Meditation Is The Stream Of Life

Gary Snyder, in “Just One Breath,” shows us how meditation is the stream of life. His words, repeated here, are the weekly words of wisdom chosen by Lama Surya Das for this week. When we become one with the stream of life, we feel the flow of peace and tranquility. We recognize our interbeing with all […]

Not Far From Enlightenment

The words of wisdom for this week chosen by Lama Surya Das are from The Dalai Lama. He tells us that we are not far from enlightenment as humans! This is a sweet statement because other teachers have made similar statements. For example, just the other day, we learned from Roshi Bernie Glassman in Bernie Glassman […]

“Altruistic Action Is The Way To Really Help”

The words of wisdom chosen by Lama Surya Das for this week are from the Dalai Lama. Today the Dalai Lama said something funny during his talk in Madison, Wisconsin. “I am not recommending that people in America repeat over and over the compassion mantra Om mani, om mani padme hung, om, mani, mani mani. […]

Real Presence

The Weekly Words of Wisdom chosen by Lama Surya Das for this week are from Father Richard Rohr. I first encountered Father Rohr when I was in my enneagram certification program with Helen Palmer between 1989 and 1991. His book, Enneagram, was a major contribution to enneagram studies at the time. The relevance of this quote […]

Development Of Character

Suzuki Roshi was the founder of the Zen Center in San Francisco, Green Gulch Farm in Sausalito, and the Tassajara Hot Springs monastery in Carmel Valley. Unfortunately for me, he died before my first Zen sesshin at the San Francisco Zen Center in 1972. Fortunately, he lives on through the excellent dharma teachers at the San […]

Acceptance, Joy, Peace And Love

Dear Friends: This post is the 500th post on Meditation Practices For Healing and Well-Being! Thank your for your continued support. Jerome This week’s Words of Wisdom chosen by Lama Surya Das were spoken by my teacher, Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh. Thay, as he is affectionately called by his followers, is constantly talking about being […]

The Past Is A Ghost

The Words of Wisdom this week come from a surprising source. They were chosen by Lama Surya Das and spoken by Bill Cosby, of all people. I was astonished to see his name on an email from Lama Surya Das! “The past is a ghost, the future is a dream, and all we ever have […]

We Need To Root Out Seeds Of Anger

I just received these Words of Wisdom from Lama Surya Das about the Boston bombing that took place on yesterday during the Boston Marathon. In this statement, Lama Surya Das says that we need to root out seeds of anger, hatred, fear, and greed. Today is a day of tears and prayers here in Boston, […]

Meditation Develops Certainty And Conviction

In the Weekly Words of Wisdom chosen by Lama Surya Das, Dudjom Rimpoche says that “If you do meditate, certainty and conviction will be attained.” I was immediately grabbed by this statement because certainty and conviction came up in my morning meditation yesterday. I was listening to a meditation recording by Kelly Howell called, The Secret to […]

What Should We Talk About?

My dharma buddy, Bhikkhu Samahita, sent me an interesting email over the weekend. He basically answered the question, “What should we talk about?” Naturally, he was coming from the point of view of what the Buddha said. Not being one skilled in the art of small talk, I welcomed his words of wisdom. He writes […]