I felt on call with my poem Extinction Aria, as I wanted to create a kind of sutra for the times, a prayer, an incantation of urgency, a romp through the six realms in Buddhist philosophy. Printer and designer, David Sellers of Pied Oxen, had suggested the idea of a Tibetan stye book—with “pecha,” unbound pages. Pages bound in yellow…
I was recently targeted for an ad from a new company called Karmastry. In the same way that DNA testing maps out your genes, Karmastry provides a detailed karma analysis that maps out your past lives, shedding considerable light on otherwise unexplainable peculiarities. Naturally, I was intrigued. Karmastry sent me a surprisingly thorough questionnaire that took several hours to complete,…
For today’s leaders, mindfulness—training the mind to be more focused and aware—is becoming a survival skill and a cornerstone of self-leadership. The pressure on leaders is increasing, as are the pace of change, the volume of information available, and the scale of complexity.
We recently presented a conversation between Robert Wright and Reverend Dr. Serene Jones at the 92nd Street Y in New York City about the science and philosophy of meditation and enlightenment. A lightly edited version of their conversation—focusing on the political implications of this topic—appears below. Wright is the author of the acclaimed books The Evolution of God, Nonzero, The…
Taking time for yourself supports not only your own well-being but drastically changes the lives of your children. Frazzled, over-stressed parents make for frazzled and overstressed families. You may feel the need to be on call all the time, but there is no advantage to 24/7 parenting—it’s another unique stress for the modern parent. No one can be available all…
Perhaps if we want to find happiness, we should design for it. We’ve met many sincere practitioners of many faiths who follow a path or practice but still feel as though their lives are not fulfilled or transformed. They have a deep division in their lives between their “ordinary” lives of work, school, and family and their “faith” lives. We…
Roshi Joan Halifax is a Buddhist teacher, anthropologist, and author. In her newest book, Standing at the Edge: Finding Freedom Where Fear and Courage Meet, she explores the terrain of five psychological territories she calls “Edge States”―altruism, empathy, integrity, respect, and engagement. We spoke with her recently about some of the ideas from the book. You’ve spent a lifetime trying…
April is such an in between time. As spring starts to rush in, glimmers of joy are evident—the early dawns, the return of bird songs, patches of green, the emergence of some daring flowers—and it’s hard not to get a bit uplifted and eager for newness. Coincidently, where I live in Colorado, April is mud season. In the mornings there…