Yes, we are all in a mess, with suffering and despair everywhere-yet one lonely channel broadcasts the remarkable message that despite it all, everything is fine. In a web-series from a few years ago hosted by Jerry Seinfeld, the comedian Garry Shandling recalls telling a joke once to an audience of Buddhist monks, one of…
Perhaps we need to chill a little, and settle into the slow simple life that’s already here. And embrace this moment, without trying to improve or tweak anything. I read a story the other day, attributed to Nikolai Gogol, about a horse that was stuck in the mud. It struggled and struggled to get its…
Mindfulness meditation helps us develop a mental-emotional “check engine light” that flashes in our awareness when we get reactive or anxious. There’s a song that’s been banging around in my head for a couple of weeks. It was recorded in 1966 by Buffalo Springfield. The opening lyrics go something like this: There’s something happening here/…
Relaxing into not-knowing is a key to the present moment. When you don’t know, all possibilities are open. How do we live our life knowing that it’s temporary? We have this opportunity to live this life, and we don’t know for how long. And we don’t know what will happen next. I am guessing most…
As we marinate in the present moment, we let go of the urgencies of the self, the agendas of the ego. Our marvelous mindfulness is a kind of marinating in the present moment. Seemingly solid things, like squash or zucchini, with fixed boundaries, when placed in a marinade of olive oil, soy sauce, lemon juice,…
As we approach the last pages of our human story, in Buddhism aging as a spiritual practice encourages us to be softer, more vulnerable, more caring and loving. The other day at the hospital, I ran into a nurse I haven’t seen in a while. She looked at me and asked “You’re still working?” I…
If we know how to experience our discomfort gracefully, we suffer much less. We’re no longer afraid of eating the blame when this is called for. One of my favorite Zen stories goes like this: One day at a certain monastery in 10th century China, ceremonies delayed preparation of the noon meal, and when they…
The problem of attachment in Buddhism is not about having or not having an attachment, but it’s our tendency to not be aware an attachment ensnared us. Did you hear the one about the person attending his first meditation retreat? He asked the teacher if he could check his email during breaks. The teacher said…
When I first started meditating, I thought I knew why meditation is important. It helps reduce stress, improves sleep, and reduces negative emotions–all aspects of my life that really needed an overhaul. But it took a few years for me to realize that although I knew why meditation is important, I had no idea how…
… when the mind complains it does NOT want to meditate, says the Buddhist monk U Tejaniya I’m going to assume that you are like most of us who are into meditation–you struggle maintaining a regular practice, right; you might even ask when is the best time to meditate. The instructions are so very simple—be…
We have been practicing the opposite of what meditation asks of us for so many years, no wonder it is so hard to meditate every day. We often get frustrated and give up. I am often asked why is hard to meditate every day? Despite the utter simplicity of the practice itself, why is it…
Meditation turns special moments on their head. It turns out we don’t need special moments to savor the openness to experience. Are you familiar with the Calvin and Hobbes cartoons? One of my favorites is when Calvin trips and falls down a flight of stairs, landing on his rear and looking confused. Then he stands…
What is maladjusted? It is someone who lost the ability to be surprised, adjusting to themselves to mediocrity and mindless consumerism. We must re-learn how to be surprised. Be the most maladjusted person in society! Alice Walker has good advice for all of us who practice mindfulness meditation: Expect nothing. Live frugally on surprise. As…
My news feed, if I let it, can incline my mind toward fear, confusion and anger at all the crises we face. But I can also re-frame my news feed to feel compassion for the suffering of others. This compassion is really the opposite of wallowing. The news. OMG, how to deal with the news?…
As you set out on your meditation journey, don’t set yourself up for failure and avoid aggressive self-improvement. There isn’t anything to improve. And really, the present moment is un-tweak-able. It’s just fine as it is, and so are you. One of the trickiest aspects of mindfulness meditation is the whole thing about letting go…
We savor our life now just as it is, messy, littered with abandoned to-do lists and unfulfilled expectations. We appreciate our life now, we’re not just managing it. When asked about the fruit of meditative life, the 13th century Japanese monk Dogen Zenji replied: “enlightenment is intimacy with all things.” Mindfulness allows us to…
As we let go of expectations in our mindfulness practice, it generalizes in our life-we are more present and responsive, and less reactive. Some folks come to meditation seeking answers. When I redirect them to just watch what happens in their meditation practice without expectation or judgment, it seems to add to their…
Tears well up as I type these words. I ask myself, can I let myself be mindfully undone by this pain and not shut down from it? A few days ago, President Zelensky addressed the UN Security Council via video link from Kiev. He ended his talk with a short video montage of still photos…
What is mindfulness meditation, and do I have to be a Buddhist to benefit from practicing it? I am frequently asked if someone needs to be a Buddhist to benefit from Buddhist meditation. My answer is a qualified no. I say qualified because if I simply said no and left it at that,…
That Putin is digging into a hole he will not get out of, is a trigger for the Buddhist contemplation practitioner to re-frame this situation as a historic teachable moment. Last week I asked if we should be preoccupied with the war in Ukraine. I got several answers back from you, the most pithy being:…
I admit I am preoccupied with the war in Ukraine. Should I not be? I am ambivalent about mixing politics with spirituality, so I am trying to be very cautious here. But as the French sculptor Daniel Buren once wrote: Every act is political whether one is conscious of it or not. If our meditation…