Spirituality

I’m Not Here to Be a Vessel for Fear

Whether this election result was what you wanted or didn’t want, or decided not to participate in, beneath the ups and downs of this moment, there’s something under the surface that isn’t affected by the waves. Now, that wasn’t how I felt at 3:45 a.m. when I got up to...

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Metta is Not for Wimps

An hour and a half before sunrise on election day, I open the garage door and begin to chant. It has become habit, on my short walk to the yoga shala, to recite an homage to the Buddha and the five precepts in Pali, followed by a melodic invocation of the bodhisattva...

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When Numbness Calls, Choose to Feel

My heart is hurting. A lot. The last time this happened, I was on day five of a weeklong meditation retreat. The confusion, sadness, anger, pain were frighteningly palpable within the clarity of deep practice. It feels like I’m right back there now. My heart is...

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Pema Chödrön’s Three Methods for Working with Chaos

Sometimes late at night or on a long walk with a friend, we find ourselves discussing our ideas about how to live and how to act and what is important in life. If we’re studying Buddhism and practicing meditation, we might talk of no-self and emptiness, of patience...

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The Path is Peace

Thich Nhat Hanh, in his 2003 address to congress, says that only deep listening, mindfulness, and gentle communication can remove the wrong perceptions that are the foundation of violence. Distinguished members of Congress, ladies and gentlemen, dear friends, it is my...

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Toward a Worldwide Culture of Love

At a conference on women and Buddhism that took place in spring last year, I was upset because most of the speakers were giving their talks in this serene, beautiful chapel, a place evoking a sense of the divine, a sacred place for the word to be spoken and heard, yet...

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To Have and to Hold Each Other

One of the largest rituals this country engages in is casting votes, to make our marks, to say something. We may cast a vote, not only for oneself, but, for those who are ill or incarcerated, for those who are illiterate, for those who have lost interest. We do this...

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A Time for Bodhisattvas

Zenju Earthlyn Manuel One of the largest rituals this country engages in is casting votes, to make our marks, to say something. We may cast a vote, not only for oneself, but, for those who are ill or incarcerated, for those who are illiterate, for those who have lost...

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