Your welfare and my welfare are undeniably interlinked.How we treat ourselves and how we treat our world are one and the same. Despite a cognitive understanding of interconnection, the mind of separation can draw...
The past few weeks I’ve been making fun of people who are buying up all the toilet paper. Hoarders, I thought to myself smugly, remembering the Buddha’s teachings on the dangers of greed. “We...
What a perfect time to gain insight into the Buddha’s teachings on the Three Characteristics of Life: suffering, impermanence, and no-self. He summarized their importance in one classic statement; “Nothing is above the Great Elements,...
Every morning in Zen temples around the world, the names of the ancestors are chanted, honoring the lineage that has kept Buddhist teachings alive for 2,600 years. One morning, I was surprised to hear...
Have you ever experienced an emotion—fear or anger for example– but did not realize it until much later? It is not uncommon to live for periods of our lives unable or unwilling to acknowledge...
A poet friend entered a contest to write a poem related to a particular image. The image was of a packet of mail cradled in a tree limb. She chose to write about the...
You know that saying, be careful what you ask for? Once on retreat, I was feeling complacent in my practice. Meditation was fairly steady and peaceful and insights were flowing, but I felt too...
The meditation master Ajahn Chah would often begin his Dharma teachings by addressing the listeners as “my brothers and sisters in ageing, ill-health, and death.” Take a moment to notice how reading that impacts...
Last year my family adopted a rescue dog, Bamboo , who has since wreaked havoc on my morning meditation practice. And in some ways my meditation is better than it’s ever been. I am...
I feel more comfortable around people with flaws. I myself am made entirely of flaws, stitched together with good intentions. – Augusten Burroughs. Maybe you know that starfish story? On the morning after a...
