An experiment to follow Mahatma Gandhi’s moral principles in these immoral times? It was an idea that seemed crazy and implausible, yet I took it on anyway. Why Gandhi? Why me? Why now? Let me explain. By the spring of 2019, I had hit a wall. Spiraling into a dark...
Her Liberation: Bhikkhuni Dhammawati Guruma
I’m ushered into a small, crowded shrine room where there’s an abundance of offerings, Buddha statues, and images of Buddhism’s first nun, Mahaprajapati Gautami. I’m here to meet Bhikkhuni Dhammawati Guruma, the legendary ninety-year-old nun who’s widely credited with...
Cholo Dharma
I was raised in Los Angeles, California, from the mid-1980s to the early 2000s. When I was growing up, my mother used to caution me not to interact with gang members and would prevent me from purchasing or wearing clothes that might be associated with gang...
Be Confident in Your Buddhanature
At some point, most of us have felt the quiet ache of not being enough—not smart enough, capable enough, or worthy enough. This sense of deficiency can burden our hearts, shaping how we see ourselves and holding us back from living fully and authentically. Yet, the...
How Mindfulness Builds Confidence
Cultivating confidence isn’t always what comes to mind when people think of mindfulness, nor the reason why they decide to practice meditation or study Buddhism. We often start out looking to reduce stress or just generally be more grateful and present for all the...
Morning meditation — Knowing mind as no-mind.
‘Knowing mind as no-mind, neither ill nor medicine. In confused times all matters, though troubling, are not different. Originally nothing 0to grasp, why then use remedies? Though magic shows exist, they're empty appearances.’ Zen Master Niutou
Morning meditation — The Buddha’s rejection of both annihilationism and nihilism.
‘The Buddha’s path is one of practice and insight, leading each person to their own awakening, beyond words, beyond teachers, and beyond the constraints of the ordinary mind.’ Everyday Buddhism
Our true self is not defined by the transient.
Instead, it lies far beyond the impermanent world of form.
Morning meditation — Without mind following things, freely playing everywhere.
‘Without mind following things, freely playing everywhere. Awakening through non-awakening, enlightenment without enlightenment. Gain and loss both cast aside, who speaks of good or bad? All actions originally without doing.’ Zen Master Niutou
Morning Meditation — Maybe we are immersed in a noisy environment.
‘Maybe we are immersed in a noisy environment and then, perhaps, go into the mountains. But then we can feel scared by the silence because of being so used to a constant background of noise.’ Corrado Pensa
