So many people, frightened by fundamentalist’s tales of death and unfortunate rebirths, long for safety and hunger for reassurance. And, as one who dresses like the lovechild of a monk and a hippy, they often ask me what to do. I remind them, that in the numerical discourses of the Buddha, it is taught that if one trains their mind in love then an auspicious rebirth is assured; for fifty percent of the eight-fold path pertains to loving-kindness. . . 1) “Profound joy/ for ea

Gloria was a precise woman, which is an important trait in an accountant. She was fastidious as well. Whenever she erased a book keeping entry, she would rise up from her desk, gingerly tilt her leger over the trash can, and carefully dump her erasing’s, mindful not to spill any on the floor. The way we do one thing, is often the way we do many things, and Gloria lived for precision, and organization, and schedule and consistency. But life is messy and often pays no heed to o

Like a thief in the night death comes to steal our loved ones. It will come for us as well. In the meantime what are we to do with that heaviness of heart? What could we to do with our mortality-oriented-anxiety? May I suggest the Buddha’s sixteen contemplations? As we breathe in we could silently and mentally recite “How hating…” and as we breathe out we could silently and mentally recite “…quite stressful?”. This is a rhetorical question; so by definition it works best if w