Honoring Complexity, Being Rooted in Simplicity
The complexity of life can mask its poignancy. The web of daily tasks and events can seem so manifold, so knotty and tangled, that the...
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...
The Practice of Desire
Someone once shared with me this very simple yet profound discovery, "If I practice desire, I suffer." What could be simpler?...
The Grain of the Wood
There are two sides to the path of practice: the side of developing and the side of letting go. And it's important that you see the...
Cool Loneliness
As human beings, not only do we seek resolution, but we also feel that we deserve resolution. However, not only do we not deserve...
The Dark Side of the Sacred
Emotions live in the body. It is not enough simply to talk about them, to be a talking head. We need to focus our attention on emotions...
Indigenous Intelligence
My mother used to tell me a Jain story when I was a child: Adam was lost in the jungle, and there he encountered two wild elephants....
The Integrity of True Beauty
Thought is an amazing thing: it can be a mirror, a lens, a bridge, a wall, a window, a ladder or a house. There is nothing in the world...
The Japanese Word, Mu
Yes and no…this or that…one or zero. In the basis of this elementary two-term discrimination, all human knowledge is built...
Beginning Right Here and Now
Having been jolted out of the comfortable inertia of our previous religious and scientific dicta by decades of discoveries into the...
The Humility in True Genius
A universal characteristic of genius is humility; after all, those in whom we recognize genius commonly disclaim it, as they’ve...
Knowing When to Improvise
A successful life involves both planning and improvising. Sometimes we actually do need a script. Those scripts that are working well for...