We are a tense gang, us Americans. Most of us are wound incredibly tight and we don’t even know it. We are driven, programmed from early on, to achieve success, happiness, and more success. When we don’t achieve this Utopia that we have been encouraged to seek, we struggle. We suffer. We brace against disappointment. [...]
I listen to people. Often, they tell me they are anxious, afraid of the unknown. And many don’t even know that they are anxious — just “uncomfortable” and looking for ways to get out of the discomfort. Kids get anxious, too. And when they do, they usually don’t talk about it. Instead, they rev up [...]
I am writing from my bed, coughing, feverish, achey. Awake. Feeling every symptom coming and going like little weather patterns across the hot afternoon sky. Los Angeles has been experiencing 100F+ temperatures and so am I. The flu gives me a window into what I am attached to when it comes to wellness. There is [...]
Jizo Bodhisattva has many names. The original was Sanskrit: Ksitigarbha. It’s translation to English is roughly Earth Womb or Earth Treasury. As the Bodhisattva who promised Buddha he would remain on the earth until everyone was finished suffering, his role is like that of Mother Earth. The earth holds each plant, each seedling and each [...]
I don’t like noise. That is putting it mildly. So is saying I’m sensitive to noise. I’ve been this way my entire life. So I went looking for a solution. In my meditation, I am encouraged to welcome my anger toward noise, note it and breathe it out. That hasn’t helped. I’ve tried it hundreds [...]
Practicing meditation with Jizo has allowed me to listen to nature and practice lovingkindness with an earthworm
