Pema Chodron Turned 79!

A lot is happening in the world of Buddhism and yoga these days! With the Dalai Lama turning 80, Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh being treated for his stroke at UCSF (near my home), and Swami Veda Bharati passing away I think it is high time to launch the Indiegogo campaign! Just a couple of […]

12 Wonderful Quotes from Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh

The latest news from Plum Village is that Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh is in San Francisco at the UCSF Medical Center. He will receive special treatment from a team of distinguished neurologists specializing in stroke and cognitive rehabilitation. You can help by going here: www.thichnhathanhfoundation.org/healingthay. Here are 12 wonderful quotes from Zen Master Thich […]

Why Stress is Good for You

As you well know if you have been following Meditation Practices for a while, I am a big fan of Kelly McGonigal and her wonderful work at the Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education (CCARE) at Stanford University. Her new book, The Upside of Stress: Why Stress Is Good for You, and How to […]

Dalai Lama Turned 80!

The Dalai Lama turned 80 yesterday and the whole world is celebrating. Roshi Joan Halifax sent out an announcement saying, “Yesterday, His Holiness the Dalai Lama—great model of compassion—turned 80. Join us in wishing him a happy continuation!” I’m glad to see that Roshi Joan wrote “Join us in wishing him a happy continuation” because […]

True Love is Made of…

Now that the Supreme Court of the United States of America has required all states to allow same sex marriages, we have to ask, “Can love be legislated?” All along, I have believed that love is much more important than and legal commitment to be together. Love cannot exist without understanding. As Zen Master Thich […]

The Power of Quiet in a Noisy World

We have seen many articles about the power of silence, the power of quiet in a noisy world. See, for example, Entering the Silence, Entering the Silence with Purpose and Maintaining the Silence. When you go to a ten day meditation retreat at one of the meditation centers founded by S. N. Goenka, you remain […]

The Fear Cure

On Thursday evening June 18, I went to hear Dr. Lissa Rankin, MD talk about The Fear Cure, her new bestseller book. As she was attending to patients who wrote their own prescriptions according to the formula in Mind Over Medicine: Scientific Proof That You Can Heal Yourself were often afraid to implement their plans. […]

How to Transform Suffering into an Opportunity for Growth

Here we have more words of wisdom from Robert Emmons. This lesson is on how to transform suffering into an opportunity for growth. He quotes Abraham Maslow, who we heard from recently in The Creative Spirit Of The Self-Actualizer last month. It continues on the gratitude theme from A Gratitude Practice to Increase Happiness from […]

One Thing You Can Do About Mindful Consumption

Here is one thing you can do about mindful consumption: turn off your TV:)! Mindful consumption is the subject of the Fifth of the Five Mindfulness Trainings. It reads, Aware of the suffering caused by unmindful consumption, I am committed to cultivate good health, both physical and mental, for myself, my family, and my society by […]

Taking Action on Global Warming

Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh, known as Thay by his followers, has been an activist more than sixty years and he has been talking about taking action on global warming and climate change for as long as I can remember. As early as 1985, I heard him say, “If the West stops drinking alcohol by […]