I bought a T-shirt that says, “Aunty’s Worst Nightmare.” It’s an accurate description of me in the eyes of many traditional Sri Lankan aunties. I’ll never be an “appropriate” Sri Lankan American Buddhist. I’m unmarried and childfree by choice, I’m loud, I curse, I...

When I was eleven, I ran home on the last day of school and tore off my dress, literally popping the buttons off, feeling simultaneously guilty and liberated. I put on an old, torn pair of cutoff jean shorts, a white T-shirt, and blue Keds sneakers, and ran with my...

Having taught mindfulness for twenty years, I’ve observed that a specific type of meditation practice has dominated the field for decades—classical mindfulness. Pay attention to your breathing, and when your attention wanders, bring it back to your breath. It’s great...

May We Gather, a collective formed in response to instances of anti-Asian violence in 2020 and 2021, will commemorate the three-year memorial of the 2021 Atlanta area spa shootings with a pilgrimage and peace walk in Antioch, California on March 16. The memorial event...

I was fifteen when my friend’s dad stumped me with a riddle: “A man and his son get into a terrible car crash. The father is killed instantly, but the son is rushed to hospital where the surgeon says, ‘I can’t treat the boy. He’s my son.’ How is this possible?” Being...

Like so many around the globe, the shocking violence perpetrated by Hamas on October 7 and the continuing, horrific reprisal by the Israeli government that has devastated Gaza has broken my heart and riveted my attention. Until last fall, the conflict and violence in...