There is a simple principle that can guide us in our transactions and relationships to bring goodness to everyone involved. I’ve found, at the very least, it brings peace to my mind. But it also helps bring the kind of work associates into my life who I would choose as friends. It makes my life feel more meaningful. It is said to bring blessings. It is the principle of barakah.
Personal and General Writing
What Do You Want From Me?
This is the text of the recent email I sent out to our community of lifequesters. If you would like to be part of that community and receive updates about how to build your own good life, join here. Dear Friends. First of all, I want to thank the many of you who responded to […]
No Impact Man Gets a Colonoscopy
The other day I had a colonoscopy. I was scared before it. I wrote this shortly after I came out… So, I’m out of the colonoscopy. Everyone was so nice. A nurse from China. An anesthesiologist with too white teeth. Some time ago, one of my teachers, Zen Master Soeng Hyang (Bobby Rhodes) […]
Who Do You Matter To?
Do you feel you matter? In an email survey I sent out a while back, people said overwhelmingly that one of the greatest challenges to their quest for a life that is better for them and better for the world is the feeling that they don’t really make a difference. They can’t see that their […]
Is Science or Religion the Correct Path?
Someone said to the sage, “Religion has been used to justify so much abuse and suffering. Surely, science is the better path.” Before the sage could answer, someone else countered, “Science has invented all the worst tools of war. Surely, religion is the better path.” They argued and argued. Finally, someone else asked the sage, […]
The Special Way Only You Can Help
The other day I was sitting in group of people feeling in a bad mood. I was thinking about my “problems.” I looked around the room and I thought, “How come no one else in this room has the problems I have?” Then I remembered the truth: Everyone in the room does have the same problems […]
What If You Were Already Dead?
What if you could no longer earn any money… If you couldn’t go on vacations… If you didn’t have to worry about retirement… If you couldn’t find the best restaurant… If you no longer even had to match your socks… … what would you do? We are so caught up in the petty concerns of […]
What Do You Trust?
There is a question for each of us personally as we move forward in the world but also as our whole society moves forward. What path should we follow? Where should we go? What is our compass point? That existential question has always existed, of course, but with so many dangers to our world the question is […]