In my freshman year of college, my religious studies class was at the sleepy hour of two o’clock, and to make matters worse the professor was hypnotically soft-spoken and wore tired shades of brown. So on the day that he slowly enumerated the four noble truths on the...

‘Don't invite the future.’ Words of my Perfect Teacher

In 2020, we at Lion’s Roar were blessed when the award-winning Tibetan singer-songwriter Yungchen Lhamo specially recorded a premiere video of her song “Awakening” (from her album of the same name) as part of our first “Dalai Lama Global Vision Summit,” produced in...

Today I took a long walk through the high desert woods of the Cerro Gordo Mountains. I’ve never taken this walk before, so I stepped cautiously around gnarly tree roots, keeping my attention bright in the hopes of avoiding a twisted ankle or stepping on the baby...

To practice mindfulness is to become alive. Life is so precious, yet in our daily lives we are carried away by our forgetfulness, anger and worries. We are often lost in the past, unable to touch life in the present moment. When we are truly alive, everything we touch...

Question: I don’t really like formal meditation that much but I love going for contemplative walks, listening to beautiful music, reading Buddhist books, and other things that feel spiritual to me. Is it OK if I find other ways to be meditative besides sitting on a...

In Zen we are instructed, “When hungry, just eat.” Whenever we eat or drink we have the opportunity to turn our attention to the vivid clarity of this very moment of experience—if we take time to just eat. Too often we feel that eating is something to get over quickly...

‘Even if you explain 1000s of sutras and shastras, unless you see your nature, yours is the teaching of a mortal, not a Buddha.’ Bodhidharma

When I was ordained as a Buddhist pastor, I took the bodhisattva vow. The vows begin with: Sentient beings are numberless, I vow to save them all. This was daunting. “I vow to save everyone?” I thought. “Everyone?” I could commit to the other vows: Dharma Gates are...

‘Meditate for its own sake — for awakening.’ Everyday Buddhism