New Students

I live and teach in San Francisco in a well sheltered park which is an old stone quarry.  For the whole summer there have been three large crows hanging out in the park every morning.

About two weeks ago two peregrine falcons showed up in the park and have been make a sport of dive-bombing the crows.  The crows squawk and shift around but they don't seem to have been injured.

One day while I was standing still a squirrel jumped over my foot as an escape route from one of the falcons.  Another morning I was standing still on one foot with my arms up and both falcons swooped me head on, I had to pull my arms back suddenly.

Today the crows were fighting back.  Wherever the falcons landed the crows would perch next to them and squawk.  The falcons were screaming back at them.  Quite a lot can happen during meditation.

The predator, whether falcon, cat, or bear, is so naturally aggressive that its aggression is totally effortless.  This is the quality we are trying to emulate.