“What we have once enjoyed deeply we can never lose. All that we love deeply becomes a part of us.” ~Helen Keller Growing up, I thought my father was a pack rat. He never seemed to throw anything away. Bent nails. Odd screws. Washers without matching bolts. Short...

‘The Muni can observe delusion; the person with delusion cannot.’ Aryadeva

“In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks.” ~John Muir I used to think life was like an obstacle course, a series of hurdles you either cleared or stumbled over. For a long time, I stumbled a lot. What I didn’t realize then was how easily repeated...

Death is one of the most precious experiences in life. It is literally a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. The karma that brought us into this life is exhausted, leaving a temporar­ily clean slate, and the karma that will propel us into our next life has not yet...

“When a flower doesn’t bloom, you fix the environment in which it grows, not the flower.” ~Alexander Den Heijer  He was intelligent, well-read, and kind. A good father, careful about protecting his kids from meeting partners too soon. A man with a life philosophy, who...

‘Buddha as an experience transcends mere personality; it invites us to embody his enlightened awareness, manifesting wisdom and compassion in our own lives.’ Everyday Buddhism

“Between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response.” ~Viktor Frankl A few weeks ago, I moved to a new city for a new job, leaving behind a quiet hill town where I had built five years of friendships, routines, and a...

‘The mind is an affirmative phenomenon, but on the ordinary level it is obscured by concepts.’ Dalai Lama

‘The upper part of our consciousness is called ‘mind consciousness’, and this is linked to the intellect. So a dharma talk should be considered to be like rain falling down on the earth.’ Thich Nhat Hanh

‘Buddhahood comes from cultivation of the. self-nature within us. Do not seek it outside the body. When your self-nature is under delusion, you are ordinary people, but when your self-nature is awakened and alert, you are Buddhas.’ Hui Neng