You can tell whether something is an aspiration or a god -- whether it's an intention to work toward something or a desire to simply have it -- by the tension around it.
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Starting a new piece of writing is a fantastic opportunity to practice.
A few weeks ago I wrote about how to tackle the smushy blob of too much work. But often when you’re beginning a piece of creative writing, there is no clear path from
I've been thinking about Adam Lanza, the 20-year-old man who shot his mother in her bed, killed 20 children and six adults at an elementary school, then shot himself as police arrived at the scene.
One of the lojong, or mind-training, slogans, which seems particularly apt at this moment says: When all the world is filled with evil, transform all mishaps into the path of bodhi (awakening).
In developing mindfulness through meditation, we're advised to drop the storyline and simply be aware of what's happening in the moment.
For instance, in this moment, I'm sitting in the largely empty newsroom of a daily newspaper. It's bit chilly...
“There are beings everywhere. That is the problem” Ponlop Rinpoche said when I saw him speak a few months ago.
We mistakenly think that our experience and our comfort in each moment are more important than that of others. At times I notice that I am...
“…feelings like disappointment, embarrassment, irritation, resentment, anger, jealousy, and fear, instead of being bad news, are actually very clear moments that teach us where it is that we’re holding back. They teach us to perk up and lean in...
After about five years of meditating like my life depended on it, I hit a wall. For the past two months, getting my butt on the cushion has been a struggle and a constant internal negotiation process. Summer felt good. Life felt good. Samsara...
You’re the only one who knows when you’re opening and when you’re closing. You’re the only one who knows when you’re using things to protect yourself and keep your ego together and when you’re opening and letting things fall apart, letting the world...
To be perfectly honest, I have been an awful Buddhist, an even worse meditation teacher. Since I started working full-time, my practice has been quite bare bones. What’s worse is that I have been easily lured into hateful, angry, and insecure...
The first time I heard the term "engaged Buddhism" I was immediately turned on by the idea. My punk rock sensibilities imagined bringing Buddhism to the streets. The whole image seemed at odds with itself. This was not about sitting in a cave,...
A “friend” in modern times has a two-tiered meaning: the first being the traditional “one attached to another by affection,” the second being, “one connected via soc
Like last week, my post today is the little piece of Pema Chödrön wisdom I serendipitously opened to as a new part of my daily practice. At the beginning of this weekend especially, I very much like the notion of remembering to pause...
I’ve started a new practice. Each day I randomly open Pema Chödrön’s book Comfortable With Uncertainty and read the teaching I’ve landed upon. The book is a compilation of 108 short teachings – little reminders...
In order to feel compassion for other people, we have to feel compassion for ourselves. In particular, to care about people who are fearful, angry, jealous, overpowered by addictions of all kinds, arrogant, proud, miserly, selfish, mean, you have...
