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
How To Make Positive Change
I recently read that out of the millions of Americans who set a New Year’s resolution for themselves only 8 percent are successful at achieving them. It’s not easy to intentionally effect change in your life, yet through setting an intention and building a lifestyle around that motivation it can get easier. Setting an Intention … Continue
A Day of Service
There were three UPS trucks parked on the sidewalk, rapidly filling up with donations. Cars were double-parked, quickly loading up with supplies and people. Volunteers moved fast, urging onlookers to keep the walkways clear. I stood on the edge of this sea of activity, reached into my bag, and pulled out a hastily scribbled sign: … Continue
On Boredom
Eventually, all meditators run into the same problem: boredom. Boredom usually arises in one of two ways—as a constant sense of sleepiness or as a kind of free floating anxiety and agitation. Yes, agitation. I would like to tell you right now that you do not have ADD. If I had a dollar for everyone … Continue
Sanity Amid the Storms
Facing uncertainty is guaranteed to come up abundantly in our lives. The practice of meditation prepares us for the unlikely breezes, as well as the times that are superstorms of uncertainty; times like now, with Sandy behind us, another storm ahead of us, the election today, and then all the personal times in each of … Continue
All. In. This. Together. Sandy, The Elections, and Everything After
Last month, my dear friend, author, and generally awesome lady Susan Piver asked me to write something before Tuesday’s US elections about overcoming “Us vs Them” mentality. She wrote a great, thoughtful post here. If there was ever a collision of events to force a needed discussion of how to overcome “Us Vs Them” mentality, … Continue
Feeling Inside: the Ordinary Experience of Being Alive
At a recent seminar, Sakyong Mipham, asked our group of meditators why we were sitting there thinking … about sitting there? What, he asked, were we feeling? Wasn’t that more to the point? It was an eye opening experience for me. I realized that as a student of meditation for twenty five years, perhaps I had … Continue
