According to Pema Chödrön, we might think that knowing ourselves is a very ego-centered thing, but by beginning to look clearly and honestly at ourselves, we begin to dissolve the walls that separate us from others. The journey of awakening happens just at the place where we can't get comfortable. Opening to discomfort is the basis of transmuting our so-called "negative" [...]
Leonard Cohen: Several Lifetimes Already
"Nine o’clock," says Leonard Cohen, "and we’ve had several lifetimes already." Over a long and brilliant career, the poet and singer has lived many lives already, from essence of hip to celebrated lover to serious Zen man. Pico Iyer on Leonard Cohen’s journey from Suzanne to Sesshin. In the falling mountain darkness, I pull my car off the high, winding road into a rough [...]
The Man Who Found the Flow
"What is happiness?" asked psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. He found it in a state of mind beyond results and rewards and called it "the flow." "To burn always with this hard, gem-like flame, to maintain this ecstasy, is success in life." —Walter Pater In 1963, a young doctoral student in psychology at the University of Chicago noticed a most intriguing [...]
Sympathy for the Devil
The prosecutor called Gary Davis a devil for the brutal murder he had committed. But lawyer Vicki Mandell-King discovered that on his long journey toward the death chamber, Gary Davis had profoundly changed. In this gripping story from the Shambhala Sun archives, she talks about the power of forgiveness and a redemption on death row. Driving down Colorado State Highway 115, [...]
He Likes to Watch the Trees
According to Barry Boyce, if you start to look at trees more, you start to notice things. Their lordly, meditative pace can slow you down and stop you. Remember Chauncey Gardner? Chauncey was the automaton-like nature freak masterfully portrayed by Peter Sellers in the 1979 movie Being There (from a Jerzy Koscinski novel and screenplay). He was actually Chance the Gardener, [...]
So Who Are You?
"You are not objects out there, you are not feelings, you are not thoughts-lessly aware of all those, so you are not those. Who or what are you?" The witnessing of awareness can persist through waking, dreaming and deep sleep. The Witness is fully available in any state, including your own present state of awareness right now. So I'm going to talk you into this state, or try [...]
When Men Were Men
The message is, says bell hooks, that it's fine for women to stray from sexist roles and play around with life on the other side, as long as we come back to our senses and stay happily-ever-after in our place. Books on the bestseller list always intrigue me. I like the idea of picking up a book that lots of people are choosing—I wish I could say reading but I know better. [...]