Author: Michael Stevens

San Lorenzo Canyon is a place of wonder near Socorro, New Mexico. The geology varies from sedimentary to igneous, from alluvial to limestone. Desert wildflowers are abundant this year with prickly pear blazing in...

My yoga master, Gurudev, lay dying in my arms and I am overcome with emotion. Tears stream down my cheeks as I witness the life force leaving his limp body. Gurudev looks up at...

I am staring up at a clear blue morning sky after several days of cloudy, blustery, hail-peppered weather. It is like gazing at a sunrise from the mouth of a dark cave—cold in back...

Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche once said, “When expression moves as thinking, it is confused. When expression dawns as knowledge, it is liberated.” I would suggest a refinement for the word knowledge as unfiltered awareness. So,...

When I experience a student with sincere fearless interest in the Dharma, much transpires in that relationship which transcends the simple meeting of two humans. It is like a doorway to the vast expanse...

I am often asked why we do not spend more time in silent meditation at our center. The simple answer is that silent meditation was never emphasized by my teachers. It was only a...

For those of us born and raised in the West, one of the more challenging aspects of Vajrayana Buddhism is visualization practice. Our minds are heavily influenced by a need for empirical, verifiable data....

One of my favorite movies of all time is Groundhog Day. Bill Murray plays a very unlikeable weather man who manages to insult everyone in his life. In the course of the movie, Murray...

“Even if the sun rises in the west, the way of the bodhisattva is the same.”  –Suzuki Roshi Many folks are challenged by the reality of a Trump presidency. But, from the perspective of...

My muscles are whining as snow continues to fall. So much shoveling! But the burning ache is only a sign to stop for a moment and soak in the beauty of a landscape draped...