What we're working with in basic meditation practice—and more explicitly in tonglen practice—is the middle ground between acting out and repressing. We learn to see our thoughts of hatred, lust, poverty, loathing, whatever they might be. We learn to identify the thoughts as "thinking," let them go, and begin to contact the tex...
In 2000, the Hopi Elders issued a prophecy for the challenging times that are now upon us. "There is a river flowing now very fast," they said. "It is so great and swift that there are those who will be afraid. They will try to hold on to the shore. They will feel they are being torn apart and will suffer greatly." The modern w...
Using a set of cards printed with each of the slogans, I shuffle the stack each morning and draw the slogan for the day. Then I read from this book about what Rinpoche has to say, sometimes jotting down notes on the back of the card. This is followed by my best try to live by the meaning of the slogan throughout my day. Sometimes I forget the slog...