Becoming aware of intention is the key to awakening in moment-to-moment practice. In each situation that calls for our engagement, some inner intention will precede…
The great Persian poet Rumi had an extraordinary teacher named Shams. Even as a child Shams seemed different. His own parents struggled with whether to…
Another form of aversion that we can learn to be mindful of is boredom. Usually we are afraid of boredom and will do anything to…
The near enemy of equanimity is indifference or callousness. We may appear serene if we say, “I’m not attached. It doesn’t matter what happens anyway,…
There are many levels on which we can strengthen and awaken compassion in our lives. We can practice it in silence as we sit. When…
Wise intention and skillful service need to be nourished by periods of quiet and prayer. Every great tradition includes some from of the Sabbath. In…
This is a second principle for releasing repeated patterns-Open to a Full Awareness of the Feelings. It is the feeling level that controls most of…
Spiritual Awakening is found in the here and now. In the Zen tradition they say, “After the ecstasy, the laundry.” Spiritual maturity manifests itself in…
In the Arthurian legends, the young knight Parsifal joins the Knights of the Round Table to seek the Holy Grail. His mentor, Gournamond, tells him
Once two Tibetan monks traveling on pilgrimage came to a rushing river. There they saw an ugly old leper woman sitting on the bank, begging…
Buddhist psychology calls non-identification the abode of awakening, the end of clinging, true peace, nirvana. Without identification, we can respectfully care for ourselves and others,…
In the ancient texts, karma is written as a compound word, karma-vipaka. Karma-vipaka means “action and result,” or what we call cause and effect. This…
