Dropping That Drug
Anthony de Mello
If we really dropped illusions for what others can give us or deprive us of, we would become alert. The consequence of not doing this is terrifying and inescapable -- we lose our capacity to love. If ...
Honor the Seed
Jim Ewing
Honor the seed. The words seem so simple. This is knowledge that was passed down to me from my father. Yet, today, those simple words — and sentiments — are so forgotten. My father, a b...
Kindness: The First Gift
John O'Donohue
There is a kindness that dwells deep down in things; it presides everywhere, often in the places we least expect. The world can be harsh and negative, but if we remain generous and patient, kindness i...
True Meditation Has No Direction
Adyashanti
True meditation has no direction or goal. It is pure wordless surrender, pure silent prayer. All methods aiming at achieving a certain state of mind are limited, impermanent, and conditioned. Fascinat...
What Do I Really Need Right Now?
Sharon Salzberg
An essential question we might ask ourselves is, 'What do I really need right now, in this moment, to be happy?' The world offers us many answers to that question: You need a new car and a new...
Be Love Now
Ram Dass
Imagine feeling more love from someone than you have ever known. You’re being loved even more than your mother loved you when you were an infant, more than you were ever loved by your father, yo...
Emotions for Liberation
Sally Kempton
Many years ago, I walked into the kitchen of my guru’s ashram, and found him shouting at the cooks. Force- waves of anger were bouncing around the room, almost visible to the naked eye. Then, in...
Lessons From An Accident
Grace Dammann
For the last forty years, I have been a somewhat compulsive caregiver. However, I found an appropriate niche in medical school, and have happily practiced medicine for the last twenty-five years. For ...
Futility of Search
Author Unknown
The disciple looked at the Master. So calm and peaceful while he himself was so agitated, restless and confused. He asked the Master, “What do you know that I don’t know?&rd...
Bridging The Spiritual and Mundane
Bhikkhu Bodhi
As I now look at our situation, I distinguish three major domains in which human life participates. One I call the transcendent domain, which is the sphere of aspiration for classical contemplative sp...
Violence and Nonviolence
The Dalai Lama and Victor Chan
"What is violence? What is nonviolence?" the Dalai Lama had once asked me in one of our interviews in Dharamsala. "Very difficult to make clear. It is related to motivation. If we have ...
Beggarly, Friendly, And Kingly Giving
Stephen Levine
The greatest gift is the act of giving itself. Traditionally, three kinds of giving are spoken of. There is beggarly giving, which is when we give with only one hand, still holding onto wh...