Category Archives: Spirtual Practice

If your faith is not robust enough for jokes, puns, and other forms of playing with it, it probably isn\’t robust enough to get you through hard times.

If you\’re sure the world is coming apart, there\’s plenty of evidence it is. If you\’re sure the world\’s getting better everyday, there\’s signs everywhere. A Buddhist teacher defined humility as seeing things exactly as they are. It\’s a difficult … Continue reading →

There is a vitality, a life force, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and there is only one of you in all time. This expression is unique, and if you block it, it will never exist through … Continue reading →

Much of what was isn\’t and much of what is is broken. This world is out of joint and I, I can\’t find my way to a better place. I hear the beat of dancing on the other side of … Continue reading →

As the line from the old blues song puts it, \”When things go wrong with you, it hurts me too.\” This is the original meaning of compassion—to suffer with. Or as Bill Clinton put it, \”I feel your pain.\” Most … Continue reading →

In 21st Century America, meditation is almost synonymous with Buddhist practice for both monastics and lay people. It wasn\’t always that way. And still isn\’t in much of the Buddhist world. Meditation en Masse in Tricycle magazine tells the reaction … Continue reading →

Teddy Bears act as reservoirs of love for us all. When giving one to someone, hug it and talk to it before you send it on its way. It needs to arrive full.

Confronted by my messy room, my mother would say, \”What if the Queen should come?\” The Queen has the grace to call ahead. But God doesn\’t schedule appointments, God just comes. And will I have time \’n room in my … Continue reading →

”In the beginner\’s mind there are many possibilities, in the expert\’s mind there are few. — Shunry? Suzuki Roshi   The above quote has always bothered me. My immediate reaction is, “You need some better experts.” There is an anti-intellectual … Continue reading →