Zen Moments

“…I saw how it bends, flowing with the wind…” newborn – we are tender and weak in death – we are rigid and stiff living plants are supple and yielding dead branches are dry and brittle so the hard and unyielding belong to death and the soft and pliant belong to life an inflexible army [...]

“Because, you understand, they are sisters…” The Ladies have been trying lately. Trying to make me crazy by the end of summer vacation, I am convinced. They get along for brief periods of time – usually involving some sort mess and mayhem – which intersperse the fighting. Fighting over space on the couch, over which [...]

“…the more time we spend choosing to run the deep inner peace circuitry… the more peaceful our planet will be…” “A powerful talk  – well worth 18 minutes” Stroke Of Insight – Jill Bolte Taylor – Some Highlights… “I grew up to study the brain because I have a brother who has been diagnosed with [...]

“Not-knowing is not easy, it’s not comfortable…” “And what do you do?” Back when I was 21, I was unemployed. I didn’t know what I wanted to do, and I hated that question. “I’m unemployed” was the truth, but I would cringe each time I gave that answer. In those days maybe there was more [...]

“…the answer is staring you in the face – if only you can see it” Depression can appear to be without antidote. For years I struggled with it, even though I made a good living from my paintings and to the observer, my life typified the creative dream. Horses had always been my passion and [...]

“Mooring on Chien-Te River” The boat rocks at anchor by the misty island Sunset, my loneliness comes again. In these vast wilds the sky arches down to the trees. In the clear river water, the moon draws near. Meng Hao-Jen Translation from the Chinese by Gary Snyder Photograph kindly contributed to Zen Moments by Sam [...]

“The darker it gets, the more brightly the light shines” Just as a smile is infectious and causes delight in others, so, much more powerfully, our wisdom and compassion shines like a warm and tender light on those around us, and our very being becomes a gift to others… The darker it gets, the more [...]

“How do you let yourself be that honest?” March holds a special meaning for me as this was the month of both the birth and the death of one of my best friends, and I’ve just gone back and relived the last days of his life.  I wrote this story and thought I’d share it [...]

“No thanks, I don’t need anything right now… was like shutting a door in their face…” I learned a lot about receiving when I was a monk. I lived as a Buddhist monk without money for 17 years – where everything I consumed (apart from water and toothpaste) actually had to be put into my hands [...]

“…no difference between us except degrees…” I recently volunteered with a group to treat 81 homeless people to a holiday party in San Francisco. The party was the culmination of a day of providing these guests various services that most of us can enjoy and sometimes take for granted, like a haircut, new clothes, a [...]