Where I come from there are six months of icy, gray winter. There are sea chanteys and the introspective wail of bagpipes. And there is fish-and-chips—salty with a splash of vinegar. In contrast, where my husband, Adán, comes from there are magenta bougainvilleas,...
Evolution has rigged all of us with a negativity bias—a survival-driven habit to scan for what’s wrong and fixate on it. In contemporary society, a pervasive target is our own sense of unworthiness. We habitually fixate on how we’re falling short—in our relationships,...
‘The real function of zazen is not to rest the mind but to establish a base or foundation for it.’ Rindo Fujimoto Roshi
Gyalo Thondup, the second-eldest brother of His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, has died at age 97 in his home at Kalimpong, Northern India. He served not only as an advisor to His Holiness, but as the Tibetan government-in-exile’s Prime Minister in 1991 and...
‘Remain in the Buddha-mind. Then you’ll never stray, then you’ll be a living Buddha for all time.’ Bankei
‘When we say that there is no self, people get worried, or angry. Their attachment and identification to this idea of a self is so strong.’ Buddhadasa Bhikkhu
‘Despite their limitations, words remain indispensable. The Buddhist tradition itself is built upon texts, dialogues, and commentaries—words pointing beyond words. The challenge is not to avoid language, but to use it skilfully, without becoming trapped by it.’...
My dear friends, suppose someone is holding a pebble and throws it in the air and the pebble begins to fall down into a river. After the pebble touches the surface of the water, it allows itself to sink slowly into the river. It will reach the bed of the river without...
‘Just as the great ocean has one taste, the taste of salt, so too this Dhamma-Vinaya has one taste, the taste of liberation.’ The BuddhaUdāna Sutra
At Plum Village, the practice center where I live, we learn to come in touch with the wonders of nature as a source of nourishment and healing. Cultivating awareness of the impact of our daily actions on the planet, we turn off lights when not in use, use water...