The Roots of Discouragement

Progress in meditation may be slower than we anticipate. Discouragement develops when the comparing mind holds unrealistic expectations, demands perfection, and craves for measurable progress, predictable results, or signposts of success. This obstacle of...

One or other generation will inevitably be the last humans on earth, and despite our resistance to contemplating such a scenario, there is no reason that couldn’t be us. We might naturally hope for...

We want to be good. It’s a natural impulse. Toddlers have it. You can see it when they spontaneously share or rush to comfort someone hurt. We can lose touch with this natural disposition....

Everything we do, say, or think is born out of intention. Behind every action, even something as small as thought, is a motivation. There is intention in the hands-on actions of eating something or...

Walking down the high street today I saw an advertisement for happiness. It claimed that happiness is a new pair of shoes. I don’t know about you, but reading that made me stop in...

Many of us find our way to the spiritual path due to experiencing dissatisfaction in our life. Maybe there is long-lasting or severe physical pain and it’s associated hopelessness and frustration. Perhaps life itself...

What is the body, really? Despite living in our body for many years, we may know very little about it from a Dharma perspective. Through Dharma practice, we can learn to see the body...

The 8th Century Indian Buddhist philosopher and monk Shantideva once wrote, “All the joy the world contains has come through wishing happiness for others. All the suffering this world contains has come through wanting...

I’m writing this from a remote Indigenous community along the pacific coast of Canada, where I’ve been invited to do some therapeutic work with the first people of this area. It’s a place of...

I live in the lush, dense, dark, temperate rainforest of Western North Carolina. In the spring and summer, when the mountains explode with the green of trees, ferns, herbs, fungus and flowers, my husband...