tea, zen and the complexity of mental illness

my good friend carol has a new blog, cha-cha-cha – adventures with tea.  she just published one of my melodramatic poems there, ode to tea. tea – a neverending topic. reminds me a bit of the twitter and face-to-face conversations i’ve had in the last few days (with the ever-thoughtful ashok, for example) about  the… Continue reading tea, zen and the complexity of mental illness

buddhist carnival – december 2008 edition, part 1

merry christmas! you know what’s funny? by 1992, i had pretty much foresworn elaborate christmas celebrations, and was quite happy with it. that’s the year i met my husband. now he grew up in a buddhist household. “yay, a bonus!” i thought. and yes, definitely, i’m very lucky to have married into that family. but… Continue reading buddhist carnival – december 2008 edition, part 1

november buddhist carnival, part 2

here’s part 2 of this month’s buddhist carnival. thoughts … thank you! gigablonde offers making peace with meditation, something i can relate to very well. she opens up space for a whole new relationship with meditation through principles of jack kornfield’s buddhist meditation for beginners. meet whatever arises with kindness and balance and wisdom …… Continue reading november buddhist carnival, part 2

simplicity and the internet

as someone with a strong buddhist influence, i often think about simplicity, and make tiny, cautious steps towards it. my baroque mind finds this rather ridiculous because life is most fun and exciting when there are lots and lots of decorations and curlicues, when there is boundless abundance and variations upon variations on themes upon… Continue reading simplicity and the internet

september buddhist carnival – the delusion edition

one of the first pieces of information i came across this morning, before breakfast yet, was the the stock market disaster today. a bit of nervousness wanted to creep in. how good to remember that the fears that can be aroused by such events are made of illusion, and that the stability that we all… Continue reading september buddhist carnival – the delusion edition

a buddhist carnival – june 2008, part 2

here, friends, is the second part of this month’s buddhist carnival. the first part is here. enjoy! forgiveness andrew, on his blog rants of a gay lunatic (i have to confess that such a title immediately makes me perk up my ears) does not directly mention buddhism in his article why we must forgive president… Continue reading a buddhist carnival – june 2008, part 2