Returning the Gift
In the teachings of my Potawatomi ancestors, responsibilities and gifts are understood as two sides of the same coin. The possession of a...
I-It and I-Thou
(Reflections on "I-Thou" by Martin Buber) I-It relationships come in two varieties. Some are strictly utilitarian....
Moved by Love
In the Himalayas, there lived an infamous bandit named Sultana, who plundered the caravans of rich pilgrims and looted resource-rich...
A Scheme to Change the World?
The other day I lectured in Paris and after my lecture a very able man came to me and said, 'Have you got a scheme?' I said,...
You Play The Piano
The existence, the physical universe is basically playful. There is no necessity for it whatsoever. It isn’t going anywhere. That...
Praise Song for Wide Open Space
Wide open spaces fill my heart with a sense of awe. It can be a plain, a desert, a view from a mountaintop, a vista. Somehow wide open...
Why Meditate
Meditation is the act of getting quiet and settling the mind. It’s the process of slowing and eventually stopping your thoughts, at...
Letting Meaning Flow Into Purpose
The only point where one can start to talk about anything, including death, is where one finds oneself. And for me this is as a...
My Misgivings About Advice
My misgivings about advice began with my first experience of clinical depression thirty-five years ago. The people who tried to...
Theory and Practice
If we look at what theory is, it’s essentially an abstraction, or representation, of direct experience. It’s a way for us to...
Shaped by a Silky Attention
A request for concentration isn't always answered, but people engaged in many disciplines have found ways to invite it in. Violinists...
Medicine for the Earth
In all spiritual traditions it is taught that everything that manifests in the physical world starts in the invisible realms of spirit....