The Path of Awakening…

The path of awakening is not an easy path, as I have been finding out over the past 40 years. Truly, there have been wonderful moments of awakening, but then I would fall back into the pursuit of money for the support of myself and my family. After a while, I caught myself and began […]

Choose the Life We Want

These words of wisdom teach us how to choose the life we want. The funny thing is we often don’t have the courage to do so. We normally just let life roll on just like “the lazy old son that has nothing to do but roll around heaven all day.” Some people define insanity as […]

The Search for Happiness

Matthieu Ricard has often been called “the happiest man in the world.” I tend to agree with this statement based on my limited encounters with the man through Tricycle, Buddhadharma, Shambhala Sun, and other articles; Ted Talks, Google Talks and other videos; audio recording and books. Whenever I see his name arise in an email […]

Critiques of Mindfulness

I think Andrew Olendzki, PhD is one of the great western Buddhist scholars and teachers of our time. I have read articles by him in Tricycle, Insight Journal, Buddhadharma, Inquiring Mind, and Shambhala Sun magazines. When I see his name as the author of an article, I pay close attention. His writings are always clear […]

Make Conscious Decisions about Extinction

Elizabeth Kolbert makes a good point here when she encourages us to make conscious decisions about extinction. Every day in every way, species are dieing out and the whole of humanity is unconscious about them. Many are dieing because we are cutting down the rainforests to make land available to raise cattle. The funny thing […]

The Healing Power of Equanimity

These words of wisdom from Darlene Cohen, a long time teacher of Buddhism, on Tricycle.com demonstrate the healing power of equanimity. She learned this lesson the hard way, having to deal with the pain of rheumatoid arthritis. Unfortunately, she passed away in 2011 from ovarian cancer. No Goal | November 21, 2014 Just as a […]

How to Regard All Beings

Here is a quote from Huineng on how to regard all beings. Other than the quote, which is from Tricycle.com, this is my recollection of his role in Zen Buddhism. Huineng was the sixth patriarch of Zen. He was born in 638 and died in 713 at the age of 75. He began his spiritual […]

The Importance of Faith in Buddhism

Sharon Salzberg is a frequent visitor to these pages. She is one of the original founders of the Insight Meditation Center in Barre, Massachusetts, along with Joseph Goldstein and Jack Kornfield. I think her major contribution to Buddhism in the West is the way she writes about and teachs metta (loving kindness) practices. In these […]

Embracing Anger

These words of wisdom from Mark Epstein in Tricycle Daily Dharma teach us about sitting with anger, or, as Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh (Thay) teaches, embracing anger. Can you imagine a more explosive situation than what is going on in Israel today? With the recent war in Gaza started by Hamas with their bombing […]

Gratitude as a Daily Practice

I first met Zenju Earthlyn Manuel at an event sponsored by the Buddhist Peace Fellowship around 2006 or 2007. I was impressed with her lovely demeanor, and want to get to know here better. She is no longer the director of the Buddhist Peace Fellowship, and I keep encountering writings from her from time to […]