A bowler hat. Baggy pants. A comedic mustache. What’s the first thing that comes to mind? For most people, it’s the comic visionary Charlie Chaplin. And although he entertained early movie goers in silence… it was his words of wisdom that had the power to inspire. His iconic speech in the movie “The Dictator” is […]
Bells of Mindfulness
April 22, 2014 by
Today is Earth Day, and there is no one I know who is more committed to save Mother Earth than Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh. He uses the bells of mindfulness to try to wake us up and look deeply at the condition of Mother Earth. In recent years, we have had many mindfulness bells, […]
No Parachute
April 21, 2014 by Leave a Comment
The bad news is you’re falling through the air, nothing to hang on to, no parachute. The good news is there’s no ground. – Trungpa Rinpoche
Clouds Do Not Change The Sky
April 21, 2014 by
Lama Tsultrim Allione is one of the many Tibetan Buddhist teachers that I read regularly in Tricycle, Shambhala Sun, and Buddhadharma magazines. Her writings are as clear and easy to understand as the cloudless sky. According to the Tara Mandala website, she was one of the first American women to be ordained as a Tibetan […]
Embrace Everything With Clarity
April 20, 2014 by
Stephen Batchelor is a former Buddhist monk who wrote a book that I frequently return to. Actually, it is the book on tape called Buddhism Without Beliefs: A Contemporary Guide to Awakening that I love. It is narrated by Stephen Batchelor, himself. The book tries to present Buddhism in modern terms, with all the mysticism, […]
The End Of Suffering
April 19, 2014 by
As we move towards Easter Sunday, we witness the blossoming of spring and the warmer days of summer approaching. We prepare to celebrate Earth Day on April 22. We bring our love and compassion to Mother Earth and pray for the end of suffering. Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh puts is so beautifully in this […]
Giving Up Addictions
April 18, 2014 by
These words of wisdom from Pema Chodron came from the Tricycle Daily Dharma on April 15. Pema is the director of Gampo Abbey – one of the few Buddhist centers in North America that maintain the traditional monastic precepts. Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh calls these the Five Mindfulness Trainings, which his has revived from […]
Commit to Love
April 17, 2014 by Leave a Comment
Commit to Love | April 17, 2014 To commit to love is fundamentally to commit to a life beyond dualism. That’s why love is so sacred in a culture of domination, because it simply begins to erode your dualisms: dualisms of black and white, male and female, right and wrong. —bell hooks, “Agent of Change” […]
Zen Practice
April 16, 2014 by
Peter Matthiessen is famous for his book, The Snow Leopard. He passed away on April 5, 2014 at the age of 81. It turns out the Matthiessen was a Zen Buddhist. I did not know this until these words of wisdom came in an email. Zen is really just a reminder to stay alive and […]
Awareness Is A Life-and-Death Matter
April 15, 2014 by
These words of wisdom come from my teacher, Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh. We call him Thay, meaning beloved teacher. This teaching is important because in everything we think, say, or do, awareness is a life-and-death matter. When I had breakfast with Thay in 2006, I witnessed the way he would grasp his bowl with […]
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