Author: Michael Stevens

Closing the Dharma Center for a few weeks is a strange but somewhat inspiring experience. Although the space is empty of people, I can feel the energy of all our chants emanating. They resonate...

As one who is prone to fear and anxiety, I find myself strangely calm amidst this storm of news about the corona virus. Fear is such a potent poison and I have lived with...

The Deschutes is running full even though it is still winter. Unseasonably balmy weather has caused snow to melt in the high country, producing a high volume of water in rivulets and streams swelling...

We experienced a strong wind storm recently. It blew down many trees, including a large ponderosa pine that had been leaning precariously over a downtown parking lot for many years. The tree had an...

One of the main insights offered in Buddhism is identifying the basic nature of suffering. I sometimes hear students complaining Buddhism is too preoccupied with the idea of suffering. But Buddha was trying to...

I often receive blank stares when I am teaching some of the more esoteric aspects of Vajrayana Buddhism. It is like looking at a room full of stunned deer looking into headlights. I remember...

One of the wonderful things about being alive in this time is seeing the way science and meditation are finding a close kinship. Mindfulness is becoming almost mainstream in many venues because western cultures...

“May I not become tired and weary while accomplishing the benefit of others.” I find this phrase from our dedication prayers to be a most profound aspiration. I make this aspiration every day, actually...

Algorithmic Determinism is a new term applied to the way in which algorithms developed for applications and social media determine a particular outcome. I do not begin to understand the technical aspects but I...

I look into the quizzical faces of a few freshman and sophomore high school students sitting here at the Dharma center as part of a world religions course. I really do not know what...