The Dharma of the Nervous System
The article explores how Buddhist meditation and Somatic Experiencing (SE) complement each other in treating trauma, drawing on the author’s personal breakthrough in a hospital lobby. It explains that Buddhism’s focus on breath and body awareness prepares the nervous system for SE’s body‑based trauma release. SE frames trauma as a physiological injury to the autonomic nervous system and uses practices that engage the vagus nerve and interoception. The piece concludes with three simple embodied practices—voo vocalization, push‑hands gesture, and face‑heart connection—that illustrate the combined approach.
Metta Where It Matters
Oneika Mays, former bookseller turned mindfulness teacher, released her memoir and guide *Sit With Me* in March, championing a no‑BS, everyday approach to meditation. Drawing on nearly a decade at Rikers Island, she argues that mindfulness should be stripped of...
‘Visitation with the Radiologist’
John Brehm’s new collection, *Just This: New and Selected Poems*, uses Buddhist‑inspired meditation to explore illness, aging, and everyday impermanence. The book’s centerpiece poems—“Visitation with the Radiologist,” “Reprieve,” and “To‑Do List”—turn medical appointments, seasonal change, and mundane chores into reflective...
The Paradox of Letting Go
The article explores the paradox that trying to "let go" reinforces the very grip it seeks to release, arguing that the self‑concept, world, and time are appearances rather than solid foundations. It critiques the modern habit of treating spiritual practice...
Pressure in the Mind
The article explains that a subtle, persistent sense of pressure fuels stress, anxiety, procrastination and other forms of mental suffering. It argues that the problem is not the pressure itself but our habitual reaction to eliminate or surrender to it....
The Goal of Buddhist Life
The article frames Buddhism as a universal, non‑sectarian teaching rather than a religion, emphasizing the Buddha’s role as an investigator who uncovered timeless truth. It outlines the goal of liberation through understanding impermanence, suffering and non‑self, and describes the three...
Navel, Bury
The essay weaves a personal narrative of a pregnant academic navigating a new town, a historic college, and the lingering weight of colonial namesakes. It details the physical realities of early pregnancy, the emotional strain of a demanding job market,...
Sunshine and Green Leaves
The article uses a simple apple‑juice metaphor to explain how meditation works: just as pulp settles and the liquid clears after resting, the mind becomes calm when given space. It argues that true and false mind are one, warning that...
Beyond the Glass Tunnel
Derek Parfit’s classic teletransportation scenario illustrates his claim that personal identity is not what ultimately matters. In *Reasons and Persons* he argues that persons are reducible to streams of physical and psychological events, a view echoing Buddhist no‑self (anatta) teachings....
Have You Eaten Yet?
Truc, a lay Buddhist in Ho Chi Minh City, leads volunteers who deliver home‑cooked meals to street‑dwelling residents each night. Using motorbikes as mobile kitchens, the team serves 20‑30 hot boxes at a cost of under $1 per dinner. The effort is...
The Karma of Not-Self
The essay reframes the Buddhist question of who performs karma by starting with karma as intentional action and showing how the teaching of not‑self (anatta) fits as a skillful perception that generates dispassion. It argues that right view, part of...
Your Partner Is Not Your Project
The essay explores how the Buddhist concept of upadana—subtle clinging—manifests in intimate relationships when partners project their own expectations onto each other. By describing a simple fist‑tightening exercise, the author illustrates how mental contracts tighten and release, urging practitioners to...
Foraging Weeds
The article explores urban foraging as a slow, mindful practice that reconnects people to local ecosystems and addresses broader polycrisis challenges. It highlights how Colorado’s plant phenology is shifting 2‑4 weeks earlier, underscoring climate urgency, and stresses harvesting native species...
‘Rites’
Wendy Chen’s debut poetry collection Unearthings uses stark, crystalline verse to excavate family history and broader Asian diaspora narratives. The featured poem “Rites” juxtaposes Buddhist concepts of afterlife with Chinese ancestral rites, describing a grandmother’s hair‑cutting ritual as a meditation...
Physician, Heal Thyself
The New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care’s year‑long Contemplative Medicine Fellowship blends Zen Buddhist teachings with clinical training to address the U.S. health‑care workforce crisis. Peer‑reviewed studies of the 2021‑2024 cohorts show statistically significant reductions in emotional exhaustion, depersonalization,...