“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 […]

The Zen Teachings of Bagger Vance

A few nights ago, we re-watched The Legend of Bagger Vance in which Rannulph Junuh, played by Matt Damon learns the Zen teachings of Bagger Vance, played by Will Smith. Junuh is in a golf tournament with two top players in Savannah, Georgia and has fallen 12 stokes behind. Bagger Vance gives Junuh the following […]

Can We Learn to Laugh at Ourselves?

Can we learn to laugh at ourselves for the situation we’ve created in the United States now with money being more important than people, nature or life on earth? Can we learn to laugh at ourselves for destroying the only planet that we know of that can support life as we know it? Isn’t it […]

7 Ways to be More Grateful

These 7 ways to be more grateful in life were written by Luminita Saviac – The Purpose Ferry. I find them to be very useful in light of my daily practice of gratitude. If you are not practicing gratitude on a daily basis, maybe you should begin. It is one of the fastest ways to […]

Include All Things

The insight of interbeing tells us to include all things. This inclusiveness pertains to people, animals, plants and minerals all the way down to the smallest atom (hydrogen) and all the up beyond the visible universe. But this is not a new idea as many think. For example, in my interview with Neil deGrasse Tyson […]

Man is Not the Enemy

With lots of unrest in the world and in the United States about the inauguration we have to remember that man is not the enemy. So who or what is the enemy? I would say that greed, aggression and delusion are the enemy – the three poisons taught by the Buddha. For example, in Tanzania, […]

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 […]

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 […]

The World We Have

A we approach Christmas time it is important to examine the world we have right now. Our world is full of political unrest, racial, economic and gender inequality, reliance on fossil fuels, climate and forest degradation, and over consumption. How do we cope with such inequities at a time when we are singing, “Joy to […]

Be Willing to Love

These words of wisdom from Jack Kronfield teach us to be willing to love and to stay present. These are the two freedoms that we have, regardless of our situation. If we are willing to let love in our hearts, we can connect with the beauty of life around us and connect with other people. […]