Holy as the Day is Spent-Thich Nhat Hanh on the Holiness of Mindfulness

This excerpt below is from “The Blooming of the Lotus: the Nature of No-birth and No-death.” It’s a dharma talk  given by my heart teacher, Thich Nhat Hanh on May 3, 1998  in Plum Village, France. It is followed by the beautiful and profound song, “Holy as the Day is Spent” by Carrie Newcomer from […]

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How to Get Started with Sitting Meditation

Because it was free and available online, Buddha Smile by Roberto Vicente, was one of the earliest dharma books I read when I first began investigating Buddhism.  I feel very fortunate that I read his book during my initial discovery period, because the author conveys such a wonderful, joyous sense of the Buddha’s teaching and […]

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Working with The Six Properties in Meditation-Earth, Water, Air, Fire, Space, and Consciousness

For the past few months I’ve really been focusing on “body work” in my dharma practice.  I’ve been working with full-body awareness and vipassana, as well as using deep loving-kindness meditation to embrace mental and physical pains.  This essay by Thanissaro Bhikkhu has been especially helpful in getting in touch with the actual feelings of my […]

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The Importance of Alertness and Attention in Developing Concentration

As I have grown in my meditation practice, I have been able to develop deeper and deeper levels of concentration and corresponding insight. And yet, when I’ve read about some of the various deeper levels of jhana (deep concentration, or samatha) I’ve sometimes wondered about my progress and whether I’m going “deep” enough. This great […]

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Pema Chodron – Renunciation as saying “yes!” to life

Trungpa Rinpoche once said, “Renunciation is realizing that nostalgia for samsara is full of shit.” Renunciation is realizing that our nostalgia for wanting to stay in a protected, limited petty world is insane. One you begin to get the feeling of how big the world is and how vast our potential for realizing life is, […]

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How to Use Body Meditation and Mindfulness of the Breath to Dissolve Fears

Morning “Check In” — What is present and what is arising? When I awake in the morning, the first thing I do is “check in” to myself to see what’s going on. I consciously breathe in and out, center myself, and just listen and watch to see what arises. I try not to get snagged […]

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Why it’s Important to Know What Mindfulness Is and Is Not

Mindfulness Defined by Thanissaro Bhikkhu What does it mean to be mindful of the breath? Something very simple: to keep the breath in mind. Keep remembering the breath each time you breathe in, each time you breathe out. The British scholar who coined the term “mindfulness” to translate the Pali word sati was probably influenced […]

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Quiet in Every Way – Breaking the Mind’s Chatter

I just finished a 14-day intensive meditation/metta retreat at home, which is why I haven’t posted for a while.  Looking back at the 2 weeks work, I couldn’t help but think of this article by Thanissaro Bhikkhu. One of the things that became so evident to me, day after day “on the cushion” or in […]

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Thich Nhat Hanh-Kiss the Earth-Poem and Music

Kiss The Earth Walk and touch peace every moment. Walk and touch happiness every moment. Each step brings a fresh breeze. Each step makes a flower bloom. Kiss the Earth with your feet. Bring the Earth your love and happiness. The Earth will be safe when we feel safe in ourselves. by Thich Nhat Hanh […]

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Listen to Your Heart-A Poem

I haven’t tried to write poetry in a long, long time, but when this appeared at the door, so to speak, I let it in.  I hope you find it helpful. And, I hope it’s poetry! Listen to Your Heart One says: “There is nothing to practice. Just be. Let your true nature emerge. Don’t […]

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Inviting the Bell to Sound-Invitation to Mindfulness

One of the wonderful skills I have learned from Thich Nhat Hanh is how to use a bell, or ringing bowl, as an aid to coming back to myself and achieving mindfulness. I almost always start and end my meditations by “inviting” the bell to sound. Here is a very beautiful teaching by Thây on […]

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The Power of the Smile in Our Meditation and Lives

At my first retreat with my heart teacher, Thich Nhat Hanh, I was struck by how many times Thây talked about smiling and its importance to the practice he was teaching. Of course, it was so wonderful to be in the presence of this living Bodhisattva, and his loving, compassionate monks, it was hard not […]

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Hugging Meditation-A Gift to Children from Thich Nhat Hahn

This post is for the children in our lives. It’s from Present Moment, Wonderful Moment: Mindfulness Verses for Daily Living by Thich Nhat Hanh. The verses in this book, called gathas, can be a wonderful, skillful means for bringing mindfulness to our daily lives, our activities, and our relationships with others. The gatha below is […]

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Four Steps to Better Meditation Practice

If you are learning to meditate, this is a terrific “short course” in the basics of mindfulness. If you’re an experienced meditator, this dharma talk by Ajahn Chah is a great refresher. (This is a revision of an earlier post called “How Confident Are You About Your Meditation Practice?”) This excerpt come from “The Teachings […]

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Bathing in the Breath to Heal Body and Mind

In a previous post, I shared a teaching from Thich Nhat Hanh titled “Healing the Body with Mindfulness of Breathing.” This post has proven helpful and inspiring to many people, so I wanted to share something from Thây’s Theravadan brother-in-the-dharma, Thanissaro Bhikkhu. (Thây, by the way, is Thich Nhat Hanh’s students’ affectionate name for him) […]

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Healing the Body with Mindfulness of Breathing

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, […]

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Developing the sensitivity that lays golden eggs

This post is a “supplement” to “How to Become a Loving Presence in the World,” because it speaks to developing the kind of presence that is a sensitivity, a deep mindfulness, of what’s going on. (This mindful sensitivity is the very opposite of the “sensitivity” that is reactive, fearful, and self-defensive!) If we aspire to […]

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What does it feel like to walk like a Buddha?

My last two posts have been about walking meditation: Freshen Up Your Practice with Walking Meditation Some More Helpful Tips on Walking Meditation I thought it would be appropriate to end this particular series on walking mediation with the “Zen poetry,” so to speak, of my heart teacher, Thich Nhat Hanh. There are so many […]

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Freshen Up Your Practice with Walking Meditation

If you’ve been doing sitting meditation for a while, you might want to look into walking meditation as a way to “freshen up” your meditative practice.  This is the advice of Ajahn Brahmavamso in his instruction that I’m sharing below.  I can attest from my own practice how helpful walking meditation can be.  In fact, […]

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Mindfulness of Breathing-The Anapanasati Sutta

If a person knows anything about Buddhism, they probably know that Buddhists “meditate.” And they may know that Buddhists give a lot of attention to the breath, making it an object of meditation and attention. Indeed, reading some literature, one might well think that Buddhism could just as well be called “Breathology!” But, there’s a […]

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