Choosing Peace While Witnessing War
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Uncovering Our Buddha Nature
The Buddha grew up in relative luxury for the time and the conditions of the city-state in which he was raised as a prince. In his teens he began to exhibit a restlessness not uncommon to people at that age. He wanted to know more than he could see within the … Read the rest
Is Where We Are
The good news is, you’re already here. The trick is to remember that.
And to recognize that.
And to experience that here, now.
It’s easy. Maybe too easy? We seem to want dramatic solutions to dramatic problems. We take classes in cognitive awareness, feel crystals, and throw the I Ching. The … Read the rest
FACING THE DANGER
We all feel it. Some of us live with it all the time. That live-wire sense of urgency seems to compel us to do … something. Anything. The intensity with which it hits seems to urge action.
Anxiety is, if nothing else, uncomfortable.
We sometimes gird for the danger locked in straight … Read the rest
Struggling Through the Hangover of Delusion
There was a song by Neil Sedaka in the 60’s called “Breaking Up is Hard to Do”. Many of us have been there. It is hard to let go of someone to whom we’ve grown attached. First we try to let them go, only to find the part … Read the rest
Gratitude Without Demand
Good morning.
I’m writing this on a spectacular morning at the dawn of winter. The sky is blue, a few white clouds drifting by, and the weather is gentle for the week before Thanksgiving. It reminded me that Trungpa Rinpoche used to begin many of his talks, no matter the hour, … Read the rest
Turning Loneliness Toward Aloneness
Everybody wants to belong. That drive, a primal self-defense embedded deep in our psychology, is so strong that when we don’t belong to something it feels empty and frightening. We often interpret that as a failing on our part. Hence, for some of us, being alone is torturous. I would … Read the rest
Building the Brain’s Neuroplasticity and Connectivity Through Meditation
After Einstein’s passing in 1955, the pathologist performing his autopsy quietly removed his brain. When researchers eventually examined it, they expected something extraordinary—more neurons, unusual size, some physical marker of genius. But by all conventional measures, Einstein’s brain was unremarkable. The one meaningful difference was the … Read the rest
Giving of ourselves doesn’t mean getting rid of ourselves for another’s sake. What can we offer if we have nothing to give? Perhaps it’s about loosening our grip so we can offer everything. And by offering everything, we lose nothing — we gain everything. It’s like opening our hands, our arms, … Read the rest
When the Universe Falls on Your Shoulders
That feeling of overwhelm — when everything seems to reach critical mass — is unsettling. Yet it can also be an invitation: a chance to practice mindfulness within crisis, not apart from it.
Often, what we call a “crisis” is simply too many things happening at once for … Read the rest
The Power of Love to Heal a Broken World.
If we’re unhappy with who we are, how we are, or the world we live in, we must first see our situation clearly before anything can change. The first step is recognition—knowing what’s happening and seeing that whatever arises externally in the world is echoed within … Read the rest