Author: Michael Stevens

The mountain cottontail (Sylvilagus nuttallii) has a unique habit of evading predators. It runs for only a couple of yards and freezes, perhaps camouflaged in a clump of sagebrush. If a predator continues to...

As we drive a winding narrow dirt road into the Greenhorn Mountains of northeast Oregon, we come to a cattle guard and a “no trespassing” sign. Realizing there is no place to turn around,...

On either side of the Buddha statue on our altar, near his folded knees, stand two symbolic skullcups (kapalas) made of yellow metal. One represents the essence element of the male principle and the...

Sometimes I discover something rare. A flower blooms in a remote corner of the high desert that I have never seen. It is at the edge of its usual range so it does not...

Gina waa dluxan gud ad kwaagid – “Everything depends on everything else.” This traditional saying in the Haida language is a wonderfully simple distillation of the law of interconnection. In this moment, I am...

I often visit national parks and monuments. One thing I have observed over the years is that most able-bodied folks have a general hiking limit of one quarter mile. It seems getting a brief...

I am walking in an undeveloped area near my home. Original nature is still evident here through stands of bunch grass and wildflowers, bitterbrush and sage, ponderosa pine and juniper. This spring, the sand...

When we begin a journey, we often fantasize about possibilities and imagine new landscapes and experiences. The more we travel, the more we realize what we discover as new is really just a different...

I have said many times the Vajrayana path is for anyone, but it is definitely not for everyone. It takes a lot of personal growth just to approach the path let alone experience any...

Nobody escapes being wounded. We all are wounded people, whether physically, emotionally, mentally, or spiritually. The main question is not “How can we hide our wounds?” so we don’t have to be embarrassed, but...