Blog
Welcome to the Infinite Smile Blog. We’ve set up shop at Substack.
Dialogs With My Teacher #67
Here's another installment in a series of emails that took place between Michael and one of his senior students beginning the Summer of 2009. May you find the exchange interesting and enriching. ___ March 31, 2011 Student: If someone said to you, You...
Dialogs With My Teacher #66
Here's another installment in a series of emails that took place between Michael and one of his senior students beginning the Summer of 2009. May you find the exchange interesting and enriching. ___ Mar. 29, 2011 Student: How are any of us to know for sure what we...
Blasphemy laws have no basis in the Quran
This is from the "Do Not Become The Unconsciousness You Seek To Avoid" file. Regardless of our tradition (and yes, this includes Buddhism), clinging to scripture or practice can distort sacred teachings. Ali Khan Mahmudabad'sexplores the blasphemy laws of both...
Mindfulness Helps You Become a Better Leader
Former chair and CEO of Medtronic, and now a Harvard management professor, Bill George has this to say about mindfulness: The practice of mindful leadership gives you tools to measure and manage your life as you're living it. It teaches you to pay attention to the...
Take a break and join us…
Winter 2013 Day-long Intensive No Such Thing As A Mistake Saturday, February 9th, 2013 GREEN GULCH FARM ZEN CENTER This one-day sitting will involve sitting and walking meditation, Dharma talks, Q & A and, by request, private interviews with Michael. Confirmation...
Vimalakirti: Buddhist Bad-ass
For those into Buddhist bad-assery, no one compares to the lay practitioner, Vimalakirti. It's one of my favorite, old-school reads. The Vimalakirti Nirdesa Sutra, also called the Vimalakirti Sutra, probably was written nearly 2,000 years ago. Yet it retains its...
Right Speech and the Election
Thought this series of talks was particularly timely as the presidential election approaches. Enjoy. "The Buddha," Vishvapani says, "emphasized the importance of practicing Right Speech on the Eightfold Path. But then again, the Buddha wasn't on Twitter. In this day...
Dialogs With My Teacher #65
Here's another installment in a series of emails that took place between Michael and one of his senior students beginning the Summer of 2009. May you find the exchange interesting and enriching. ___ March 10, 2011 Student: If we are always already love, why does a...
Does spirituality support Awakening?
Commuter Zen #92
The Buddha Between the Sheets
Interesting piece from Darren Littlejohn: Many people still see Buddhists only as robe-wearing monastics who have given up worldly things like sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll. But there are different kinds of Buddhists. Some are celibate renunciates like the Dalai Lama....