Here is a mantra I often work with during the day. It’s an adaptation I made of the much-loved Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi. (St. Francis is my favorite Christian saint, among other things, because of his love of animals, and especially birds! See: The Compassion of the Swans) In Buddhism, working with a […]
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Tag Archives: animals
Prayer and Metta for all beings affected by the BP Gulf oil disaster
2010/07/14 
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Like millions of others in the United States, and around the world, I’ve been keeping a close watch on the tragic situation with the BP Deepwater Horizon oil disaster. I don’t live in the Gulf area, but I’ve tried to help by various forms of advocacy and by getting good, solid scientific and technical information […]
Continue reading Healing the Body with Mindfulness of Breathing
2010/04/23 17 Comments
This excerpt from a talk by Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh explains how to use mindfulness of breathing to bring loving-kindness to our dear bodies. The physical effect of this can be truly remarkable. As Thây says, “You should really love your body. You should really take care of your body. Mindful breathing, with rest, […]
Continue readingAvatar-A Movie that Inspires Loving-kindness
2010/01/22 6 Comments
As followers of this blog know, I also have a science blog, Goodheart’s Extreme Science, and a blog about the wonders of nature in the Berkeley Hills of the San Francisco Bay Area called Berkeley, Naturally! Since the practice of metta includes loving-kindness mediation for all creatures and beings everywhere, I have occasionally mentioned posts […]
Continue reading Ajahn Brahmavamso teaches Loving-kindness Meditation
2010/01/08 21 Comments
Ajahn Brahmavamso is a wonderful Theravadan monk whose wit and humor help bring the dharma alive. Because of his courageous stand on the ordination of women as Buddhist nuns, I thought it would be good to give people who are not familiar with him a feel for Ajahn Brahm’s skill as a teacher. I think […]
Continue reading Taking Care of Our Heart Donkey
2010/01/06 4 Comments
Visitors to this blog know that I am a great admirer of Sufi mystic and poet Rumi, as these posts show: Rumi Poem-Quietness and No Longer Mourn for Me (music) Learn the Alchemy True Human Beings Know! This Being Human is a Guest House Recently, poking around the Internet, I found a very fine rendition of Rumi’s “The […]
Continue reading Krishnamurti Talks about Nature
2009/12/31 5 Comments
Krishnamurti Talks about Nature If you want to get a feel for the kind of mindfulness and love Krishnamurti is pointing to with his radical teaching, see how he wrote about his own enjoyment of nature near his home in Ojai, California. Take a look at “Krishnamurti on a Nature Walk” at my Berkeley, Naturally […]
Continue readingThe wisdom of a fox and the compassion of a woman
2009/12/18 0 Comments
Today, I’m going to do something slightly unusual and refer to a post of mine at one of my other blogs, Berkeley, Naturally, entitled: Gray Fox in Strawberry Canyon and a Mother Fox’s Wisdom Although my posts there are nature oriented, all the posts there arise from my great love of our natural world, and […]
Continue readingThe Moral Math of Climate Change « Goodheart’s Extreme Science
2009/12/11 2 Comments
The Moral Math of Climate Change « Goodheart’s Extreme Science “…The future of the world depends on each one of us broadening and deepening our understanding of what is environmentally moral. The future depends on our moral imagination as a species.” This is a follow-up post to “Global Warming and the Loss of Earth’s Coral […]
Continue readingThe Virtue of Friendliness
2009/12/11 7 Comments
The Virtue of Friendliness “A monk is expected to be mindful of the feelings of friendliness towards all living things. He is expected to cultivate assiduously this all embracing virtue of friendliness for the whole world, starting in the morning and continuing throughout the day. “Staying, walking or sitting, or lying down, till he falls […]
Continue readingGoing Home by Coming Back to Oneself
2009/12/10 5 Comments
Today, I’ve been reading again my heart teacher’s wonderful book Going Home-Jesus and Buddha as Brothers. At this time of the year, with so many people going home, or wishing they could go home, or dreading going home, these teachings from Thich Nhat Hanh can be a big help. May these words of wisdom comfort […]
Continue readingMetta-care: saving our coral reefs
2009/12/10 3 Comments
Our oceans are in big trouble. Not only are they increasingly polluted with chemicals and dangerous trash, such as plastics, their very nature is being changed by increasing CO2 levels and warming of the water. Few places are more sensitive to this increase in water temperature and decrease in pH (popularly called ocean acidification) than […]
Continue reading Can the power of love stop an elephant?
2009/11/25 6 Comments
Can the power of love stop an elephant? As I explain in my “About” page for Metta Refuge, it’s been my experience that metta practice can not only transform our minds, but also bless and heal our own and others’ bodies. I’ve also seen metta have remarkable effects on sick pets and injured wild animals. […]
Continue readingMetta-care: Animal Rescue Center in Bolivia
2009/11/18 3 Comments
All around the world, wildlife populations are under tremendous pressure due to loss of ecosystems and human population increase. The Comunidad Inti Wara Yassi animal rescue centre in Bolivia is an “ark” for animals needing help and shelter. These wonderful images from Earth Picture Galleries at UK’s Telegraph website remind us of what’s at stake. […]
Continue readingA Beautiful Short Translation of the Metta Sutta
2009/11/17 1 Comment
This is an especially beautiful translation of the Metta Sutta and one I often work use in my own practice. May All Be Filled With Joy and Peace May all be filled with joy and peace. May all beings everywhere, The strong and the weak, The great and the small, The meek and the powerful, […]
Continue reading Vimalakirti and the Angry Dragon
2009/11/15 12 Comments
The Jakata tales are wonderful folklore-like tales from ancient India. They tell the adventures and accomplishments of the Buddha in previous lives as a bodhisattva, before he becomes the Buddha. In many stories, the Buddha is an animal who demonstrates the ideals of Buddhism. In this story of compassion and redemption, the bodhisattva is named […]
Continue readingMetta-Care: Attwater’s Prairie Chicken
2009/11/04 0 Comments
Metta-Care: Attwater’s prairie chicken “Eagle Lake, Texas—As the sun rises over the tallgrass prairie, one of the world’s last wild Attwater’s prairie chickens performs an unusual mating dance. The mottled brown grouse (Tympanuchus cupido attwateri), the size of a football, puffs out his neck and emits a low “woo woo” sound not unlike the sound […]
Continue readingMay All Beings Be Happy
- Looking at the Ninth Zen Precept-I Do Not Indulge In Anger
- True God, True Buddha
- The Difference Between Compassion and “Idiot Compassion”
- Ajahn Brahmavamso teaches Loving-kindness Meditation
- Now-and-Zen-Are you still carrying her?
- A Buddhist Mantra based on the Prayer of St. Francis
- Mindfulness of Breathing-The Anapanasati Sutta
- Practicing the Middle Way-not too much, not too little
- Buddhist Forgiveness-When We Have Hurt Another-Part 3
- Healing the Body with Mindfulness of Breathing
- Look at the Three Characteristics in Terms of Actions
- Thich Nhat Hanh – Healing Through Resting in the Breath
- How Metta Can Help You When Meditation is Hindered by Overwhelming Feelings
- The Importance of Taking the “Should” out of Spiritual Practice
- Can We “Choose” to Be Happy? No—and Yes!
- Ken Mcleod on how to use Thich Nhat Hanh’s Five-Step Method of Emotional Releasing
- Non-resistance and the Art of Resisting without Resisting!
- Don’t be fooled! There is a Way and We Can Walk It!
- The Importance of Compassion in Assessing Our Dharma Progress
- Jesus and the Buddha on Good Friday
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