everything is a mess and it’s fine
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 …
a slow, simple life
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. …
curiosity, mindfulness and anxiety
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 …
not knowing is most intimate
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? …
the universe marinating itself
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 …
In Buddhism, aging is a spiritual practice
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. …
eating the blame
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 …
attachment in Buddhism
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 …
why meditation is important
I thought I knew why meditation is important. But I had no idea exactly how it is important. Now meditation is truly life changing. When I first started …
when is the best time to meditate?
… 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 …
meditate every day? yes, you can!
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 …
openness to experience
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 …
in praise of maladjustment
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. …
hijacked by my news feed, again
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 …
on having no goals
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 …
appreciate your life
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. …
let go of expectations
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 …
the mindfulness of outrage
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 …
do I have to be Buddhist to benefit from mindfulness?
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 …
i read the news today, oh boy
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 …
bearing witness to the war in Ukraine
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 …