Happy Every Day

I take both grace and insult With cheerful equanimity — Du Fu Dear Wendy, Congrats on your decision to move to China and, as Kerouac advised, be in love with your Shanghai life. I marvel…

For Lindsay

After the evening sharing on “coming alive” You told me with a tear You want to be at a monastery You want to be silent for days The Sufis say don’t speak unless you can…

Good Citizens/1

Dear Friends in the Sangha, I first encountered The Miracle of Being Awake (later published as The Miracle of Mindfulness) in 1982, when a monk from the Abbey of Gethsemani gave me a mimeograph of…

¡Presente!

I received this email today from Marty King… I have pulled out my precious copy of The Struggle Is One, a present from Mev, inscribed to us. I cannot put it down, and am reminded…

To a Friend in Africa

Opening your heart is like opening the door You don’t just have to fling it open every hour of the day That would be exhausting There’s a time to crack the door a little Take…

Message from Roerica King

The sharing of joy, whether physical, emotional, psychic, or intellectual, forms a bridge between the sharers which can be the basis for understanding much of what is not shared between them, and lessens the threat…

You Should Call Me Five Times a Week

To tell me a specific feeling you’re feeling in that present moment wonderful moment To express 1/1,000,000,000th how much you treasure Matt To describe one of those famous Chicago winds To share one Gujarati word…

Message from a Friend

A friend sent me this last night: How beautiful Arabic-translated-to-English is….I can’t remember where I was when I heard this or what it’s from: “I’ve waited to speak with you because you are expensive to…

Theatre!

Friday night, I sent the following message to Katie Consamus: Isn’t acting one of the most demanding practices you could ever imagine?! Do you ever  stand back in awe at what you all do? Do…