The Pale Blue Dot

Last night, I saw a remarkable image of the pale blue dot (planet Earth) as viewed from the Cassini spacecraft during an eclipse of the sun by Saturn. The image was shown on the California Academy of Sciences Planetarium at the Dean Lecture on astronomy by Dr. Carolyn Porco, Cassini Imaging Team Leader from Boulder, […]

Thich Nhat Hanh on Interbeing

These words of wisdom for Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh on interbeing are a classic statement about the interconnectedness of all phenomena. For example, if you think about the recent tragedy in the marine ecosystem of central Vietnam, where a massive toxic waste disposal by Formosa Steel caused the death of millions of sea animals […]

What do the Vaquita Porpoise, Jaguar and Elephant Have in Common?

What do the Vaquita porpoise, jaguar and elephant have in common? All of these animals are in immediate danger of extinction due human causes of over fishing, loss of habitat from deforestation and farming, interaction with human fishermen and farmers, and worst of all, pouching and climate change. Last Sunday, I witnessed three presentations and […]

The Declaration Of Interdependence

We, the sentient beings of the third planet (earth) from the star commonly known as the “sun”, declare that all existence is in a state of interdependence. The state of interdependence is a state of interbeing, of interconnectedness. We recognize that people, animals, plants and minerals inter-are and share a single dwelling  place on planet earth. […]

Teachings on Interbeing

The teachings on interbeing (the interconnectedness of all things) have been seen on these pages for more than four years now, and a couple of recent documentaries made these teachings very to me. One of these documentaries is The Journey of Man: A Genetic Odyssey, which traces the flow of genes and the migration of […]

The Wild New You

Martha Beck has a wonderful new course called, “The Wild New You,” which you’ll find if you click on the button below. In this class, you will learn the Four Technologies of Magic that are mentioned in the following video: Martha says in class four or the “Wild New You”, “If you want to be […]

Fourteen Verses on Meditation

These Fourteen Verses on Meditation were written by Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh and translated from Vietnamese by ChanCo, Maple Village May 2016. I want to express my gratitude to ChanCo who wrote regarding the translation, In my translation, I have considered that these verses are verses of practice so I have tried to make […]

The Importance of Sangha

Tomorrow, I’m going to the Earth Holder Retreat at the Deer Park Monastery where the importance of sangha in Buddhist practice is realized. The Practicing Pamphlet which I received clearly states, We have come to practice together as a community. We do not encourage isolated practices or solo retreats. We are part of a body […]

Empty of What?

When Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh talks about the Buddhist concept of emptiness, he always asks the question, “Empty of what?” Much of the time the answer is “Empty of a separate existence.” This means that nothing exists in isolation without interaction with everything else. If something did, we would never be able to access […]

The Insight of Interbeing

The insight of interbeing has played a major role in many of the articles on this site. The insight suggests that all conditioned things are interconnected in a web of causes and conditions that defy critical analysis. It relates to the insight that the earth and it’s inhabitants are all connected and indivisible component parts […]