[This article was originally published in Spirit Rock Meditation Center’s May 2016 Newsletter.] Prior to devoting myself to the Dharma and to teaching the Dharma, I had a corporate job as a training and organizational development consultant working in the Silicon Valley and San Francisco. I specialized in executive coaching and supported leaders in understanding […]

An Open Letter to Buddhist Teachers, Monastics, Priests, Leaders, Ministers, Practitioners, and Clergy As Buddhist teachers and leaders we are deeply shaken and saddened by the intentional and premeditated murder of nine worshippers at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina on June 17, 2015. We send our heart-filled condolences to the families,

Thursday, May 14, 2015 South Court Auditorium, Eisenhower Executive Office Building Just back from an historical event – the first White House US Buddhist Leaders Conference where over 100 monastics, leaders, teachers, activists and scholars from throughout the US Buddhist Community engaged with each other in the morning and with Obama Administration Officials in the

Aba Cecile McHardy, aka the Friendly Dragon, and my beloved Dzogchen teacher since 2002, is currently in hospice care at Brairwood Healthcare Center in Needham, MA. Aba has been ill for some time and would say to me often: “Care, not Cure.” According to her care provider and dear friend, Aba likely had a stroke

 Unarmed People of Color Killed by Police, 1999-2014 This Wednesday, I offered a dharma talk at Insight Meditation Community of Charlotte. After a 30-minute sit, we have a ritual where everyone says there name with a spacious breath. This ritual gives us a sense of connecting and belonging. As everyone finished, I offered a few names

Read my article “Soothing the Hot Coals of Rage” featured in Tricycle’s Fall 2014 issue.

Our beloved Angeles Arrien passed away unexpectedly last Thursday afternoon April 24, 2014.  Many knew her as a cultural anthropologist, educator, mediator, and author. I knew her as a shaman. I recall a time we had tea together in her Sausalito office. I believe it was in 1992. I had quit my corporate job and

Happy 95th Birthday President Nelson Mandela July 18, 1918 – July 18, 2013 As I reflect on the  birth, life, and impending death of Nelson Mandela, I feel tremendous warmth and gratitude for his generous spirit and devotion to peace and liberation for all beings. In so many ways, I honor him as a Beloved Bodhisattva.

We met standing in front of a mammoth Buddha figure in Beijing, China during the Women’s World Conference in 1995. Two black women with dreadlocks and flowing tears. In that speechless moment, Marlene managed to ask: Do you meditate? I said: Kinda. Within short time, we discovered we both lives in the Bay Area. She

We’re in a time where polarities are heightened, habits more rigid, past thoughts and future fears distort the present, and what we can’t control looms large. Collective movement is occurring and everyone is affected. We can feel it and we all have reactions to it–knowingly or unknowingly. Basically, we’re afraid. Our desire for something other