Reading Archives (Author)
Remember Ourselves As A Murmuration
The murmuration of birds is one of my favorite phenomena in nature—an occurrence where Starlings flock together with up to hundreds...
Search in the Right Place
A Zen parable ... A man came home late one night and as he was approaching his gate he accidently dropped his key on the ground where it...
Heaven and Hell
A great and powerful warrior came to the head monk of a monastery. He asked the monk to show him the difference between heaven and...
No Questions, No Conflict
Upon meeting a Zen master at a social event, a psychiatrist decided to ask him a question that had been on his mind. "Exactly how do...
True Love
Two brothers worked together on the family farm. One was married and had a large family. The other was single. At the day's end, the...
Trees Don't Compare
A samurai, a very proud warrior, came to see a Zen Master one day. The samurai was very famous, but looking at the beauty of the Master...
The River Of Silence
Death, whether our own or others, can be a powerful gateway to complete tenderness. The confrontation with the impermanence of all things...
Sweeping My Heart
For me, a dark-skinned person of African descent, cleaning the temple as Zen practice felt inappropriate and uncomfortable when I was at...
Nothing Left to Fight Against
During the Vietnam War, I was a political activist. I fought for peace. There was some contradiction. There...
The False Duality Between "Job" And "Service"
Around the time when I set off for Asia in July, two of my dearest friends/teachers both went from full-time volunteer work to taking...