief, Loss and Practice {Part 1}
By Michelleanne Bradley I have found my family to be rich with opportunities for Buddhist practice; lots of equanimity, compassion, mercy, grace, and so many other micro and macro-opportunities. No one provided quite as much gooey stuff for practice as...
The Mustard Seed and Grief
By Michelleanne Bradly There are many versions of this story. This is the true version. In the time of the Buddha there was a woman named Kisa Gotami. Some say that she was from a poor family, some that she was from a rich family. Some say that she...
The Buddha’s Story Includes Women
By Michelleanne Bradley I have been revisiting the story of Siddhartha Gautama’s enlightenment, because I love the story. I do call Siddhartha’s enlightenment a story because there are so many versions, none of them were recorded for social media, and we know...
28 Days of Meditation: A Returning Beginner (A Body Scan Meditation)
By Michellanne Bradley I am a returning beginner at meditation. I really have had a long history of a meditation practice, but every once in a while, I get stuck in my own head and it makes it hard for me to get on the proverbial cushion. I am restarting today....
Sacred Little Altars Everywhere: A Wooden Stool, a Cat Blanket & Reminders of Moments That Shaped Who I am Becoming
By Shae Davidson A few items make up my altar: a broad, stout wooden stool, an altar cloth, a pine cone resting in a wooden bowl, and a beautifully carved statue of Budai given to me by my partner. Except for Budai all of the items have...
Sacred Little Altars Everywhere: Cringe Worthy to a Minimalist but Deeply Personal
By Michelleanne Bradley At the center is a framed depiction of Avalokitesvara.There are also two porcelain statues of her on the altar, from the shop of a dear friend. The feather piece on the right is from Mexico, and is representative of the earth...
I’m Back…with an Undefended Heart (or Striving to Be)
By Michelleanne Bradley And I’m back.I took a break. I had a lot going on, and I needed to get back to where I feel more like life looks like “chop wood, carry water” than running for the eye of the hurricane. I am not 100 percent back to level, but I can...
I am of the Nature to Have Ill Health: The Buddha’s Five Remembrances {Part 2}
By Michelleanne Bradley The second of the Buddha's Five Remembrances: I am of the nature to have ill health. There is no way to escape ill health. My habit nature, my shadow side, is to retreat into myself. I have been struggling with...
I am of the Nature to Grow Old: The Buddha’s Five Remembrances {Part 1}
By Michelleanne Bradley The first of the Buddha's Five Remembrances: I am of the nature to grow old. There is no way to escape growing old. I am currently 48 years old. I am also all of the ages I have been before now. I am a beginning...
Practicing While Female
By Michelleanne Bradley I have been off of my practice for a little while.I do not mean that I have not been practicing; I have been practicing with a fierceness and concentration that is impressive, especially for me. I mean that I have not known until I...
3 Big Reasons Why it is a Bad Idea to do Drugs While on Retreat
By Michelleanne Bradley I have been a Buddhist practitioner for more than a few minutes. It’s been a long windy journey. When I was in my early 30s, I was divorced, and going through some spiritual searching. I had been raised...
Sitting with a Dying Friend
By Michellanne Bradley We are of a nature to die. I have done "A Year to Live" practice, but I still do not know how I would present with a terminal diagnosis. If I had the time to prepare to die, what that would look like? I have a...