Author: Michael Stevens

I’m walking down a sterile hallway in the hospital, trying to find Tarn’s room after her visit to the emergency room. The healthcare staff had advised me to go home and get a few...

While driving home from the Dharma Center the other day, I listened to a radio program about a challenging situation faced by a sister caring for her deaf and blind brother. The brother’s condition...

There are legends about two ancient lost continents and civilizations called Atlantis and Lemuria. Although many of the stories surrounding these places and people are meant to be symbolic representations of various human attributes...

Lichen is, literally, a fixture on our rocks and trees. It comes in many colors: drab gray, shades of green, vibrant orange, and everything in between. They may have tiny, leafless branches; flat leaf-like...

As the sun angles shift and the steep lines of winter approach, the juniper trees and ponderosa pines reflect a rusty ocher blush. The sun coaxes more intense color from tree bark and everything...

Masters of the Dzogchen tradition speak of our natural ability to experience life without preconceived notions as “fresh and unconditioned by anything.” This is our dakini nature—the spacious wisdom of our unconditioned state of...

“We have two lives, and the second one begins when we realize we have only one.” Confucius Sometimes I wonder if the Dharma comes to us, not through the great masters, but from the...

Another bird species that shows up at dusk to feed on aerial insect life is the Vaux’s swift. On this night, while sitting in the chairs at our campsite, we witness a sky ballet...

We are camping on the edge of East Lake in Newberry National Volcanic Monument. As night begins to draw a shade on the sun, the clouds are painted in golden and crimson hues. Night...

The interesting thing about our human species is that we can see into the future; we have the capacity to discern how things repeat over time. These cycles are collectively called “samsara” in the...