This fragment of a dharma talk by Lama Surya Das came to me by email last week. Many lines in it support my rantings about meditation practices. I hope you enjoy this. “Dear Friends and Countrymen, lend me your tears and fears: Let me carry them for you. I have not come to praise you […]
It Takes a World to Raise a Child
After a long delay, we finally have words of wisdom again from Lama Surya Das. They are about how it takes a world to raise a child now. When my girls were little, they attended a Montessori school from the time they were toddlers through eighth grade. The parents, teacher, and administrators at the school […]
Why Sit?
These words of wisdom from Lama Surya Das are straight out of Tricycle magazine. He answers the question, “Why sit?” Basically, he is saying that sitting is necessary to cultivate contemplative practice to help us develop aspects of nonviolence and compassion. He is saying that we need to balance these practices with local political action, […]
The Value Of Prayer
These words of wisdom from Lama Surya Das are music to my ears. Not only does he mention my teacher, Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh in a very loving way, he, like me, was born into a Jewish family. Prayer was an important part of our daily lives. We said the morning shemah, the blessings […]
You And I
These words of wisdom come from Lama Surya Das and contain a poem by Rumi. This short poem expresses the insight of interbeing in its simplest possible form. This word, interbeing, refers to the interconnectedness of all things. It was proposed by Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh many years ago and soon, he hopes, it […]
Change Is The Universal Law
After a long delay, we finally have some words of wisdom from Lama Surya Das once again. This one is about the insight of impermanence – that change is the universal law. We all know that everything must change, but we go on living as if we will live forever. We resist change and this […]
Happy Thanksgiving
These words of wisdom from Lama Surya Das came a couple of days ago and I want to share them with you. I couldn’t have expressed my feelings about loving kindness and gratitude better. Gratitude Thanksgiving is always for me a time of reflection, how it’s never too late to start again or to turn […]
The Fuel For Enlightened Awareness
These words of wisdom chosen by Lama Surya Das tells us that our meditative awareness starts as a small flame and then becomes the fuel for enlightened awareness. Jigme Lingpa was a Tibetan master who lived in the 18th century. He is known as a discoverer of ancient text and passing on the tradition of […]
We Have Everything We Need To Achieve Great Things
These words of wisdom were sent to me by Lama Surya Das. He says, “We have everything we need to be and achieve great things.” This statement is very similar to what Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh says, “We have everything we need to be happy in the present moment.” [Read More…] Both of these […]
Wisdom Teachings Come From Everywhere
These words of wisdom from Lama Surya Das attempt to answer the question, “What is wisdom?” Lama Surya Das was born Jeffrey Miller in Brooklyn, New York and became a lama after studying in the Tibetan tradition for more than 20 years. He teaches the wisdom of dzogchen – a Tibetan word that means Great […]
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