Bodhisattva. For the non-Buddhist, it is almost certainly a foreign term. Maybe you recall the name of an old Steely Dan album, at best. Put simply, bodhisattva is “a Sanskrit term for anyone or anything motivated by great compassion.” It is a combination of two separate Sanskrit concepts: Bodhi—meaning awakening or enlightenment Sattva—meaning existence, reality [...]
The integration of The Twelve Steps with Buddhism has become increasingly popular, as mindfulness continues to cross over from "spiritual philosophy" to practical, every day self-care. This morning, it dawned on me that the words Buddha spoke upon his awakening were very much like those of people in 12 Step programs who have taken the 2nd [...]
The other morning in yoga, my instructor, Dakota Lupo, said something that made me laugh out loud. I am a little careful now about when I laugh aloud in yoga because once I laughed at something a new instructor said — she was funny — and she glared at me. She said, “Yoga is serious.” [...]
I have a theory about intimate relationships that is not very popular. I think they often bring out the darkest, worst parts of ourselves. It is as if a ghost child, comprised of both partner’s inner kids, grows up between them. Not everyone encounters this, but many do, and statistics report that couples get to [...]
I taught psychological theory in a graduate program for a dozen years. Every time I taught a theory, I learned more than I had known previously. My introductory lecture was Freud & Jung. Every quarter, I became more acutely aware of the mechanisms of the ego, a sadly misunderstood part of us that is the [...]
Today in my meditation, I was gazing at my Jizo and he was gazing back. The thought drifted through my mind that money is not money. Money is not money. Money is not money. It flowed through my mind, once, twice… I took a deep breath and as I exhaled, I heard Money is Perceived [...]
If we could be still, in a quiet place, for even three minutes each morning, we might begin to hear our innermost selves. These states of being live beneath the mask/persona we have developed in order to be loved. We wear a psychological suit, unconsciously, in order to be accepted by those around us. [...]
Do you ever wonder who you might be today if, when you were very young, the adults around you had encouraged you to be authentic with them and yourself? What would life be like if had been acceptable to feel anxious, or cry because we felt we needed to, no matter how annoyed our parents were? [...]
As I contemplate new and more effective ways to travel the path of the Jizo Bodhisattva, I find myself encountering more and more astonishing suggestions for “How To Live.” I found a Sufi teaching that goes something like this: […]
Enlightenment is to be awake. When we sit in meditation, we begin to hear our thoughts, feel our feelings with greater clarity. As we observe our minds with compassion, we are able to distinguish between what is our personal ego and what is the ineffable part of us that is connected to all sentient beings. [...]
