I was walking through the amazing Washington Square Park on my way to lead a meditation for climate activists the other day, and I was feeling so amazed with the trees and the grass and the park. I felt joy. But then I thought, How is it right to feel joy right now when what is […]
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How Red Faced Paddy Changed My Life
There is a story I tell about an encounter I had many years ago with a man we called Red Faced Paddy. It was this encounter that taught me that my presumed “superior” understanding or enlightenment never gives me the right to judge–it only gives me the responsibility to help. Anyway, Red Faced Paddy and […]
On The Night Mom Died
I call this one, “Full Moon On The Water On The Night My Mom Died.”
Eulogy To My Mom
Here is a poem that comes from the funeral ceremony of the Zen tradition of which I am a part. It is called The Human Route Coming empty-handed, going empty-handed – that is human.When you are born, where do you come from?When you die, where do you go?Life is like a floating cloud which appears.Death […]
Yes, I’m a quitter
If you want a life of meaning and purpose, you have to be willing to quit what feels meaningless and purposeless. But if you quit things that are meaningless and purposeless, you leave room for things that have meaning and purpose. Do you think it’s wrong to quit? I used to. I stayed in relationships […]
After Mom’s Death
So when my mom was dying, I’d go and visit her in the morning and then take a break and then go visit her in the afternoon again. One day, I was listening to Bonnie Raitt I Can’t Make You Love Me in the car on the way back to her hospital bed. I got […]
Conversation With My Dying Mom
Visiting my mom, she didn’t say much when I arrived. She seemed to want to doze. I got my computer out to pay her bills while she napped. Then I thought twice. I thought, before I go to bill paying, I’d ask if there was anything she needed to discuss. “Yes,” she said, suddenly alert. […]
The Purpose Of Life–Part 2
The purpose of life is to find the seed of your own compassion and then to help grow that seed in others, says Zen Master Soeng Hyang. My daughter agrees…