The mental consciousness creates fundamental structures that support further differentiation. These structures are so well established, or conjured up so immediately, that they become realities. The basic structures are time and space, self and other. They arise so immediately that we do not believe that they are created. I don’t seem to create the future. The future is ‘out there’. ‘There is such…

[From a Morning Reflection in 2013] With many people away, it’s so quiet I can hear the water dripping over the sound of our breathing. We can have our own little retreat here today, which is always the way it is here regardless of the day. We can use every opportunity to practice mindfulness—to be aware of where our body is and what our mind is doing and ask ourselves, “Is this a skillful state o…

Each one of us is a blade of grass. We want all the blades of grass on the planet to be healthy, but it can seem overwhelming. There have never been this many people on this planet in the known history of human civilization. The mind boggles; it can’t cope with so many blades. But this one blade of grass is something I have some control over. This one conscious being is something I can work with.…

We have to learn to open up to the world around us. It’s one of the last things we do, actually. We normally have an unawakened relationship with the world around us. We pay attention to it just to manipulate it, to find things for ourselves in it. We even talk about living our life as if life is something separate from us. We try to get ‘on top of life’ or get ‘ahead in life’. The world of nature…

I remember when I first told people that I was going to be a nun, one immediate response was, ‘Well, how selfish! Isn’t that awfully self-centred?’ My reply was, ‘Yes. It’s completely self-centred… but until I can understand my own suffering, my own difficulty, I’m not going to be able to help anybody else very much.’ Although I wanted to help, I saw that my capacity for serving others was very li…

The harmless selves in your toolbox are the ones you want to encourage, to put to use. Now, it may seem ironic that part of having a strong sense of self is that you try to make the self as harmless as possible. We tend to think of people with a strong sense of self as often being careless in their treatment of others, but that’s not genuine strength. The more you harm others, the more you’re crea…

One word mentioned in the Mettā Sutta is nipako. It is often translated as wise, chief, or highest. Bhikkhu Bodhi translates it as discretion and talks about it in terms of worldly skills or practical wisdom. One way to reflect on this translation of nipako is in the realm of human relationships. By looking back on a conversation, for instance, we can ask ourselves whether we had been gentle and…

For me, the issue of respect is a major one – it touches into what can be a chronic lack, a lack that we experience as having no worth. This sense whirls one along a track, in a semi-conscious way, of seeking accomplishment, security or the approval of others. And as with all confused needs, no matter how much one gets, it isn’t enough. This is because we’re looking for an inner foundation of self…

“Monks, these two are fools. “Which two? The one who doesn’t see his transgression as a transgression, and the one who doesn’t rightfully pardon another who has confessed his transgression. These two are fools. “These two are wise people. “Which two? The one who sees his transgression as a transgression, and the one who rightfully pardons another who has confessed his transgression. These two are…

Curious to try hermetic life, in 1999, I stepped outside the monastic cloister. The following years without the support of the sorority were a test of my refuge, compelling me to rely on the qualities of compassion and forgiveness as never before. Still bound by monastic precepts, living on my own stirred feelings of anxiety and insecurity. From day to day, I did not know how my needs would be pro…