Am I dreaming?
Just as our mindfulness meditation builds the capacity to unemotionally witness the unfolding imagery in our waking state, it also allows our dream-awareness to neutrally observe its own late night show. I had this dream…
a moveable monastery
The contemplative life benefits from periodic self-reflection We meditate for many different reasons. Often, our original motivations morph as we move forward on this path. It’s juicy to reflect why we keep this up; and to…
safety
Hurricane Lane may be an opportunity to mindfully experience the discomforts many face as facts of life: no dependable electric power, no clean, running water, no internet, and no cell service. As I write this weekly…
guns n’lotuses
The prominent Buddhist teacher, author, and activist, Joan Halifax, on the day of this shooting tweeted “I want to live in a country that loves its children more than its guns.” I would like to…
why I stopped making new year’s resolutions
This year, I decided to not make any resolutions. Well, except maybe one. I resolve to just be myself. I always felt making a set of resolutions meant needing to improve myself, be better at something,…
facts of life
I am often asked why I meditate. Sometimes it’s phrased – What are you trying to accomplish by just sitting on a cushion? Depending on who asks, I answer something like – To clearly see why…
recognition
Fairy tales often convey deep meaning. Take Hans Christian Andersen’s story of the ugly duckling. A baby swan is orphaned and raised by ducks. The ducks know he is not one of them, and the little…
emotions
I would like to address a couple of misconceptions I often hear regarding meditation and one’s emotional life. The first is we meditate to either to get rid of negative emotions, such as anger, or to…
focus
Mindfulness helps us recognize the chronic frazzle, which is like discovering the horse you are riding has reigns. Actually sitting down to meditate is like gently tugging on those reigns for the restless energy to slow…
refuge
We suffer because we forget what we truly are. We take refuge and remember. We forget we are love and compassion; that we are hard-wired to feel and connect. We forget we are truly and profoundly…
lychees
The lychees didn’t fruit much this year. In fact, barely at all. I thought maybe it was something I said? Karma, you know. Two years ago, our family was excited to see the tiny new buds…
innocence
When we sit and settle our body and begin to explore that unique space that opens up when we close our eyes: –the tactile dimension of pure body sensations, –the sonic realm of sounds arising and…
drink deep
In one of Tara Brach’s online talks on self-compassion, she tells a story about the work of Dian Fossey with gorilla groups in Rwanda. Ms. Fossey was asked how her research group was able to obtain much…
maybe she’s right
The prominent mindfulness meditation teacher Jack Kornfield tells this story illustrating the freshness of what has been called beginner’s mind in one of his talks about a Western woman who ordained under Ajahn Chah in…
occupy home
I read online somewhere that before they enter kindergarten kids are exposed to thousands of commercials. I remember when our son was just four he told me most emphatically “Daddy we need to buy that toothpaste…
these are the good old days
The other night my wife and kids threw me a 60th birthday party where, after the usual social stuff, folks started dancing to 60’s music. Great songs from the Beatle’s White Album segued into the Rolling…
Spiritually incorrect?
In this much written about contentious election season, filled with so many angry accusations and counter accusations, where civility and decency appear to often take a back seat to distrust and fear, we cannot but take…
mindfulness: undoing our own knots
For folks who are just starting this journey of mindfulness meditation, it can be rough going. I think the hardest part of this process is getting started, getting past the initial big bumps on the road….
joy as a moral obligation
I recently read a passage from a book by the Franciscan priest and author Richard Rohr which resonated deeply. He writes in Eager to Love: The Alternative Way of Francis of Assisi: “Christianity is not a moral…
mindfulness and the tiny purple flowers by the side of the road
We already have what we need – your brain and your heart are your temples, and your philosophy, kindness. It seems many of us get hooked by trying to get somewhere in our mindfulness meditation practice. …
meditation changes your brain–for the better
Meditation changes your brain. The you meditate, the more you respond to life from the place of calm, compassion, and awareness. I often hear folks, when in a conversation about how they wish to improve…
mindfulness: the monkey pod tree in the beach park
Have you ever had the experience of being irritated with someone or about something, like a parking ticket, while waking somewhere when suddenly you notice a gorgeous sunset is also happening? How long did it…
Gazing Upon Mercy
On this New Year’s Day, I struggle with what to do about New Year’s resolutions. Should I bother? If past years and decades are any indication, they will just turn into a source of disappointment and…
Aloha Ke Akua: God is Love
We don’t need any more divisiveness, we have had enough to satisfy any curiosity for what this contacted state feels like to last until the end of time, if time were to end. The same goes…
