“The Happiest Man in the World”

Last Thursday night, my wife and I attended a fund raising event for the American Himalayan Foundation with guest speaker, Matthieu Ricard, “The happiest man in the world!” Matthieu Ricard has a PhD in biochemistry and became a monk in the Tibetan tradition shortly after receiving it. He is also a humanitarian, advocating altruism and […]

What is a Hero?

What is a hero? Do you really know? Is it someone strong and vibrant who goes off and slays your enemies and upholds your friends? Or is it a football quarterback who wins the Super Bows in the last second with his “hail Mary” throw? Christoper McDougall doesn’t think it is any of these.   […]

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 […]

Practicing Compassion

Here is some advice on practicing compassion which I received in an email from Wild Divine. I found this practice to be particularly beneficial because it relies on an old Buddhist practice of putting yourself in the other person’s frame of mind. As the Dalai Lama says, “If you want others to be happy, practice […]

Mindful Attention

Mindful attention allows us to know and experience what is going on inside of us moment to moment. With mindful attention, we can be aware of what is going on in our body, our feelings, our emotions, and our thoughts. We can begin to make sense of them and recognize that they are always changing. […]

Dalai Lama Spoke Out on Climate Change

On October 20, the Dalai Lama spoke out on climate change from the top of the world. He called for action on climate change at COP21 – an international conference taking place in Paris on from November 30 through December 11. COP stands for Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate […]

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 […]

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 […]

How to Develop Motivation

These words of wisdom from Tricycle.com by Thupten Jinpa show us how to develop motivation. We will see more on this theme tomorrow from Jon Kabat-Zinn. Thupten Jinpa is best known as the Dalai Lama‘s long-time translator and close friend. At one time, he was also a monk. This man was also partly responsible for […]

If You Want to be Happy Be Grateful

The one thing all humans have in common is that each of us wants to be happy, says Brother David Steindl-Rast, a Benedictine monk and interfaith scholar. And happiness, he suggests, is born from gratitude. If you want to be happy be grateful. The Dalai Lama puts it this way: I believe that the purpose […]