Why I am Unorthodox

“Why I am unorthodox [Jewish],” you may wonder. After all these years as a Buddhist practitioner, I may have finally figured it out for myself! We recently watched a wonderful mini-series on Netflix called “Unorthodox,” and it is an amazing story. In the series, a young woman

American JuBu

In the current issue (Spring 2020) of Tricycle Magazine, there is a review article about Emily Sigalow’s new book, “American JewBu: Jews, Buddhists, and Religious Change.” I was deeply moved by this review to the extent of making a comment. Here is what I wrote: I was brought up in a conservative kosher home in […]

Gratitude Prompts

In all of my teachings and learnings, one of the most important in my current life has been the practice of gratitude. Every night for so many years I have been recognizing at least three things I am grateful for each day. More often than not, there are many more than three things. For example, […]

“The Happiest Man in the World”

Last Thursday night, my wife and I attended a fund raising event for the American Himalayan Foundation with guest speaker, Matthieu Ricard, “The happiest man in the world!” Matthieu Ricard has a PhD in biochemistry and became a monk in the Tibetan tradition shortly after receiving it. He is also a humanitarian, advocating altruism and […]

Taking Care of Anger

At a recent meeting of our Mindfulness In Healing sangha (meditation group) we discussed the Mindfulness Training #6, Taking Care of Anger. This training reads, Aware that anger blocks communication and creates suffering, we are committed to taking care of the energy of anger when it arises, recognizing and transforming the seeds of anger that […]

Only YOU Can Prevent World War III

As we begin the new year, I want to remind the world that only YOU can prevent World War III. I say this because most of the world is fast asleep when it comes to issues like climate change, poverty, homelessness, inequality, racism and discrimination of all kinds. The US isn’t the only place were […]

Why I Don’t Want to be Called an Ally

by Sister Mai Ally From the moment i first heard the word, i got allergic to it…an ally allergy. Why? Well, the first thing is that in my french brain, “les alliés”, as we call them, are the good Americans and British soldiers coming to save us from the evil Germans. Word of war, violence, […]

A Wonderful Welcome Home

This video presents a wonderful welcome home for Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh. He returned to his home temple of … on … and was greeted by thousands of followers.

More Buddhist Jokes

Some weeks ago, I posted seven Buddhist Jokes That Will Brighten Your Day and today I’m posting six more Buddhist jokes. I am also reminding you about the special offer of a PDF of my new book, Mindfulness Breaks: Your Path to Awakening for only $9.97! 8. How many Zen Buddhists does it take to […]

Gratitude as a Path to Happiness

In April, 2017 Mrs. Kudo gave a talk at the San Francisco Konko Church about gratitude as a path to happiness and cancer recovery. She had been diagnosed with cancer in 2008. Here treatment was very severe and she lost her hair. With each hair that came out of her head she offered gratitude. She […]