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 […]

Practice Kindness

One of the many things that you can do for your happiness and the happiness of others is to practice kindness. Kindness has the capacity to spread like wildfire. If you are kind to the grocery clerk who checked you out, he or she will be kind to the rest of the people she serves […]

Include All Things

The insight of interbeing tells us to include all things. This inclusiveness pertains to people, animals, plants and minerals all the way down to the smallest atom (hydrogen) and all the up beyond the visible universe. But this is not a new idea as many think. For example, in my interview with Neil deGrasse Tyson […]

How to Practice Inclusiveness

Today’s lesson is on how to practice inclusiveness is also from the 21-day Happiness Challenge from Luminita Saviuc, also known as the Purpose Ferry. Our world today is filled with different groups, religions, races, people with a different sexual orientation, and many other categories that keep us separate. When we practice inclusiveness, we allow others […]

Worthiness

These words of wisdom today come from Thomas Merton, an American Catholic writer, mystic, and friend of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh. I have heard Thich Nhat Hanh, known as Thay by his followers, speak about Thomas Merton many times in recent years. The subject of worthiness comes up everyday in the life of followers […]

5 Reasons Why Mindfulness Will Change The World

This article, which first appeared on the Huffington Post, mentions 5 reasons why mindfulness will change the world in the 2014. It appeared on January 2 as Why 2014 Will Be The Year Of Mindful Living, and this is the first time I have had to review it. Before I go into the 5 reasons […]

Let My Heart Fly Open

Welcome to 2014. May this be the year that all your dreams come true. To begin the New Year with the right mindset, I’d like to offer the following metta practice. Metta is the Pali word for loving kindness. Loving kindness, in turn, is one of the Four Immeasurable Minds taught by the Buddha. The […]

Compassion With Thich Nhat Hanh

When Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh was in the Bay Area, he appeared at The Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education (CCARE) at Stanford University with Dr. James Doty on October 24, 2013. Dr. Doty engaged in a conversation on compassion with Thich Nhat Hanh, known as Thay by his followers. They talked […]

In Praise Of Mother Earth

This poem came to me by email from the monks and nuns at the Deer Park Monastery of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh in honor of Earth Day. IN PRAISE OF MOTHER EARTH (written by Thay, Thich Nhat Hanh)   Homage to you Refreshing Earth Bodhisattva Mother of this world with its many species. We want […]

Lincoln And Enlightened Leadership

This week’s Words of Wisdom chosen by Lama Surya Das is about the movie, Lincoln. The movie stars Daniel Day-Lewis, Sally Field, Jackie Earle Haley, Tommy Lee Jones, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt and was directed by Steven Spielberg. I’ve heard that Sally Field gained a lot of weight to play the part of Mrs. Lincoln. Lincoln’s struggle to […]