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Mindfulness Matters

I am listening to the album by Tomasz Bednarczyk entitled: “Let’s Make Better Mistakes Tomorrow.” This strikes me as a very dharmic statement, something the Buddha might have encouraged. This bit of wisdom recognizes that mistakes are happening all the time. The desire to avoid mistakes is impossible. We are going to make mistakes and…

A friend was visiting from the West Coast. He was looking forward to the crisp, colorful autumn of Vermont. To his and my surprise, summer persisted through past the middle of October. The colors have persisted too. The nights have been cool, but no cooler than many nights this summer. My wood stove mostly gathers…

I had the privilege of seeing Steven Pinker talk at the University of Vermont the other day. Pinker is the author of How The Mind Works, The Blank Slate, The Language Instinct, The Stuff of Thought, and most recently, The Better Angels of Our Nature. He spoke about the history of violence. Here is the…

Vermont is famous for its fall foliage. Given that the mountains are covered with trees, it can be rather spectacular. I’ve had a particular interest in the changing colors this season because of my new mode of transportation. I can see so much more when I am riding on the motorcycle. The world feels closer…

I was surprised by the news of S. N. Goenka’s death this past Saturday. He was almost 90 years old. In the summer of 1989, I sat my first vipassana meditation retreat with Goenka at the Vipassana Meditation Center in Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts. That experience was a watershed for me. It changed my life. I…

The tragically late Stephen Hunek said, “You can trust a dog with your life but not with your lunch.” I read the lead story in the latest issues of Seven Days that featured the wonders and travails of the Dog Chapel and Dog Mountain, the legacy of artist Stephen Hunek and his late wife. The…

I recently hiked a small mountain with my dogs. It took some time and effort to navigate the trail. A perfect 60 degree fall day. A beutiful view at the top was our reward (or at least my reward, I dont’ think the dogs noticed). A similar effort-reward comes with meditation. This view is an…

Kelly McGonigal tells us how to make stress our friend in her TED talk. As a health psychologist, she talks about how she made stress the enemy to her students and how she has now changed her mind. She points out that stress is not objective. It’s how we perceive stress that makes the difference.…

Watching my dogs swim out for a thrown stick made me think of one the Buddha’s classic teachings: I, me, and mine. They swim competitively out. There appears to be some motivation to get there first. But regardless of who gets there first, the other is lying in wait to get a share of the…

  Recently, I’ve consumed some video about the 1970s–the decade of my coming of age, more or less. I watched the thrilling documentary Man on Wire, Saturday Night Fever (whatever you want to say about John Travolta, his dancing was amazing for this film), and the American Masters portrait of Billie Jean King. I may…
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