Whac-a-Mole

If we look deeply, we see that fear is the linchpin that holds our emotional sense of self intact. Adyashanti Most of us have at least one core issue that we have not fully “seen through.” Our core issues have a way of catching us when ...

A Life without Plans

Last night I watched a captivating1958 film called Inn of the Sixth Happiness, based on the true story of a British maid named Gladys Aylward (played by Ingrid Bergman), who sets off alone for China in the 1930’s to become a ...

Dirty Dishes

Doing–or not doing–the dishes is a cause for disagreement among many couples. Sometimes the underlying causes are not what we think they are. Last Friday, during a session with our therapists David and Tom (who ...

Hurry-Worry Never Works

In 1959, Tsung Tsai, a Buddhist monk, escaped from the Red Army troops that destroyed his monastery, and walked three thousand miles across China to Hong Kong, nearly dying in the process. Years later he ends up living in upstate New ...

Snookered

The waves are breaking gently on shore as I take my regular walk down Baldwin beach on Maui. The drop-dead gorgeous beach stretches a half-mile before me, with hardly a soul on it. I take in the special color of the water today, a ...

Geezer in Paradise

Aging is like going through a funnel. You start out with so much room, spinning so fast, wondering just how far you can go, but in the end you wind up going through the hole. Albert Brooks There is no set date for it, but geezerdom ...

Arranging the Furniture on the Titanic

You want to hope for something better than what you have right now, don’t you? Otherwise you wouldn’t be hoping. But then, you forget that you have it all right now anyway, and you don’t know it. Anthony de Mello I love setting ...

When Bodies Break Down

To identify oneself with the body and yet to seek happiness is like attempting to cross a river on the back of an alligator. Ramana Maharshi After a week-long trip to Washington, DC, I come back to Hawaii with a cold, a nagging cough, ...

Pema Chodron

Sometimes I have trouble with the Buddhist teachings, especially when they get into the Eight Worldly Dharmas, the Six Kinds of Loneliness, the Six Paramitas and all that stuff. But, after some resistance, I became totally absorbed in ...

New Beginnings

Day 27I’m not prepared for what I see when Linda walks into the terminal. She looks young, radiant, and glowing. We hug each other passionately. “You’re not going to believe it,” she says, looking at me with eyes of love. “I’m a ...