In Praise of Boredom

Good morning everyone, For today’s Dharma talk I would like to talk about boredom. As a matter of fact, I want to talk in praise of boredom. The title for this talk was inspired by a great book about Chinese philosophy regarding life called “In Praise of Blandness”. A fascinating and rather subversive book in…

Not knowing is the most intimate.

The Master would teach his students, “Understand your true self.” One day, one of his students asked him, “Do you understand your true self?” He said, “I don’t know. But I understand this ‘don’t know’.”   From a young age, many of us are afraid to be someone who doesn’t know. Maybe we are afraid…

The Need for Quiet.

    “It’s important to take time to have some quiet moments in our lives, otherwise we get caught up in the busy-ness of always having something going on.” So opens Gyomay Kubose Sensei on his chapter about Quietness in The Center Within. I don’t know about you, but I know that I am entangled…

My Blind Self: a poem

vii.   My blind self pierced by Amida’s light illuminated and dissolved into the great ocean of compassion into the Oneness of life – Palms together, embraced just as I am. Each step with the Buddha, my truest self, my Amida self – the deep flow of the oneness of realty – all beings one…

We are all Refugees.

Lately the world seems on fire, with mass shootings, mass migrations and terrorist attacks.  People are more polarized of late, cultural shifts, deep old wounds are festering and all of these are changing the landscape, the earth seems to be moving under their feet and many are taking refuge in nationalism, bigotry and fear.  The…