The Upside of Stress

Kelly McGonigal gave a talk on How to Turn Stress into an Advantage from her new book, The Upside of Stress: Why Stress Is Good for You, and How to Get Good at It. The talk took place at the 2015 99U conference at Lincoln Center in New York City. In Kelly’s research, she learned […]

Words of Wisdom from Lao Tzu Part 2

Here is part 2 of the words of wisdom from Lao Tzu are from his famous book, Tao Te Ching. We are taught that “The tao that can be told of is not the absolute tao,” so please take this to heart as you explore these teachings. On being soft and slow: “The soft overcomes […]

Develop Your Own Path

The Buddha provided us with a wonderful eightfold path for us to discover our true nature and become enlightened. While this path worked for the Buddha and it would work for you, provided that you are diligent, you may still have to develop your own path. Michael Ray has an interesting idea about developing your […]

Pema Chodron Turned 79!

A lot is happening in the world of Buddhism and yoga these days! With the Dalai Lama turning 80, Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh being treated for his stroke at UCSF (near my home), and Swami Veda Bharati passing away I think it is high time to launch the Indiegogo campaign! Just a couple of […]

12 Wonderful Quotes from Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh

The latest news from Plum Village is that Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh is in San Francisco at the UCSF Medical Center. He will receive special treatment from a team of distinguished neurologists specializing in stroke and cognitive rehabilitation. You can help by going here: www.thichnhathanhfoundation.org/healingthay. Here are 12 wonderful quotes from Zen Master Thich […]

Why Stress is Good for You

As you well know if you have been following Meditation Practices for a while, I am a big fan of Kelly McGonigal and her wonderful work at the Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education (CCARE) at Stanford University. Her new book, The Upside of Stress: Why Stress Is Good for You, and How to […]

Dalai Lama Turned 80!

The Dalai Lama turned 80 yesterday and the whole world is celebrating. Roshi Joan Halifax sent out an announcement saying, “Yesterday, His Holiness the Dalai Lama—great model of compassion—turned 80. Join us in wishing him a happy continuation!” I’m glad to see that Roshi Joan wrote “Join us in wishing him a happy continuation” because […]

True Love is Made of…

Now that the Supreme Court of the United States of America has required all states to allow same sex marriages, we have to ask, “Can love be legislated?” All along, I have believed that love is much more important than and legal commitment to be together. Love cannot exist without understanding. As Zen Master Thich […]

The Power of Quiet in a Noisy World

We have seen many articles about the power of silence, the power of quiet in a noisy world. See, for example, Entering the Silence, Entering the Silence with Purpose and Maintaining the Silence. When you go to a ten day meditation retreat at one of the meditation centers founded by S. N. Goenka, you remain […]

The Fear Cure

On Thursday evening June 18, I went to hear Dr. Lissa Rankin, MD talk about The Fear Cure, her new bestseller book. As she was attending to patients who wrote their own prescriptions according to the formula in Mind Over Medicine: Scientific Proof That You Can Heal Yourself were often afraid to implement their plans. […]