Put both hands on your heart, pause, and feel their warmth. You can also put your hand anyplace on your body that feels soothing and comforting, like your belly or face. Breathe deeply in and out. Speak these words to yourself, out loud or silently, in a warm and...
“Go placidly amid the noise and the haste and remember what peace there may be in silence.” With this sentence the German-American writer Max Ehrmann began “Desiderata.” My mother appreciated this poem so much that she hung a framed copy across from the toilet in our...
‘Just listening to the Dharma rain.’ Zen Graffiti
Feeding our demons rather than fighting them contradicts the conventional approach of fighting against whatever assails us. But it turns out to be a remarkably effective path to inner integration. Demons (maras in Sanskrit) are not bloodthirsty ghouls waiting for us...
Pregunta: Tengo dos hijos, uno de siete años y otro de catorce. Me gustaría iniciarles en la meditación y las enseñanzas budistas, pero es difícil competir contra los juegos de Nintendo, sus programas de televisión favoritos y todas las demás cosas emocionantes y...
Rev. Blayne Higa is the Resident Minister of the Kona Hongwanji Buddhist Temple, a Shin Buddhist sangha on the Big Island of Hawaii. Cathryn Dhanatya is cofounder and president/CEO of Growing Good Inc., a professional services firm that partners with nonprofit...
‘Don't make decisions on the strength of desires. Desires can puff us up into thinking we are something we're not.’ Ajahn Chah
Recently, we noticed a stuffy smell in our dharma hall. This led me to check the crawlspace, where I found the air conditioner drip-pan filled with water. This moisture had created the musty smell. While an engineer fixed the AC, I scooped the water into buckets and...
My grandmother passed away in Vietnam in the late 1990s. I was only able to visit her once while she was alive. During that one visit, my mom made it a point to pre-pay for my grandmother’s plot, along with related end-of-life expenses. She knew it might be difficult...
For our next issue of Bodhi Leaves, we want to see your home altar! If you identify as Asian American or as part of the Asian diaspora, send a photo of yourself, your home altar, and a short description of what you display on your altar and why to...