Homeward Bound
Dear Friends and Family, I am writing to you from my favorite place on earth, Wat Songdhammakalyani in Thailand. The temple is my sanctuary—that sacred place of belonging that I call home. I feel humbled, grateful and privileged to have received temporary ordination from my teacher Venerable Dhammananda Bhikkhuni Mahatheri. The process has been both intense and wonderful. This is [...]
The Mystery of Sapa
Welcome to the second installment of my Travel Blog, the Sacred Pause. Sapa, a mountainous region in Northwestern Vietnam has been calling to me spiritually for the past 20 years. I came here hoping to discover of piece of the tapestry of who I am, but instead encountered the mystery of a foreign land. My experience of Sapa has been [...]
The Sacred Pause
Welcome to my Travel Blog- The Sacred Pause! As Thanksgiving approaches what better way to explore the soul of a country than through its kitchen? After a fun-filled first day touring old Hanoi quarter and taking in a delightful afternoon performance of water puppet theater, I settled into my hotel room for the evening. That’s when it occurred to [...]
Are You Happy?
When you first meet a Thai person, invariably they will ask you, “Are you happy?” It’s a fair question and one which we’re not used to asking in the U.S. Here’s my “so-called” dilemma. Do I deserve to be happy right now? Is it okay that I’m so fortunate to be in Thailand when the pandemic is raging at home [...]
Travel Chronicles
Uncertainty filled the air as people waited in line at the boarding gate for our flight en route to Bangkok, Thailand. We were all worried that, with only fifteen minutes left, we wouldn’t make it in time. The staff wanted to check our flight documents a second time, even though we had already shown them at check-in. One man at [...]
Cultivating Joy
How are your holidays going? I first resisted the idea of decorating my condo. What’s the use I asked myself? As Jack Kornfield said on a recent episode of Casual Buddhism, “Right now the world is having a really hard time with the pandemic, climate change, and things we really need to pay attention to.” I admit that the recent [...]
Gratitude Works
Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. Yet as the day approaches, I feel a kind of lethargy in my soul. Many of us are suffering from COVID fatigue. Some of us have lost loved ones or friends, and for that, I am truly sorry. We have a vaccine but a lot of people remain unvaccinated. We are at a tipping point [...]
Bubba-The Awakened One
My friend Gretchen Cherington described a profound experience she had over thirty years ago on last night's Casual Buddhism. She was going through a divorce, raising teenagers, and running a new business. She decided to take a month off to collect herself. One day as she sat on her front porch, she became mesmerized as she stared intently watching an [...]