True Presence

What are the attributes of true presence? How do we learn to cultivate and activate them? Cheri Huber advises us that, Only presence gives us what our hearts long for. So simple, easy, beautiful and affordable! Costs us nothing; gives us everything. – Cheri Huber Her close friend, Ashwini Narayanan adds, With practice, it becomes […]

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 […]

Can You Hear Mother Earth?

In this special message from Sister Chan Khong, she asks, “Can you hear Mother Earth? In this excerpt from Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh, we learn of the desperate situation we are in. Please wake up, my children, and see what you are doing. Your atomic bombs have laid waste to billions of precious lives, […]

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 […]

Meditation and the Science of Human Flourishing

Meditation and the Science of Human Flourishing was the name of a workshop which took place last Saturday, June 11, 2016 with Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche and Dr. Richie Davidson at Stanford University sponsored by The Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education (CCARE) and Tergar, Rimpoche’s meditation community. Richie talked about how he was […]

The Happiness Equation

The Happiness Equation by Neil Pasricha gives us a unique set of seven actions that we can take each week to experience happiness in our lives. The Happiness Equations itself is very revealing: want nothing (i. e., non-attachment) + do anything (i. e., take action) = have everything (i. e., have everything we need to […]

For a Future to be Possible

The final session of the Earth Holder Retreat was on the theme of “For a Future to be Possible” on Sunday, May 1 at the Deer Park Monastery. The panel discussion was led by Brother Phap Ho (Brother Protection) and included Kristin Barker (founder of One Earth Sangha), Jayna Gieber (director of “People of the […]

The Power of a Smile

This wordless video demonstrates the power of a smile. In each of the events portrayed in the video, all tensions are eased by the power of a smile. Watch how children play, business men collide and spill the papers, a young woman spills tea on a customer, and an angry man seem prepared to beat […]

Garry Shandling was a Buddhist

I did not know that Garry Shandling was a Buddhist until I read this story on the Lion’s Roar website in an article titled, “He Never Said No” – The inside story of Garry Shandling’s Buddhism. It turns out that Garry Shandling was a friend of Brother Phap Hai, a monk in the Plum Village […]

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 […]