Buddhist Women on a Path of Spiritual Awakening
What More Can I Give?
After long years of monastic renunciation, living in seclusion and devoted to spiritual practice, I began to question if this was enough. Was I deluded about the quality of my efforts? Had I really let go the world living with so much peace and…
Pain, Forgiveness, and Freedom
We have the gift of a priceless inheritance, a BPS – Buddha’s Positioning System. It’s a map to freedom from hatred by way of undaunted love and compassion. It sets our feet on the hero’s path to the oasis of Truth. With the power…
What the Angel Asked the Buddha
How are we to nurture truth and peace in the midst of a world besieged by moral disintegration and violence? The Buddha gave an angel this advice: “Not apart from awakening and austerity, not apart from sense restraint, not apart from relinquishing all, do…
Darkness Just Before Dawn
Could we really love if we lived forever? There is no true love without suffering. This is revealed through our mortality and the impermanence of all conditioned things. We are not the body but its fragility reflects our true essence. Just as when a…
At Home With the Wise
What frees us from fear, anger, sorrow, chaos and all the many other sufferings of the mind? Beneath the rubble and ruin we may feel, in the silent depths of our own heart, there is a treasure. It may be hidden but it is…
Empty Yourself of Fear
One night, while Malani was dying, we gathered a group of her close friends to meditate with her. Each breath was a struggle yet she stayed aware, serene, composed, and at peace. We listened in silence, breathing freely – but our minds were not…
As the Hollow Reed Becomes a Flute
There is a transcendent Reality – inaccessible to the thought world – but to be known with right mindfulness and its accompanying powers of mind, patiently developed and polished day by day. These skills we learn provide tremendous traction to cultivate the mind, like…
Even Owls Know Who
Who are we? More than two and a half millennium ago, the Buddha hesitated to teach us, but he relented for the benefit of those with little dust in their eyes. Can we actually clear the dust away, earnestly, patiently – studying, examining and…
Wisdom Power
Treasure the silence within and listen attentively. Where else can we find the spiritual heights but within our own heart? In one moment of pure presence, we discover the joy, patience, mindfulness and ‘kindfulness’ that open our eyes to the truth of what we…
The Guests Come and Go
“Being human is a guest house” wrote Rumi. Every day we greet new arrivals – joys, sorrows, hostilities and more; and moments of awareness too. We bow to the present moment and greet them all, be they thorns or unruly monsters like malice, shame,…
~ Dhammapada Verse 54