Musings

Last week I was in Mexico, on the west coast at Chacala (population 300), an hour and a half drive north of Puerto Vallarta. It is one of the last undeveloped palm-fringed bays in the area, now being threatened by commercial developers who want to turn the lovely sylvan beach into a marina and condos. There I was fortunate to meet and get to know a wonderful medical missionary named Dr. Laura de Valle, a trained physician and alternative medicine doctor, grandmother and zen Buddhist who has worked there almost single handedly serving the area for twenty-five years and is currently embroiled in trying...

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My dear friend Mirabai Bush, founder of The Contemplative Mind in Society Institute, based in Northampton, Massachusetts, has this to say: “In this present political moment, words are being used both to inspire and to manipulate. What is a contemplative to do?  Well, for an organization committed to the power of silence, we find ourselves most of the time talking, writing, speaking out. And discussing contemplative speech-what it is, what it isn't.” I learned my first contemplative practices in a monastery in Bodh Gaya, India, a dusty village of temples and chai stands. I sat in meditation...

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The single election issue that every member of the Text Message Generation cares about is the environment. To all Text Messagers: This is the year of the Text Generation. I hope y’all will get out the vote in the upcoming presidential election. In truth, every day is election day; whatever we do, say, think, desire and intend is a vote for how the world will be.  The world is your hands, head and heart, body and soul. Use it, don’t abuse it. It’s now or never—as always. Polls tell us that about half of youthful voters don’t show up on election day. I understand that many young people...

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Bob Dylan is, for my money, the poet of our generation, although Allen Ginsberg is a close second. And both figure in the new film “I’m Not There” about his life, his music, and most of all his protean self. Universally acknowledged as the pre-eminent poet/lyricist and songwriter of his time, he was prematurely elevated by the media--which he despised--to the role of spokesmen, yet the reclusive Dylan wouldn’t admit to having any particular message nor to being a poet. “I don’t like the word,” he said. However, his biting, often cryptic lyrics served as a running commentary in capturing...

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1. Generosity--Gift-giving, Volunteering, Reaching out (calling, writing, acknowledging), Cheerfulness. 2. Share a prayer. 3. Give yourself a gift: material, or simply of time and space. 4. Inspirational reading. 5. Plumb the meaning of the particular holiday and season (and your locale). 6. Connect with someone you have difficulty relating to-- for example, finding some ground ground to talk about or something to like about a family member you usually have difficulty with at holiday gatherings. 7. Serve at a shelter, provide food for those in need, make hospital visits or visit the elderly...

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Holydays can be stressful, even for an enlightened jolly lama like myself. Who doesn't have an in-law that drives you mad or a schedule which burns the candle at both ends? There are countless little tools, tricks and techniques to help us learn to relax, de-stress, and be more present and wakeful in the moment. Experiment and find your own. Cut yourself some slack, and relax. Give yourself some compassion and kindness. Don't strive for perfection; even the Liberty Bell has a crack. Take a breath, take a break. Give yourself the gift of time and space, at some time during the holiday, or even...

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I was out sailing with some friends yesterday, on the New England Coast above Newburyport, Massachusetts. Sky gazing and wave watching, letting everything go and just dissolve along with the waves and the clouds in the sky... I started reflecting how subjective everything is, that "Nothing is either good nor bad but thinking makes it so" (Shakespeare), and remembering that we can't control the winds of karma blowing from the past, but rather than just being blown away we can learn how to set our sails in order to navigate and sail better. I watched as the captain set the sails, found the right...

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I have been on book tour in Texas and the Midwest, speaking about my new book on how to be a Bodhisattva (a Buddha-to-be, wisdom warrior) at churches, synagogues and book stores. On the road I've been hearing a lot about "The Secret", which is a bestseller and a movie too, which is basically about the power of positive thinking and the law of attraction, rehashing the ancient wisdom that Intention and Spirit are the most powerful forces in the world and that we can have whatever we set our minds towards. This is fine as far as it goes, I suppose, but I do think we have to actually work more skillfully...

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I'm getting tired of hearing from Christopher Hitchens in the media, and his fervid and all-too-familiar religion-bashing. I happen to like the guy, and also very much appreciate such diverse opinions--he is brilliant, after all, and has some valid points, which is why I bother to read him–-but overall he goes way too far and keeps grinding the same ax ad nauseum. God Is Not Great is a fine book title but a weak thesis. Rest assured that I myself have plenty of similar criticism about religions, including my own; but doesn't he know that there are hundreds of millions (and have been billions)...

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The great spiritual activist and liberator of India Mahatma Gandhi said: "How do you know if the next act you are about to do is the right one or the wrong one? Consider the face of the poorest and most vulnerable human being that you have ever chanced upon, and ask yourself if the act that you contemplate will be of benefit to that person; and if it will be, it's the right thing to do, and if not, rethink it.” I saw a touching and inspiring movie last night. Amazing Grace is about the British abolitionist activist Wilber Wilberforce (1759-1833) and the beginnings of the end of slavery, including...

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