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 […]
We humans are built for growth, designed to change over time and in response to changing conditions. We evolved from other species and continued evolution at every level of being is fully expected to continue. With change and growth written into our nature at the genetic level, shouldn’t our spiritual lives also be places of […]
I’m a big fan of David O. Russell’s films, especially I Heart Huckabees and last year’s Silver Linings Playbook. Huckabees in particular is one of my favorites, an awesome tale of awakening told with brilliance, humor, and creativity. So when American Hustle came out and started getting good reviews, I was eager to see it. […]
I love New Year’s Day. It might be my favorite day of the year. I’m not sure why, but every January One I feel an amazing sense of newness and freedom. I feel that my life is starting over, that I can let go of the past (and any present melodramas I may be involved […]
“… monastic prayer, especially meditation and contemplative prayer, is not so much a way to find God as a way of resting in him whom we have found, who loves us, who is near to us, who comes to us to draw us to himself. Dominus enim prope est.” [The Lord is close at hand.] […]
My fall began with a jolt when I learned that the Adler School, my employer since 2010, had reorganized and eliminated my position. After a couple days, I decided to take this opportunity to throw myself fully into launching the new business that I’ve been working on part-time for too many years now. The result […]
A straight line exists between me and the good thing. I have found the line and its direction is known to me. Absolute trust keeps me going in the right direction. Any intrusion is met with a heart full of the good thing. – “The Good Thing,” Talking Heads I discovered the Talking Heads my […]