As the Buddha was about to become enlightened, his enemy Mara - and Mara's forces - arrived and shot 40,000 arrows of doubt at him. Who was he to be awakened to the Truth of Our Existence? I have heard two stories about what happened next. First, the Buddha calmly looked upon Mara and the [...]
Valentine’s Day is the designated push for sweethearts. It's a day for heart-shaped boxes, long-stemmed roses, and cute cards. Every February 14th, we flock to florists and chocolatiers like ducks to water in order to engage in what has become the almost ritualistic practice of honoring an individual (or individuals) we romantically admire. But what [...]
I haven't written here in a long while. I wrote a book and re-wrote the book. Then, I set it aside because horses and work and dogs got in the way. I got tired of words, words, words. It feels as if with Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Pinterest as if everyone has become their own boutique [...]
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 [...]
We rarely acknowledge the pelvic floor...It's like a dark room no one wants to talk about...and yet, it is a foundational element of the body. Pelvic floor meditation is meant to bring you emotionally, physically and spiritually into this oft overlooked area. Imagine Jizo, the Earth Womb Bodhisattva, holding this part of your body with kindness and patience, [...]
Binge Buddies? Fat Serenity? Fear of intimacy? Do married couples eat more? The research says yes, which is all the more reason to practice mindful eating, get to know Jizo and stay grounded because, for most of us, intimacy is not what we bargained for. […]
Most folks in the West don’t know who Jizo is; I don’t expect them to. They know even less about how the Buddhist bodhisattva relates to the health of our pelvic floors. Such things are never written about. But the relationship is much closer than even lovers of Jizo may realize. In Sanskrit, Jizo’s name, [...]
Ever get into a huff that things are not going your way? Are you hurt when you don’t feel understood, and then think that there is either a) something wrong with you or b) something wrong with the person who hurt or insulted you? We toss the term narcissistic around like a ball. We insult [...]
In the ongoing quest to mend our anxious minds, many of us are drawn to meditation. Once we begin, we find that we fidget, we get sleepy, we get bored. We don’t do it right, we fail, we quit, we start again only to quit again. Our expectations of finding peace are not met and [...]
A funny thing happens after sitting in meditation for a long time, gazing at my Jizos, who are gazing back at the not-me — my mind becomes at ease. I promise it only took around 20 years for me to stop controlling my breath and just let it be. For years, my mind would always [...]
