Mary Oliver wrote this poem about when life is over. This poem arrived yesterday from Zen Master Cheri Huber in her daily Peace Quote email. When it’s over, I want to say: All my life I was a bride married to amazement. I was the bridegroom, taking the world into my arms – Mary Oliver […]
A Precious Human Life
Here are two nice verses on a precious human life. The first one is from the Dalai Lama. A Precious Human Life Every day, think as you wake up: “Today I am fortunate to have woken up. I am alive, I have a precious human life. I am not going to waste it. I am […]
The Great Bell Chant
This video of the Great Bell Chant featuring the voice of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh is one of the most moving videos I have ever watched. Brother Phap Niem’s lovely voice sings out through the cosmos in Vietnamese. Thay, as Thich Nhat Hanh is known by his followers, narrates his poem in English. The […]
Compassion and Empathy
Roshi Joan Halifax is one of the most prominent female Zen masters of our day. We have known each other since we met at a retreat with Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh at the University of California, Santa Barbara in 1997. This was during the summer of my first episode of muscle invasive bladder cancer. […]
Grief that Brings Us Back to Our True Home
This poem by Alice Walker appeared on Tricycle.com. She teaches us about the grief that brings us back to our true home. Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh teaches the our true home is living in the present moment. This is accompanied by the insight of interbeing, which is the interconnectedness of all things and the […]
The Better Way to Live Alone
My teacher, Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh (known affectionately by his followers as Thay – teacher) , often teaches on the better way to live alone. His teachings are based on the words of the Buddha passed down orally until they were written down. These writings are called sutras. In this article, we are going to review Sutra […]
The Basic Irrelevance of the Human Condition
Modern cosmologists have investigated our place in the universe and has found that our lives on earth are basically irrelevant. Thomas Merton recognized this long before it became a scientific fact. He wrote this in The Asian Journal of Thomas Merton, which was published in 1975. This was almost fifteen years before cosmologists even proved […]
The Brain in Love
This Ted Talk follows on the heals of my first encounter with romantic love. See The Bliss of Awakening – Adyashanti Warning, where I tell the story. Helen Fisher says, “Love is in us, it’s deeply embedded in the brain, our challenge is to understand each other.” She does fMRI research on the brain in […]
The Road is Made by Walking
Walker, your footsteps are the road, and nothing more. Walker, there is no road, the road is made by walking. Walking you make the road, and turning to look behind you see the path you never again will step upon. Walker, there is no road, only foam trails on the sea. ~ Antonio Machado […]
May I Have the Courage
These words of wisdom come from my dear friend Gabrielle Roth. She passed away on October 22, 2012 and she is sorely missed by many of my friends and me. You can read about her passing here: In Memory Of My Beloved Teacher, Gabrielle Roth. Her son, Jonathan Horan, has taken over the Five Rhythms […]
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