Category: Dharma Journal

Brrr…eight degrees. Not so bad with the right layers of wool. My heart goes to those in Ukraine who have no layers, no power, no reliable heat source—people watching their homes being destroyed by...

Psychologist Abraham Maslow developed a simple schemata regarding basic human needs. His Hierarchy of Needs in order are: Physiological (food, clothing, shelter, etc.), Safety and Security, Social (Love and Belonging), Self-esteem, and Self-actualization. It...

We are all born with some kind of unresolved karma calling us to take birth. Our karma shows us the way to liberate the traces of past experience by getting our attention. In my...

When Thomas Merton entered the Trappist monastery for the first time, he experienced a profound sense of freedom. He said the monastic life was free from care. He meant, I think, freedom from the...

To say I was born in sin (separateness) is to say I came into the world with a false self. I was born in a mask. I came into existence under a sign of...

Flashing lights in my rearview mirror got my attention and I pulled over for what I thought may be an ambulance on its ways to help someone. Then the vehicle pulled in behind me....

William Gass was once asked why he wrote. He said something like, “I don’t write for myself because that would be self-serving. I don’t write for an audience because that would be pandering. I...

I met with a woman the other day who was shy about beginning to attend the Dharma Center because she was not sure what would be expected of her. I replied that nothing was...

My email stopped working this morning. I did all the things they suggest to correct the problem, but the digital gremlins had other ideas. I think I will begin the process of reducing my...

It is the middle of October and the vine maples along the banks of the Metolius are on fire. Tendrils of fine branches reach out over the river and sway in the breeze. They...