We consider Santa to be the greatest mindfulness practitioner, given his powers of awareness: He makes us to do good and feel good. Now that’s a big one, as many of us are often selfish and bad. He gives to everyone, all over the world, all at pretty much the same time. This indicates a […]
Given the state of the world today it’d be totally understandable if we were dreading the holidays, the new year, or whatever might happen next, instead of feeling joyful and full of anticipation. Yet this new year has a very special effect: it makes us believe we have the chance to start over, to do […]
Every day we get emails proclaiming the latest discovery, teacher or workshop we MUST do if we are to have lasting happiness and self-mastery. Each proclaims we will be freed, transformed for ever, even fully enlightened. We received notice of a Guru Training program where we can become a guru in two weekends after which, […]
Are You Happier Today Than You Were Yesterday? We were in Thailand, attending a ten-day silent meditation retreat in the middle of a coconut grove. Every day Ajahn Maha Dharma Tan, a Thai monk, would come to teach, and he would ask us the same question: “Are you happier today than you were yesterday?” As […]
The last year has not often been a time for being grateful, as it’s never easy when times are hard, if we are sick or a relative is, or we lose our job. But perhaps these are the very best times to give thanks, specifically for the things we do have rather than those we […]
Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans. John Lennon Who said life would be like walking the yellow brick road, or that the human condition would be easy? And why is it so important to be here? What’s the big deal? It appears that the reason we’re generally not happy […]
Now, more than ever, we need to be kinder. It is so easy to blame others, be distrustful, or to hate anyone who seems different. Being kind and loving takes patience, caring and thoughtfulness; it is is the profound realization that everyone counts, that everyone matters. The story goes that, at the time of the […]
If we genuinely want to end hatred, bigotry, racism and abuse, if we genuinely want to bring real change to the world, then there is only one place to begin. We have to stop the war within ourselves by opening our hearts to ourselves and to all others, equally, for there will never be peace […]
As the great Zen teacher, Alan Watts said: We all need to go out of our minds at least once a day. When we go out of our minds we quickly come to our senses. Given the circumstances we are all having to deal with at the moment, many people are ‘going out of their […]
Ed was part of the flower power love generation of 1960’s hippies, the essence of which was the freedom to be ourselves. The explosion of yoga and meditation began then, as Ed and others headed to India to learn with Eastern gurus. In the process, we learnt a very important lesson: no one else can […]
