Question: I’m getting conflicting messages from my Buddhist teacher and my psychotherapist about how to deal with strong emotions. My teacher says I should see the emptiness of emotions, and then they won’t affect me so much. But my therapist says I should open myself...

“Buddha, Please Bless My Family” In a silver temple, in the country of his ancestors, Ira Sukrungruang bridges the generations. As our van pulls in, drums reverberate in the small temple courtyard, the music of celebration and grief. A funeral is taking place at Wat...

‘We never leave the present moment; we just fall into thinking.’ Zen Graffiti

‘Every good quality follows from perseverance.’ Engaging in the Middle Way

‘Don't make decisions on the strength of desires. Desires can puff us up into thinking we are something we're not.’ Ajahn Chah

Ésta será probablemente la última charla de sábado por la noche que daré durante bastante tiempo. He recibido noticias de mi hermana en Inglaterra de que nuestra madre está muy enferma y todo indica que no vivirá más de unos meses, así que planeo volar a Inglaterra en...

‘It's nearly the future’ Zen Graffiti

I discovered “do-nothing” farming in my reading of Masanobu Fukuoka, author of One Straw Revolution and one of the pioneers of natural farming and permaculture. After farming for six years with his words in my heart, I have found that Fukuoka’s “do nothing” does not...

Watch your thoughts; they become habits. Watch your habits; they become stories. Watch your stories; they become excuses. Watch your excuses; they become relapses. Watch your relapses; they become dis-eases. Watch your dis-eases; they become vicious cycles. Watch your...

In our culture, people find it difficult to direct loving-kindness to themselves. We may feel that we are unworthy, or that it’s egotistical, or that we shouldn’t be happy when other people are suffering. So rather than start loving-kindness practice with ourselves,...