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Join us for our Fall 2012 Weekend Retreat
CULTIVATING FEARLESSNESS OCTOBER 12-14, 2012 MOUNT MADONNA CENTER This weekend retreat will offer an approach to living fearlessly. Each day will involve sitting meditation, walking meditation and dharma talks followed by Q&A, as well as practice interviews with...
read moreLook At That Story
If you're finding that the stories you tell yourself are limiting your experience, Leslie Gossett's piece at Shambhala Sun Space is worth a read: If only I had done this If only I had the strength to do If I could just stop buying into my storyline, then I could...
read moreWhy is it easier to come out as gay than to come out as a Buddhist?
Commuter Zen #90
read moreTo Our Muslim Brothers and Sisters
In the service of a conscious evolution of interfaith dialog, here's Danny Fisher's open letter on Islamophobia. July 31, 2012 San Francisco, CA USA -- As disciples of the Buddha who live in the West, we would like to take the holy month of Ramadan as an opportunity...
read moreDialogs With My Teacher #55
January 10, 2011 (#55) Student: What is the most enlightened way to communicate with someone who is very difficult? Michael: The same way Ive suggested that you speak to someone who complains a lot; listen deeply and speak from a place of open generosity. Student:...
read moreBill Clinton: Meditator.
While I'm happy for the former presidents choice, I can't help but wonder how a meditation practice might have affected his choices during his presidency. ...in his latest bid to improve his well-being, the Democrat has hired his own personal Buddhist monk to help him...
read moreDialogs With My Teacher #54
January 6, 2011 (#54) Student: If there is no self, who sets goals and where do these goals come from? Michael: Goals arise just as all else arises: from Emptiness. They also eventually die back into Emptiness. This basic rule applies to everything, including the self...
read moreDialogs With My Teacher #53
January 4, 2011 (#53) Student: Can you explain what you mean when you say that our spiritual transition can get ugly when glimpses of the Infinite start to show up? Michael: When the egoic you, or small self, sees that the Infinite You, or Big Self, exists, things can...
read moreBuddhism in the US Surges
This near doubling in the number of self-identified, US Buddhists since 2007 is interesting: A new study by the Pew Forum on Religious and Public Life estimates that between 1 and 1.3 percent of the United States populationbetween 3 and 4 million peopleidentifies as...
read moreWhen spiritual practice deepens, do heart and mind open the same way?
Commuter Zen #89
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