Asking Better Questions
When we hit a rough patch—especially a long one like the year we’ve had—it’s common to feel stuck, restless, worried. In many places here in the US (including where I live in California) we’ve...
Blog
Reflections from our teachers
Endarkenment: Embracing the Medicine of Dark and Light
As we navigate the darker months of the global pandemic, I feel the unshakable recognition that darkness has great teachings to offer us. As a female dharma teacher, one who has navigated chronic illness,...
Meeting Each Moment
How do you go straight aheadOn a narrow mountain path whichHas ninety- three curves?– Anonymous Zen Koan Developing the ability to pause and sense is a practice in and of itself. Acknowledging that in...
Self and Not-Self: Who (What) are You?
How do we wake up and live our awaking in the world with all its difficulty, divisiveness and heartache? How do we stay connected to the depth, beauty and richness of who and what...
Our True Nature is Infinite: Practice as a Way of Remembrance
Many are referring to this time as apocalyptic. Fair enough. It can seem as though everywhere we turn a dismantling of some sort is in the works. While we might intellectually feel able to...
Meeting Grief with Love
Last week, I stepped outside our apartment, looked up at the sky, and took a deep breath of fresh air for the first time in over a week. It was a blessed change from...
We Are Not In Charge: Continuously Stepping off a Cliff
“Most people won’t go to a monastery…but for most people the monastery will come to you.” -Shinzen Young In 2020 it would seem the monastery has come to us, whether we wanted it to...
A Call To Action: We are Interconnected
Everything is Impermanent. A teaching I must remember so I don’t stumble into the dark night of the soul. What helps me is the aphorism my late teacher the Venerable Sangharakshita gave me. ‘Reality...
Adapted Excerpt: Blackness and Anger
An adapted excerpt from Lama Rod Owen’s recent book “Love and Rage: The Path of Liberation Through Anger” (2020) – shared with permission Blackness and anger are not the same thing. This has taken...
Restorative Stillness Even During Turbulent Times
The last several months, as soon as you think our world conditions could not possibly get worse, they have. During such harrowing times, it would be easy to let go of your meditation and...