This piece comes from my Zen school's newsletter and I just thought it was perfect in the face of all we're dealing with in environment. It's a gift for all of you who are working to save the world for the rest of us. The first part is a letter from a student to Zen […]
Zen and Meditation
If you’re at a loss for how to help
This post is dedicated to my friend Amy Wilson. Lately, I’ve been giving a lot of talks and answering a lot of questions and, often times, people ask how they can help. This is a wonderful question, but waiting for someone else to answer it is not quite as wonderful. Let me say why. The […]
A little snippet from my book
Something happened yesterday that reminded me of this little snippet of my book No Impact Man which comes out in September and which you can pre-order from Amazon, BN.Com, and online from your local independent bookseller: I watched a video of Pema Chödrön, a Buddhist nun, discussing the reaction of New York citizens when the […]
Zen and the Art of the Climate Ride
At the end of September, I’ll be riding bikes along with a bunch of other folks from New York to Washington to give voice to the fact that we want our elected representatives to take care of the planet we depend upon for our health, happiness and security. We want to let them know that […]
Design that doesn’t waste
In the meditation school where I sit, we have formal Zen meals during retreats. Each of us sets out four bowls in front of the mats on which we sit. Water is placed in the furthermost, right-hand bowl. Different types of food go in the other bowls. But what is fascinating from a conservation perspective […]
When it comes to saving the world, just try, try, try
There is a story I love, one of those stories that bolsters me up. It’s about the Korean monk who founded the school of Zen where I meditate (the Kwan Um School of Zen). Dae Soen Sa Nim, as his students called him, decided that world peace would come if all the religious leaders of […]
On not hurting ourselves
The other day, I visited the Dharma Field Zen Center, here in Minneapolis, where I’m spending Christmas. I enjoyed Buddhism: It’s Not What You Think, by Steve Hagen, the head teacher there, so I thought it would be fun to drop in and taste the flavor of the temple. One Soto Zen tradition Steve showed […]
Forgive me if I sound too pious
I have a friend, a Zen teacher, who lost his daughter a decade or so ago. Years passed, and he asked his own teacher, “I have been meditating for many years, but underneath, I still feel an abiding sadness. Am I doing something wrong?” His teacher told him, “What you feel is Universal Sadness.” When […]