Ocean mind…

A quote from Master Tang Hoi, the first Dhyana (Zen) master in Vietnam who compared the mind to an ocean. “Everything we see, hear, smell, taste, touch, feel or think flows into the ocean of our mind like thousands of rivers”. Our mind is like a vast ocean. We receive...

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Your garden…

Whether we are aware of it or not every thought we have is creating our next moment. Our thoughts are like the seeds we plant in our garden of consciousness. Whatever we plant and nurture will grow into flowers. If you have every had a garden you know that you have to...

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Consumption…

At my recent retreat with Thich Nhat Hanh I was reminded about mindful consumption. Typically when we think about consumption we consider food. However, there are other forms of consumption that we don’t reflect upon and have become desensitized to. In the Buddhist...

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The gift…

This past week I had the opportunity to travel to Ontario to participate in a five-day retreat with Zen Buddhist Master Thich Nhat Hanh, affectionately called Thay. It was my first retreat in 15 years and my first retreat with Thay. In this week’s blog, I thought I...

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Here and now…

My teacher used to say “be here, now”. No matter what one is doing, being present is a blissful, expansive experience. When you are busy doing, how present are you in the doing or are you off somewhere jumping from thought to thought. It’s easy to let the mind run its...

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Craving…

Everyone in their life has something they crave. It is like an addiction to something we long to have or poses. It could be some type of food (sweet or salty) we desire to have because it makes us feel so good. We may desire some material possession, such as a car,...

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Loving kindness…

Our lives are filled with many tasks, roles and responsibilities. In everything that we do, we can fill our lives with judgement and commentary or we can fill it with gratitude and loving-kindness. There are many things in our lives that don’t unfold how we anticipate...

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Seeds of suffering…

I heard something this week that caught my attention, “Our thoughts are the seeds of suffering.” In this situation, I am not referring to suffering caused by physical pain but rather the suffering caused by our own lamenting. The thoughts, feelings, likes and beliefs...

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Taking a break…

I had the good fortune this past week to have been on holidays. A break from the regular routine of work. I didn’t travel to any exotic location or really get away. I did what has recently been termed as a ‘staycation’. I stayed at home to simply enjoy down time with...

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Naming it…

I was visiting this past week with my dear friend Venerable Puntsok Chodron, from the Gawa Ling Mindfulness Meditation Center, and we were discussing sections from the book I have been reading, The Miracle of Mindfulness by Thich Nhat Hanh. I had asked Ven....

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About Me

Welcome to my blogs on spiritual practice, conscious awareness and mindfulness. I hope you find them insightful and thought provoking. Send me a comment or question. I’d love to hear from you. You may also want to check out my recently released book, The Dance of Dynamic Peace. Each chapter offers insights and practical tips on how to create greater peace in your life. More information is available on my book page.