27 December 2019 Bodhgaya, Bihar, India Dear Family and Friends, A Path with Heart I turned 50 this year.  I remember looking at my parents when I was little (they both died at the age of 46) and thinking, “These grown-ups are old.”  While I still get surprised, almost envious, looks when I disclose my…

By Rosalie Puiman Mindfulness is a way of living in the present moment that is based on ancient Buddhist teachings that Jon Kabat-Zinn helped introduce to Western culture in the 1990s. Nowadays, millions of people use mindfulness as a way of life to decrease stress, improve health, and boost happiness. Meditation is one way that people…

“I realize I have no yen for any experience (even a triumph) that blocks observation, when I am the observed instead of the observer. Time is too short to miss so many sights.” — Dawn Powell This is so me. 

Heart of the Prajna-Paramita Sutra, also called Heart Sutra, is the shortest and the most popular sutra in Buddhism. The Heart Sutra is regarded as the summation of the wisdom of Buddha. It explains perfectly the teaching of non-attachment, which is essentially the doctrine of emptiness. The Heart Sutra can be found etched into many…

In 1819, John Smith, a British soldier, while hunting for tigers 🐯 in southwest India, stumbled upon a man-made cave. It was then, after being lost to mankind, eaten up by the forest, for 1500 years, that the spell-binding Ajanta caves, a series of man-made Buddhist monasteries carved into the mountain between 200BC-700AD, were discovered.…

Let’s not travel to tick things off lists, or collect half-hearted semi-treasures to be placed in dusty drawers in empty rooms. Rather, we’ll travel to find grounds and rooftops and tiny hidden parks, where we’ll sit and dismiss the passing time, spun in the city’s web, ‘til we’ve surrendered, content to be spent and consumed.…

This thought seems to return again and again: Human life is cheap in Duterte’s Philippines, but only if you are poor OR if you have a conscience. Not when you are rich though, especially if your wealth comes from suspect sources. It despairs me. Why does my mind get preoccupied with the state of my…

Today I am in Delhi on my way to Kushinagar for my first Goenka-style 10-day silent vipassana retreat. I noticed that there seems to be a resistance to the path I am intending to take.  In Delhi, I was consumed by hedonistic pursuits of the flesh and senses.    It is clear that I am…

https://www.lionsroar.com/no-teacher-of-zen/