Category: Dharma Journal

Remembrance

Today marks the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks in New York and Pennsylvania. I imagine there will be all sorts of news reports and ceremonies here and there. It is very strange how we...

For Now

I am sitting down and looking around our beautiful little Dharma center while waiting for folks to arrive for our “first Monday” introductory session. A quiet ambience permeates the space and colors of the...

Breathing Toward Death

There is a saying in some Eastern spiritual traditions that goes something like this: “The only thing to remember about the first breath we take when we are born is that it brings us...

Sacred Gesture

One of the things I like best about eating in a restaurant is the time I spend watching people. Occupying a space in which there are very few humans with whom I am acquainted...

Wonder and Change

Wonder is the basis of curiosity—and the curious are always wondering. This morning a robin is seeking a meal in our front garden. The bird walks and listens, turning its head side to side,...

Shower of Joy

The snowpack was deep this year at Crater Lake. The delayed and lingering melt means wildflowers are revealing themselves later and with profusion. It is August and many species appear to be just waking...

A Blaise of Buddha

Blaise Pascal (1623-1662) was French philosopher who died at the young age of 39. During his short life, he produced works on math, physics, and invented an early mechanical calculator. Obviously a born genius,...

The ‘Bear’ Truth

A number of years ago, Tarn and I were exploring the San Juan Mountains, a part of the Rockies in southwestern Colorado. We took the jeep road to Ophir Pass (11,789’) and stopped to...

Indigenous Interlude

A very long time ago there was a young man who was very interested in a beautiful young woman. He was always trying to get her attention, but she never seemed to notice him....

Not Not Nowhere

We we studying Longhenpa’s You Are the Eyes of the World during our Wednesday evening gatherings. It is a translation of the Jeweled Ship, a distillation of a larger work on dzogchen, the natural great...