Dec. 11th This morning, on a marvelous walk at Radnor Lake — cold, crystal blue sky, no wind and thus a perfect reflection of trees in a pond — my dear friend Denise reminded me of Ross Gay’s Book of Delights. On his 42nd birthday, Gay committed “to write a daily essay about something delightful.” This […]
Kindness
Guerilla Compassion
Toward the end of my “bad years,” when I was discovering the astonishing power of compassion, I stumbled across a practice called, of all things, “guerilla compassion.” So I gave it a whirl. Not only was it easy to do, it was healing. Amazing. Mostly I did it in airports or waiting for friends at […]
The Bud Stands for All Things
The bud stands for all things, even for those things that don’t flower, for everything flowers, from within, of self-blessing; though sometimes it is necessary to reteach a thing its loveliness…. Galway Kinnell Many years ago, during one of those traumatic times life can throw at you, I read these words from Galway Kinnell’s “Saint […]
Turning Our Lives Towards Kindness Can Be Done
Turning our lives in the direction of kindness can be done… It can only bring benefit and happiness. I can do it. You can do it. ~ Sharon Salzberg Longtime Buddhist teacher, Sharon Salzberg, says the above shortly after quoting the following passage from the Buddha’s teachings. This is a sutra I’ve never heard of […]