Category: Dharma Journal

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...

MRI Mantras

What’s it like to be sealed inside a coffin while being subjected to horrendously loud sound and electromagnetic radiation? That is an MRI (magnetic resonance imagery). I sometimes wonder about our health care system....

Just Walk

I have a pinched nerve in my lower back and I am awaiting an MRI to determine if there is a herniated or damaged disc. In the meantime, I manage the pain as best...

Nonverbal

I am waiting in the checkout line at Costco which is some of my best meditation and reflection time. I have an opportunity to view a sea of facial expressions and body language rippling...

TMI

TMI—the abbreviation for ‘“too much information” is an apt descriptor for the affliction many experience in studying Vajrayana Buddhism. This tradition seems so complex with all the three of these, the four of those,...