Buddhist Women on a Path of Spiritual Awakening
Our True Home
The heart’s splendor is known in pure awareness – unstained by thought, nor tainted by anticipation, regret, fear, greed, anger or any harmful feelings. It is integrity itself – present now, we traverse from the self, the narrow sense of me and mine, to…
The Promise of Awakening
Anger and fear are perilous, flammable states of mind – like barnacles attached to a ship’s hull that undermine its power to sail. So we call on wise discernment and forgiveness to rescue us. We take stock: is there any anger within me? Or…
The Noblest Healing of All
Just as one refines gold, we temper the restless thoughts and moods of the mind. We listen and deepen awareness in joyous silence, peaceful and benign. It’s a noble healing of every harm we may have suffered in life. Instead of running from pain,…
Vanquish Hatred With Love
Hatred is a mental prison. We are blessed with freedom from it as long as we can abide in universal love well-nurtured in our own heart. For nature is its own reward and our true nature is nothing short of that pure metta. So,…
We Are Not Separate
Do joy, peace of mind, and trusted friendship rely on the state of the world outside, or on the qualities we foster within us? In the vast presence of pure awareness, trust and courage lift our feet forward, one at a time. We are…
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…
Refuge
True refuge is a call to stop, even for a moment, to see and know the breath that brings the world into and out of consciousness. We witness the liberating silence of that present moment awareness. In the still space between thoughts from which…
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…
Spiritual Joy – A Guided Meditation
Giving our full attention inwardly is waking up to the truth of pure presence. In one breath, one moment of pure awareness, we can know a spiritual joy that deeply calms the mind. The shutters of the heart open to a piercing clarity that…
~ Dhammapada Verse 54