Last Saturday night, I attended a performance of A Song For All Beings to a packed house. Composed and produced by Jennifer Berezan and friends, A Song For All Beings is based on the Buddhist practice of metta and the four immeasurable minds or Brahma Viharas (divine abodes) of loving kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy, and […]
Include All Things
February 23, 2017 by
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 […]
The Pale Blue Dot
October 25, 2016 by
Last night, I saw a remarkable image of the pale blue dot (planet Earth) as viewed from the Cassini spacecraft during an eclipse of the sun by Saturn. The image was shown on the California Academy of Sciences Planetarium at the Dean Lecture on astronomy by Dr. Carolyn Porco, Cassini Imaging Team Leader from Boulder, […]
In Greed We Trust
October 23, 2015 by
Our global economy seems to be rooted in greed. It seems that the United State dollar bill should read, “In Greed We Trust.” There is no more trust in god, a supreme being, the creator of all there is, or our very own buddhanature. We seem to be consumed by greed. We can begin almost […]
Teachings on Interbeing with Carl Sagan
May 1, 2015 by
These teachings on interbeing with Carl Sagan may help us all recognize the interconnectedness of all life on earth. This beautiful video explores “the pale blue dot” that we live on and asks us to be kind to one another. He says, The earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena…Our planet […]
Joanna Macy Talks about The Kingdom of Shambhala
March 17, 2015 by
In this lovely video, Joanna Macy talks about The Kingdom of Shambhala as related to her by Choegyal Rinpoche from the Kalachakra Tantra. This talk was recorded at Spirit Rock Meditation Center on January 28, 2014. The teaching she is talking about is the emergence of the Kingdom of Shambhala. She talks about the Shambhala […]
The Raft is Not the Shore
June 12, 2014 by
These words of wisdom spoken by the Buddha are still as valid today as they were 2600 years ago. He is telling us that “the raft is not the shore”. What does this have to do with our lives? The Buddha is saying that we must study the dharma, i. e., the teachings, and they should […]
Wisdom and Compassion
April 26, 2014 by
Wisdom and compassion are the cornerstones of Buddha’s teachings. Wisdom includes the teaching of emptiness. Compassion includes the teaching of interbeing or interdependence and altruism based on the insight of interbeing. What do we mean by emptiness? When you say that something is empty, you must ask, “Empty of what?” Take that mug on the […]
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 […]
Living With Compassion
April 14, 2014 by
As we saw recently in Worthiness, Thomas Merton was an American Trappist monk who was a friend of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh, known as Thay by his followers. They met together only one time at Father Merton’s monastery in Gethsemani, Kentuckey in 1966. They were both quite outspoken against the war in Vietnam. They […]
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