two nights ago, a friend of ours got savagely beaten. they live right across a school with a big, open playground, which is often used for wild late-night partying. he went out and asked them to keep it down. six people swarmed him and beat him so badly that a piece of metal got lodged… Continue reading praying to stop violence
Category: spirituality
open hearts
jeff’s comments on my last post about gratitude about open hearts reminded me of something very beautiful that alice walker, one of my favourite authors (the temple of my familiar is one of my all-time favourite books), once said in an interview with sharon salzberg for shambala sun, a buddhist magazine: “You know, what are… Continue reading open hearts
gratitude, awareness and patience
gratitude is a funny thing. i used to find it incredibly hard to be grateful for things that people expected me to be grateful for. i would just be resentful. that doesn’t really happen anymore; i suspect it’s mostly because i have weeded from my life most of the people who want to “make” me… Continue reading gratitude, awareness and patience
driving meditation
back in the 90s, i spent a few years teaching a weekly meditation class at our local YWCA. it was at 5:00 pm, so i had to drive through thick traffic right into the hub of downtown. one day i felt i had not meditated enough myself to present a good meditation class, but there… Continue reading driving meditation
alcohol, prometheus and freedom
is it the sugar, or the buzz that comes after a few glasses, or the hit of the booze right at the first swallow, or is it the taste, the burn in the throat? or the smell, the neat line-up of bottles at the liquor store? the memory of great parties, the memory of all… Continue reading alcohol, prometheus and freedom
food meme
lots of blogs have memes, so i thought i’d put one up, too. why don’t you answer or comment on a few (or all) of these questions. or feel free to propagate them on your own blog. let’s see what happens … how do our eating habits relate to world hunger?
july 20 newsletter
july 20, 2006 dear friends – wow, it’s almost august already! i wonder how many you are on vacation right now, enjoying a change of pace, a change of environment, and hopefully lots of relaxation … the older i get, the more i appreciate the rhythm that carries me through the years. this time of… Continue reading july 20 newsletter
homilies i like
never pass up a good opportunity to shut up. it takes courage to grow up and turn out to be who you really are. the best way to stop feeling like a liar is to stop lying. the bad thing about self-pity is that it gives me permission to do absolutely nothing. don’t believe everything… Continue reading homilies i like
my birthday wish
today is my birthday. i have a wish. at this time, there are a few people in my life who are deep in the throes of suffering. my wish is that whoever reads this, may send good thoughts to my friends, to any friend you know who is suffering. in the words of the buddha… Continue reading my birthday wish
my latest newsletter
hi – thought i’d post my latest “what’s new” email here … here we go … dear friends – the other day i was walking by my garden and all of a sudden it hit me: this is starting to look like the garden i had always dreamed of! a little wild and chaotic, with… Continue reading my latest newsletter