Reading Archives (Author)
Be Nobody
Consider this: We all know that it is in those moments when we completely lose ourselves — engrossed in a good book or movie,...
So I Believed
"The night before brain surgery, I thought about death. I searched out my larger values, and I asked myself, if I was going to die, did...
Exploring the Human Heart
I thought I knew what fear was, until I heard the words 'You have cancer'. Real fear came with an unmistakable sensation: it was as...
From Wonder into Wonder, Existence Opens
What we look for beyond seeing And call the unseen, Listen for beyond hearing And call the unheard, Grasp for beyond reaching And...
No Illusions, No Resistances
10. Can you coax your mind from its wandering and keep it to the original Oneness? Can you let your body become supple as a new born...
I Would Like ...
What would I like? I would like to live a life of wisdom and compassion, like the sunflower, turning toward what deeply nourishes it. I...
Entertainment Vs. Art
In the increasingly information-heavy times in which we live, distractions abound. The word distraction literally points back to a...
Inclining Toward Freedom, Even Through Imperfections
If we focus only on awakening, we miss most of the spiritual practice. I’m much more interested in how we practice with not...
Isness
Isness is the understanding that everything that exists is not only infinitely alive but also has its own particular vibrancy, vibration,...
New Forms Of Religion
However much the great ship of religion may be sinking, we remain spiritual in our needs and aspirations. If we see that religion has a...
Who Was That Masked Man Anyway?
Humility is founded on creatureliness -- I have been created to do something that only I can do, just as you have been created to...
Can You Love The One Who...
There’s one in you who’s sweet. There’s one in you who’s mean. Can you love them both? Can you let them...
We're Voting With Our Attention
At the base of the brainstem there is a bundle of neurons called the Reticular Activating System (RAS). The RAS acts as a kind of bouncer...
Technique is Unimportant
Technique is unimportant. It takes care of itself without any help from you. Just concentrate fearlessly on whatever you and the canvas...
Love Itself Was Gone
The light came through the window Straight from the sun above And so inside my little room There plunged the rays of love In...
How Randomness Rules Our Lives
I remember, as a teenager, watching the yellow flame of the Sabbath candles dancing randomly above the white paraffin cylinders that...
The Myth of Progress
If we find ourselves discouraged by lack of spiritual progress, after several weeks, months, even years, we do not need to be concerned...
Live Without Regrets
Modern society divides life into various phases. We have childhood, youth, middle age, and old age. Our tendency is to celebrate youth...
Catching Bubbles
Imagine a child trying to catch a soap bubble. After playing with bubbles for a short time, the child learns their nature. He...
Being Successful and Peaceful
The incentive to be successful is one of the most powerful gifts of humanity, energizing our creativity and inspiring us to engage our...
Leave No Trace
"Zen master Dogen said that when birds fly in the sky, they leave no trace. And when fish swim in the water, they leave no trace. With...
Pablo Neruda's Greatest Lesson from Childhood
Playing in the lot behind the house one day when he was still a little boy, Neruda discovered a hole in a fence board. "I looked...
Thinking Beyond the "Box" of Our Judgments
It is difficult, if not impossible, to be genuinely curious about someone’s opinion and try to reach some deeper understanding of what...
What Eugene Taught Me
When I first met Eugene, he had been a peer mediator for several years in his South Bronx high school. Once, when he was asked by...
Monet Refuses The Operation
Doctor, you say there are no haloes around the streetlights in Paris and what I see is an aberration ...
Give Your Story As An Offering
Wait till you feel your own story like a dream, like a possibility, and then give it to the earth as an offering. Give your own story to...
The Extraordinary In The Ordinary
Our acceptance of the ordinary is part of our spiritual maturity and capacity to be of service. It also helps us to avoid the trap of...
Meaning And The Song Of The Soul
Meaning is what calls from the depths of the soul. It is the song that sings us into life. Whether we have a meaningful life depends...
In The Living Present
Tell me not, in mournful numbers, Life is but an empty dream! For the soul is dead that slumbers, And things are not what they seem....
Humility
The dictionary definition of humility is “a modest or low view of one’s own importance.” This always gave me a...
Sacred Mess Of Nature
A seed eventually blooms into the most beautiful flower. But first it must break down, crack open, travel through mud without any...
Pandemic
What if you thought of it as the Jews consider the Sabbath -- the most sacred of times? Cease from travel. Cease from buying and...
Harder I Work, The More I Love
Burnout is being disconnected from Source. I don’t think it’s as related as we'd like to think, to working too long or...
Taking a Stand
Over two thousand years ago, the mathematician Archimedes said, “Give me a place to stand and I’ll move the world.”...
Sufficiency is Not Abundance
We can learn to invest the resources that flow through our lives in a new future for all of us. We can direct those resources, whether...
Money is a Lot Like Water
We’ve allowed this culture of money to shut down our heart, close off access to our soul, and drive us such that we behave in ways...
The Soul of Money
There comes a point where having more than we need becomes a burden. We are overcompensated, overstuffed, swimming in the excess, looking...
The Surprising Truth of Sufficiency
We each have the choice in any setting to step back and let go of the mind-set of scarcity. Once we let go of scarcity, we discover the...