A bell sounded, slow and sonorous, from a nearby church. It was early in November, the maples still ablaze against a cloudless sky. Such rusty reds and flaming golds, such a delicate, pale bright blue! It was as if the chimes swirled out around each separate tree,...
“In each life there are two lives, and the second one begins when we realize we only have one.” This quote attributed to Confucius is one of my favorite bits of wisdom ever written about death. Its simple math illustrates poignantly the medicine present in...
The mind is a tricky, stubborn thing. When we try to force it to behave, it resists. Sometimes it seems as if it’s an external force taking us over, out of our control, in our face. This is definitely the case with anxiety. Anxiety lodges in our mind and freaks out...
‘It isn’t question of thinking in terms of becoming a stream-enterer or becoming an arahant, or wondering, ‘‘Have I attained stream-entry yet’’.’ Ajahn Sumedho
Soto Zen monastics around the world learn a ritualized eating practice known as oryoki. This word combines the Chinese characters for “receive,” “amount,” and “bowl,” so it’s basically the practice of receiving the right amount. The ceremony is an elaborate sequence...
Lion’s Roar is delighted to announce that we have released our 2023 Report to Our Community. Our annual community report highlights the Lion’s Roar Foundation’s activities and accomplishments in 2023, introduces our board and staff, and gives an overview of financial...
‘Somebody who is always saying, 'I'm no good,' won't try at anything because, 'Things always go wrong for me. The teacher said that people today, and always, sell themselves cheap.’ Trevor Leggett
Wesak or Vesak celebrates Visakha Puja on first full moon of May.
In his “Instructions to the Cook,” Dogen, the Japanese founder of the Soto Zen school, wrote that someone working to benefit others should maintain three minds: magnanimous mind (daishin), parental mind (roshin), and joyful mind (kishin). Magnanimous mind (or “big...
In August 2011, a doctor at a hospital in mid-central Wisconsin called to tell me my mother was in the intensive care unit. She explained that Mom was suffering from dehydration and kidney failure and had been brought by ambulance to the emergency room. Sitting on my...