You Know This Is True

Let the Dow Jones drop 1000 points Let the Cubs lose ten games in a row Let the recession forecasts prove gloomier than expected Let my boss complain that I’m not rigorous enough in my…

Beginning Year Three

“… Now you surely have heard a lot From this year’s 4th years About how hard surgery is Allowing for some slight narrative variation due to personality quirks They told you the truth: You are…

Reflections for Today’s Sangha Meditation

If we meditate on and develop compassion—the wish that all others be without suffering—we hold within us the essence of all other Dharma practices. We should unhesitatingly give ourselves to any beneficial task, no matter…

Appeal for Gaza

Norman Finkelstein has been calling on people to make a donation to al-Awda Hospital in Gaza in the hopes of raising $100,000. Please consider making a donation of $10 if you can. One of the…

A Frenzied Gut

Just got back from a weekend retreat in the mountains where I devoured Dear Layla: Welcome to Palestine. I’m so grateful for you and your recommendation. There was so much I needed to connect with….

A Nation of Words

Miriam Weinstein’s Yiddish: A Nation of Words is a compelling book. Go to Amazon.com and type in “Yiddish” and many books will come up whose titles are cheap, sentimental, ridiculous, goofy.  Weinstein has a sense…

Writing to Wake Up

1. Natalie Goldberg: I also place on the altar a photo of Allen Ginsberg in a yellow wood frame, sitting in a white shirt, cross-legged, his face captured in an uncanny smile. He is our…

On Bhakti Yoga

1. Allen Ginsberg: Well, the Hindus say that this is the Kali Age or Kali Yuga or Kali Cycle, and we are all so sunk in matter, the five senses are matter, sense, that they…