Ask Why Your Mind Is Not Free
The word ‘freedom’ has been greatly abused by tyrannical as well as democratic governments, and religions too, everywhere in...
Saying Yes To Our Lives
All my life, I have been enamored of the God-intoxicated ones. Those rarified souls who slip into ecstatic states and spontaneously...
The Super Chrysalis
While walking along a creek path a few weeks ago, I stopped to inspect a Monarch Waystation that had been constructed this past spring....
When Things Fall Apart
I used to have a sign pinned up on my wall that read: “Only to the extent that we expose ourselves over and over to annihilation...
A Hopeful Skeptic
According to an ancient myth, hope arrived on earth as part of a curse. Prometheus stole fire from the gods, and Zeus avenged the theft...
Live By Vow, Not By Transaction
As we approach the new year, I find myself thinking about vow. In Zen communities, this is the traditional time to renew our...
Just Note Gone
Which technique would I pick as the quickest path to enlightenment? That is a question that I’m often asked. It’s a...
Who Is The One That Counts?
It is not the critic who counts; not the (one) who points out how the strong (person) stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have...
Genie Cannot Return To The Bottle
The genie cannot return to the bottle, because the inside is the outside now. It seemed so safe and comfortable inside, familiar from...
Where The Ganges Murmur On A Sunny Day
Have you ever unlocked the main door and entered your home after a vacation of two or four weeks? You are greeted by the smell of a...
Freewill And Responsbility
Do I have free will? No. I am not separate from the perceptions, thoughts and actions that make up my world. And if I am what seems to...
Sit Under The Tree
One of the most important things that humanity has to learn for its survival is that the choice between self and other, between...