“People travel to wonder at the height of mountains, at the huge waves of the sea, at the long courses of rivers, at the vast compass of the ocean, at the circular motion of the stars; and they pass by themselves without wondering.“ – St Augustine

Honoring Thich Nhat Hanh: Wendy Johnson – Upaya Zen Center.

The Great Heart Way | November 18, 2014 If we learn to keep our mind quiet through meditation, to just stay present with our feelings, to connect with our heart, to let go of the story lines, and to directly feel all the unpleasant sensations associated with our emotional hurts, then the heart will open […]

Apply Yourself | November 17, 2014 If you separate from . . . everything you have done in the past, everything that disturbs you about the future . . . and apply yourself to living the life that you are living—that is to say, the present—you can live all the time that remains to you […]

What Was Mindfulness? | November 15, 2014 When the studies on mindfulness started rolling in a few years ago, it was good news for those of us who had been practicing Buddhist meditation for years. . . . But in the midst of all this there was a question few of us ever thought to […]

The Two Extremes | November 12, 2014 These are the two extremes, O bhikshus (Religious Wanderers) which the man who has given up the world ought not to follow—the habitual practice, on the one hand, of self-indulgence which is unworthy, vain and fit only for the worldly-minded—and the habitual practice, on the other hand, of […]

Premature Equanimity | November 11, 2014 Western Buddhists are very suspicious of attachment. They feel they need to be detached . . . so donÂ’t get upset about racism, or injustice, or the poison in the rivers, because that means youÂ’re too attached. I think one of the problems with Westernized Buddhists is premature equanimity. […]