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 […]
Empty of What?
March 30, 2016 by
When Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh talks about the Buddhist concept of emptiness, he always asks the question, “Empty of what?” Much of the time the answer is “Empty of a separate existence.” This means that nothing exists in isolation without interaction with everything else. If something did, we would never be able to access […]
Listening Closely to the Music of Your Mind
June 25, 2015 by
Andrew Olendzki, Ph. D. is a Buddhist scholar, teacher, and one of my favorite writers. I read everything of his that appears in Buddhist magazines. In these words of wisdom from Tricycle.com, he writes about listening closely to the music of your mind. In this way, we learn to see life just as it is, […]
How to Transform Suffering into an Opportunity for Growth
June 19, 2015 by
Here we have more words of wisdom from Robert Emmons. This lesson is on how to transform suffering into an opportunity for growth. He quotes Abraham Maslow, who we heard from recently in The Creative Spirit Of The Self-Actualizer last month. It continues on the gratitude theme from A Gratitude Practice to Increase Happiness from […]
Critiques of Mindfulness
March 10, 2015 by
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 […]
When Life is Over
February 28, 2015 by
Mary Oliver wrote this poem about when life is over. This poem arrived yesterday from Zen Master Cheri Huber in her daily Peace Quote email. When it’s over, I want to say: All my life I was a bride married to amazement. I was the bridegroom, taking the world into my arms – Mary Oliver […]
Bodh Gaya
December 18, 2014 by
In 1975, I visited Bodh Gaya. My daughter was there in 2011 and did a ten day vipassana retreat in the tradition of S. N. Goenka. Bodh Gaya is the center of Buddhist activity for the whole world. It was the place where the Buddha had his great enlightenment under the Bodhi tree. Check out […]
What is the Spiritual Life?
September 2, 2014 by
In the Spring, 2013 issue of Inquiring Mind, Pico Iyer was asked, “What is the spiritual life?” Part of Pico Iyer’s answer was, “…my sense (or prejudice) has always been that a spiritual life is whatever brings the clarity and stillness, the sharpened awareness of the mountaintop into the rush and confusion and congestion of […]
Ethics from the Heart
July 3, 2014 by
These words of wisdom from Lin Jensen talk about the precepts of Buddhism. Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh, known as Thay by his followers, likes to call these Mindfulness Trainings. In either case, they teach us to practice ethics from the heart. The Zen attitude about the precepts corresponds quite nicely with Thay’s teachings. In […]
Was Einstein a Buddhist?
April 24, 2014 by
I’m wondering if Einstein was a Buddhist. These words of wisdom certainly point to a deep understanding of the nature of interbeing – the nature of interdependence. His statement, “…that we are here for the sake of each other,” is a statement that points to our interconnection with each other and our interdependence on each […]
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