I'm looking forward to the new class series that begins at the Interdependence Project, as well as an online course, tonight. I really enjoy talking about the tantric path in particular, primarily because it contains practices and...
"Preserving the biodiversity and the ecosystems of our region should be like the effortless practice of dharma for us. Our basic motivation to protect the environment should come from the pure desire to benefit all sentient beings on earth since...
Membership month at IDP is winding down -- although, really, you can join at any time during the year -- so I wanted to take advantage of the space that I get on the blog every week to share why I'm a member and encourage you to join up.
"Peace is an internal process that begins with our own heart and hands in the way we touch other and interact with the community around us." -- Urban Zen website
"Sometimes I think I'm a real Buddhist follower or a real Buddhist student, because I was born in a Buddhist family and raised in a Buddhist environment, in a monastery. ... But if you really think carefully about it and discover, 'Oh, maybe...
One of my favorite embodied memories is of holding my son in the days after his birth, his legs still drawn up, his bottom cupped in one of my hands and my other hand resting on his back as his head snuggled at the space where my neck and shoulder...
When things are going well it’s easy for me to extend loving-kindness to friends and “enemies” alike. Simply defined, loving-kindness is a sincere wish for another person or group of people to be happy..recognizing that all beings share the same...
Two weeks ago I wrote a post about Dharma Art, the practice of making art from a clear and vibrant mind, that may or may not reflect Buddhist concepts or experience.
I spend a lot of time thinking about what people need from each other in order to feel connected, cohesive, and resilient. Buddhism, historically, has not taken a developmental view of how we reach a healthy baseline of functioning in work,...
Buddhist monks in Burma are accused of inciting violence against ethnic Muslims that has killed 43 people, destroyed or damaged 992 buildings, including five mosques, and displaced 12,000 people in a town of 100,000.
Ordinarily when we can't handle powerful feelings such as pain or fear we avoid them because they overwhelm us or make us feel bad. This creates a self-reinforcing cycle of anxiety and avoidance, guilt and shame. What I call Behavioral Buddhism is...
What what! Isn't sports all about passion, aggression, and achieving a goal (to defeat the other team)?
Not just. How about equanimity -- holding your (metaphorical) center in the most chaotic environment imaginable?
Recently my partner and fiancee of five years told me that he’d met someone else and was therefore ending our relationship. This was a complete shock to me as there’d been no signs of discord or discontent as far as I could tell, and while I may...
We all have people in our lives who have profoundly harmed us. Sometimes the situation with the other person has changed. You may have forgiven them and they may even have taken ownership and expressed remorse for their harmful actions. Other times...
In the class I am co-teaching with Ethan Nichtern and Miles Neale on Buddhism and Psychology: Spiritual Awakening NOT Spiritual Bypassing at the Interdependence Project, there has been a good deal of discussion — and...
THE NOW - It Shows Up Uninvited
But don't worry, we can shield ourselves from "The Now" by watching Channel 4 news! Or at least that's what is implied by this ad.
Caroline Brett conducts a detailed inquiry into how practitioners of Vajrayana, Zen, and Hindu Tantra natively distinguish between mystical and psychotic states.
Last week was not so much fun, let me put it that way. In case you’re just tuning in now, I was struggling a great deal trying to figure out whether or not to take my Buddhist refuge vow this past weekend. Since the vow was taking place right...
In this post, "Maladjusted Buddhism," on Patheos.com, blogger Nathan Thompson argues that Westerners who have converted to Buddhism are too tied to psychology and its focus on bringing everything toward a norm. Psychology, he says, works with...
Memories are foundational for our sense of self. This is particularly true for early childhood memories (which the scientists tell us are the most unreliable of all).
