Trigger warning: This story mentions grief, depression, suicidal thoughts, emotional abuse, and sexual abuse. Long before Sofie built the life she has now, she was just trying to cope with a devastating loss. In 2010, she lost her mother to breast cancer. She...

In 1974, Philippe Petit walked a wire strung between the Twin Towers in New York City. For forty minutes, he walked, knelt, lay down, even danced—1,300 feet above the street. What made this possible wasn’t just courage. It was training. Petit had practiced balance his...

Melvin McLeod: Tell us about writing your new book The Robe and the Sword: How Buddhist Extremism Is Shaping Modern Asia.  Sonia Faleiro: It’s based on two years of research. I started out in India, where I was born, and which is, of course, the birthplace of...

As we develop the ability to focus on the nature of mind itself through our shamatha (calm-abiding or mindfulness) meditation, then the mind naturally begins to slow down. As our concentration becomes stronger, the stream of thoughts becomes slower. It can happen that...