Dalai Lama’s New Year’s Message

His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s New Year’s Message for 2014 is poignant for our lives today. He says that whether we have a happy year or a miserable year depends on us. And then he laughs, as only the Dalai Lama can laugh! He called on people the world over to Make a determination to […]

Let My Heart Fly Open

Welcome to 2014. May this be the year that all your dreams come true. To begin the New Year with the right mindset, I’d like to offer the following metta practice. Metta is the Pali word for loving kindness. Loving kindness, in turn, is one of the Four Immeasurable Minds taught by the Buddha. The […]

The Dalai Lama Speaks On Unbiased Compassion

Here is another short video in which the Dalai Lama speaks on unbiased compassion. It is an excerpt of a longer conversation that the Dalai Lama had with Thai Buddhists at his residence in Dharamsala, India, on March 15th, 2011. The compassionate sense of concern for the well-being of one’s own friend – those people […]

Compassion Media Project

In this very short video, Dr. James Doty and the Dalai Lama explain the Compassion Media Project at The Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education (CCARE) at Stanford University. The value and beneficial effects of compassion on overall health and well-being are significant. Dr. Doty states that compassion results in great pleasure and […]

Compassion With Thich Nhat Hanh

When Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh was in the Bay Area, he appeared at The Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education (CCARE) at Stanford University with Dr. James Doty on October 24, 2013. Dr. Doty engaged in a conversation on compassion with Thich Nhat Hanh, known as Thay by his followers. They talked […]

How To Treat People

This quote from Lao Tzu teaches us how to treat people. Lao Tzu was a 6th Chinese mystic who wrote the Tao Te Ching and is credited with the founding of Taoism. The Tao Te Ching has had a great influence on my life. When I first met Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, also known as Osho, […]

We Are Here For The Sake Of Others

These words of wisdom from Albert Einstein sound more like they came from a Buddhist teacher like the Dalai Lama or Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh and not from the most famous scientist of the 20th century. The Dalai Lama would say, “The fact that we will die is certain. The time of death is […]

Non-Violence

Ahimsa – non-violence, is a common thread in Hinduism and Buddhism. In Christianity and Judaism, we find the commandment, “Thou shall not kill!” We all know about all the religious wars that were fought in the name of God and the violent acts of killing that took place. Ahimsa is a comprehensive principle. We are […]

The Perfection Of Diligence

According to Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh, the fourth paramita is the perfection of diligence. In previous articles, we learned that the Sanskrit word, paramita, means, “Crossing over to the other shore,” from ill-being to well-being. Perfection and completeness are also acceptable translations. The traditional way of talking about the perfection of diligence is to […]

Forgiving Ourselves And Others

Last week, I wrote an article titled,  A Wise And Understanding Heart. In this article, I reported on my Bar Mitzvah speech in which I asked God for “A wise and understanding heart to discern between good and evil.” Today, I read an article in Tricycle Magazine about The Power of Forgiveness by Gina Sharpe. […]