“The satisfaction derived from solving a problem with an experiment was a very heady experience, almost addicting. Looking back, I realize that nurturing curiosity and the instinct to seek solutions are perhaps the most important contributions education can make. With time, many of the facts I learned were forgotten but I never lost the […]
“Enlightenment is the crumbling away of untruth. It’s seeing through the facade of pretense. It’s the complete eradication of everything we imagined to be true.” ― Adyashanti Ten years seems like a long time to me. Perhaps for most people. Do you remember what you were doing ten years ago? I can name a few highlights, but […]
There’s a mighty old oak on the corner of Zeeb and Joy in Ann Arbor. I visited it many times during my grad school days. And I became rather fond of it over time. To say that grad school was a difficult time is an understatement. Experiments failed, progress on my doctorate in biochemistry was […]
Clearing Do not try to save the whole world or do anything grandiose. Instead, create a clearing in the dense forest of your life and wait there patiently, until the song that is your life falls into your own cupped hands and you recognize and greet it. Only then will you know how […]
Mindfulness Saved My Life (Again) It’s a few minutes before 10pm and all the parking spaces in front of my condo are taken. I drive around the block and park two blocks away. Getting out of the car, I dissolve into the quiet evening air. I smile at the stars above and begin walking home. […]
I spent a day with Lama Surya Das last month. He is sharing his new book, “Make Me One with Everything,” and I was impressed by his interest in teaching us “non-practices,” things we are already doing that can be considered practices. He is suggesting we practice mediation with nature, with people, with every opportunity […]
This year, I want to spend more time on what really brings me joy and on projects that are so exciting they terrify me. I’m going to “go for the jugular,” as Natalie Goldberg puts it in her coaching to writers, by pursuing ideas that are so terrifyingly good that I get a simultaneous “I […]
I learned Korean zen meditation in the winter of 1989. I was fascinated by zen, the zen mystique for sure, but also the fresh and powerful language used by the teachers of the zen tradition. There were many awesome things to contemplate, from the sound of one hand clapping to my “original face” before my […]
Winter has come to Chicago. With 20 inches of fresh snow blanketing the city, life has become a little stiller, a little more basic. I am heeding winter’s call to be still and rest, yet below the surface the vital activity that will surface in springtime is still present, if in the background. Some things […]
I learned of Thich Nhat Hanh in the late 80’s. I read Being Peace and gave one of his other books to my sister as a gift. I was impressed by the simplicity, beauty and directness of his message. In Sept 1990, I finished my PhD, then flew to Korea for an 8-week pilgrimage to Buddhist […]