A Jewish Buddhist Refuge Vow
I’ve been practicing meditation since 2004. I’m aware of the major benefits that my practice and study have had on my life, and I feel good about taking refuge in the Three Jewels — the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha. For the past few months, I’ve been planning on taking my Buddhist refuge vow this … Continue
Creating Enlightened Society: Manufacture New York
“The human mind is so powerful that we create every environment that we walk into. And we live in that environment constantly, whether we self-generate it, or whether it is communally generated.” -Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche, Shambhala Day 2012 I remember hearing these transformative words with great clarity on Wednesday, February 22nd, 2012. My entire family … Continue
Meditation And Mourning: 3 Obstacles to Successful Grieving
Emotions like despair and grief are tough to work with, because they feel so fathomless. Whether you are going through the death of a loved one, a rough break up, or sudden unemployment these emotions can get their hooks into you and, once hooked, they are hard to shake. Looking at intense grief is like … Continue
Are You The Person You Expected to Become?
One of the more distinctive concepts in Buddhism is non-self. It does not mean that you do not exist physically. It does mean that you don’t exist as a permanent, solid, independent entity. “You” are as changeable as the weather — and that’s good news. You’re not always angry, not always sad, not always giddy or goofy. … Continue
Meditation & Psychology
In talking about meditation through the lens of psychotherapy, the question comes up – why focus attention on feeling when feelings or emotions seem to reinforce or further entrench our sense of self? Isn’t the whole idea to renounce that or go beyond that in some way? I think it is a great question that … Continue
We Need to Be Warriors
The world needs people who are wholeheartedly engaged with life. That takes bravery. These days I am struck by the speed of life. As we get speedier, we do things in half steps. Therefore, the practice of wholehearted engagement is important. How can we be steady and complete, and what kind of wisdom does that … Continue
Work, Money and the Rest of It
Recently, I’ve been studying the book WORK, SEX, MONEY by Chogyam Trungpa, Rinpoche. Spirituality, compassion and panoramic awareness with regard to the kitchen sink, the wallet and the bedroom. How does the animal self relate to the spirit? What happens when the angel within us, comes to ground? How can we hold the highest view … Continue
Being the Change: My New Year’s Resolution
We are headed for interesting times as a nation. There is little evidence that people share Community-oriented values these days. We live in collectives more than Communities. No one seems to expect civility, neither of their neighbor nor themselves just now. We fear each other, as strangers in a strange and dangerous land. We want … Continue
Finding the Light: Newtown, Violence, Depression and Renewal
Two weeks ago today the country was shocked and saddened by the news of the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary. Frighteningly, senseless violence seems to have become a common occurrence. The Buddhist tradition talks of the dark ages. Ironically, the dark ages occur when the world is most full of light. In our current times, … Continue
Critical Thought and Shopping
It is not ‘Big Business’ with its CEOs, Walmart, outsourcing, or misguided policies that shall ultimately destroy the world, these are all just symptoms of our fear and the ignorance that comes from it. Indeed, all of our ‘demons’ are born from these two, and continue to be maintained by them. Bertrand Russell wrote, “It … Continue
