Recently, I had an epiphany while practicing loving-kindness meditation using Tara Brach’s guidance.  For context, the practice I was using is her “Loving-Kindness for Others” meditation presented in this issue. In this version, you offer phrases of goodwill to three...

In the wake of the 2024 American election, leading Buddhist and mindfulness teacher Tara Brach gathered with friends to sit in silence. They were just outside of Washington, D.C., and fear and reactivity swirled through their minds. But slowly, their thoughts...

This loving-kindness practice invites us to awaken the heart by seeing the goodness in others and offering sincere blessings for their well-being. We begin with those who are easy to love, then extend care to those we know less well and, finally, to those with whom we...

Andrea Miller: What was your introduction to Buddhism? Jet Li: In the 1980s, I was making my first movie, Shaolin Temple. I went to a few temples to make that film, and I was so happy. The temples just felt very familiar. After the movie was released, then I was quite...

Our research told us that the path to inner flourishing demands both steady practice and a comprehensive approach to training the mind, one focused on a range of different qualities, from mindful awareness to deep insight into the workings of the human mind. We...

Land is being returned to native tribes. Renewable energy is taking hold as an obvious and cost-efficient choice. Women’s rights are so firmly entrenched there’s now a right-wing backlash against them. Rebecca Solnit, in her new book The Beginning Comes After the End:...

Does this scenario sound familiar? You walk into the meditation hall or your favorite meditation spot at home. You settle into a comfortable posture, place your hands in a gentle, mindful position, and lower your eyelids or softly close your eyes. Perhaps you offer an...

“It gets easier. Every day it gets a little easier. But you gotta do it every day, that’s the hard part.” ~ BoJack Horseman If you’d told eighteen-year-old me where she’d be at twenty-eight, she would have laughed nervously and changed the subject. That was her move,...

Have you ever noticed yourself gesturing while you’re talking on the phone? Even though the person on the other end can’t see them, your movements evoke feelings in you that are inseparable from what you’re verbalizing. The gestures complete the picture.  Or notice...

‘May all those lost in gloom, awaken to the brightness of awareness.’ Everyday Buddhism