Live Fully in the Present

Alan Watts once said For unless one is able to live fully in the present, the future is a hoax. There is no point whatever in making plans for a future which you will never be able to enjoy. When your plans mature, you will still be living for some other future beyond. You will never, never be […]

The Nature of Interbeing

These words of wisdom from Ogyen Trinley Dorje, the seventeenth Karmapa, are about the nature of interbeing. He calls it interdependence, as do most Buddhist teachers and masters. Interbeing is a term coined by Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh, and the nature of interbeing is one of his principle teachings. He says, “Interbeing is not […]

Take Refuge in Yourself

The Buddha teaches us to take refuge in yourself. Taking refuge in yourself gives you the strength to be just as you are, without having to impress anyone else or kowtow to anyone else. You become an island unto yourself. Oneself is one’s own protector (refuge) indeed, What other protector (refuge) can there be? With […]

A Song for the Winter Garden

[Editor’s note: John Snyder is another one of my dharma brothers in the Order of Interbeing (OI) of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh. He posted this on our OI Yahoo group and gave me permission to publish it here. This poem teaches us how impermanence rules the winter and all of life. Enjoy!] A Song […]

Cultivating a Heart of Compassion

These words of wisdom from Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh are about cultivating a heart of compassion. This is done by the practice of metta (loving kindness) meditation. We have seen many articles the speak to metta meditation. The approach in this Tricycle.com article by Thay (as Thich Nhat Hanh is known to his followers) […]

More Teachings of the Buddha

Here are some more teachings of the Buddha from one of my favorites, Sharon Salzberg. These teachings are similar to ones that we have learned from Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh, dharma teacher, Glen Schneider, and the  Order of Interbeing. Sharon invites us to contemplate the forces of greed, grasping, hatred, and delusion in our […]

The Ancient Practice Of Awakening Your Heart with Mindful Breathing

I was surprised to receive an email from Omvana, a product of Mindvalley about the ancient practice of awakening your heart with mindful breathing. The video is from the public talk in Vancouver, Canada in August 14, 2011, after the retreat at the University of British Columbia called Awakening the Heart. I attended the retreat, […]

Second In Command In Plum Village

Sister Chan Khong has been the second in command in Plum Village since its founding in 1982 and been Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh‘s collaborator and best friend for more than 50 years. Now that Thay, as Thich Nhat Hanh is know by his followers, is in the hospital, we are all looking to Sister […]

An Experiment in Happiness

Sharon Salzberg is here again with words of wisdom about an experiment in happiness. She is talking about doing a retreat with the attitude of a scientist – just as an experiment. I think, in terms of a retreat, one of the best attitudes to have altogether is to see it as an experiment. You’re […]

Ancient Wisdom for Our Times

These words of ancient wisdom for our times were offered centuries ago by Lao Tzu. He is the famous author of the Tao Te Ching, the Book of Changes. My copy of the Tao Te Ching dates back to 1969 or 1970. If you are depressed, you are living in the past. If you are […]