The Vanishing Bucket List

My dharma brother and fellow OI1 member, Peter Cutler, posted this article on the OI Discussion board on Friday, October 4. I wrote back that what he wrote fits very nicely with Dr. Sara Gordon‘s article, Undivided Self. Peter’s writing about the vanishing bucket list is clear and interesting. The Vanishing Bucket List Whether we […]

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 […]

In Memory Of Dr. Martin Luther King

I offer this post in memory of Dr. Martin Luther King. He and Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh knew each other and were friends. They both worked diligently for human rights and to stop the war in Vietnam. Dr. King even nominated Thich Nhat Hanh for the Nobel Peace Prize. In a letter to his […]

What Gives Rise To Human Dignity And Nobility?

I just found this interesting book by Venerable Dr. K Sri Dhammananda Thero. He was a Sri Lankan Buddhist monk and scholar in the Theravada tradition who lived between 1919 and  2006. He lived mostly in Malaysia and Singapore. There are many books to his credit. I stumbled across this one titled, “Human Dignity in […]

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 […]

Present Moment

Transformation Of Our Minds

The Dalai Lama gave an interview with Tricycle magazine in the fall of 2001 called Ethics for a Secular Millennium. I received these words of wisdom as part of the Tricycle Daily Dharma for August 19, 2013. His Holiness tells us that we need to proceed on the spiritual path of transformation of our minds […]

Engaged Buddhism

These words of wisdom from Sulak Sivaraksa rang true to me because of his work with engaged Buddhism. Together with Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh, The Dalai Lama, and Maha Ghosananda, he formed the International Network of Engaged Buddhists (INEB). Thich Nhat Hanh, as you probably know is a peace activist and is well-known for […]

Are We Eating Our Children?

I know this title sounds kind of brutal. I wanted to get your attention. There is a story told by the Buddha in the Son’s Flesh Sutra. It is the story about the couple who ate their son’s flesh. Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh, known as Thay by his followers, tells this story often. Here […]

Who Makes You Suffer?

These words of wisdom from Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh teach us to think about who makes us suffer. Instead of blaming them, Thay, as his students refer to Thich Nhat Hanh, suggests that they are suffering and asking for help. If we can provide that help with wisdom and compassion, our suffering will be […]