Critiques of Mindfulness

I think Andrew Olendzki, PhD is one of the great western Buddhist scholars and teachers of our time. I have read articles by him in Tricycle, Insight Journal, Buddhadharma, Inquiring Mind, and Shambhala Sun magazines. When I see his name as the author of an article, I pay close attention. His writings are always clear […]

A Tribute to Mothers on a Special Day – Purpose Fairy

A Tribute to Mothers on a Special Day – Purpose Fairy.

Curing Cancer with Viruses

Do you have cancer or do you know someone who has cancer? Do you know someone who has died primarily because of cancer? In my family, cancer is rampant. My sister had leukemia and died at the age of 27. She left behind a husband and two young boys. Fortunately for the boys, her husband […]

Anna Halprin Came to Our Shabbat Sangha

Last Friday, Anna Halprin came to our Shabbat Sangha. My good friends, Maryanne and David, open their homes on the first Friday of the month for a group of us to come together and build a community. We gather in the kitchen around 6:45 PM and set out our delicious plates to share with each […]

The 7 Most Dangerous Prescription Drugs

#1: Sleeping Pills (Ambien, Lunesta, Restoril) #2: Cholesterol Drugs (Statins like Baycol) #3: Blood Pressure Drugs (Beta-Blockers, Calcium Channel Blockers) #4: Alzheimer’s Drugs (Aricept 23) #5: Arthritis Drugs (NSAIDs like Celebrex) #6: Diabetes Drugs (Actos, Avandia, Byetta, Metformin) #7: Chemotherapy (Tamoxifen)

Awaken Your Mind: Guided Meditation – Purpose Fairy

Awaken Your Mind: Guided Meditation – Purpose Fairy.

The Best Season of Your Life

These words of wisdom from Wumen touched me the moment I read them. He was the compiler or and commenter on the Mumonkan (The Gateless Barrier) – a collection of 48 koans – stories, dialogues, questions or statements used to trigger enlightenment in Zen Buddhism and Chan Buddhism. This was one of the first books […]

To Desire What You Don’t Have is to Waste What You Do Have

“To desire what you don’t have is to waste what you do have.” This mantra was repeated over and over to our children as the grew up. They would always want more clothes, more toys, more shiny objects, more chocolate, and much more, as children often do. This was my wife’s favorite saying to calm […]

Awareness of Breathing Guided Meditation

I am proud to present these words of wisdom from Elana Rosenbaum. Elana is a long-time teacher of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) along with Jon Kabat-Zinn. She is also one of my fellow authors of I am With You – Love Letters to Cancer Patients. Her essay, “Coping with Cancer” occurs on page 53, and […]

Kelly McGonigal is Coming to Stanford

Kelly McGonigal is coming to Stanford on Thursday, March 12. She is giving a talk at CCARE, The Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education. She is on the faculty there. In this Ted talk, she talks about how to make stress your friend. Up until now, Kelly has been trying to eliminate stress. […]