There is a world of compassionate heroes out there who listen to their hearts every day. And I know that an open heart breeds gratitude -- the greatest cure for our own and our world's woes.
There is a world of compassionate heroes out there who listen to their hearts every day. And I know that an open heart breeds gratitude -- the greatest cure for our own and our world's woes.
Khandro Tsering Chödron, one of the few Tibetans whose unusual biography offers a glimpse into what life in an untouched, intact Tibet had been like, passed away last Monday.
Tuning into the present, the moment, is curative, a natural medicine. It heals us because it allows us to connect to the holy now -- the sacred within mundane, conventional time.
I imagined a father-son film where the son would wake up and recognize his reincarnation, return to Tibet and be enthroned in the monastery waiting for him. But when I told Yeshi of my filmmaking dream, he said I should forget it.
Many international observers fail to appreciate that religion in China has never been treated as a matter of personal choice. It's hard to imagine that the current regime would suddenly start to view things differently.
Peace in the community, inner-peace, and the peace within those whom we are trying to help, is at the heart of the charitable work we do at Harboring Hearts.
It may come as a surprise to many that despite its peaceful and somewhat progressive image in the West, the Tibetan Buddhist tradition does not know full ordination for women.
"Don't get mad, but..." So began a text from my sister, instantly causing my teeth to grind and my brow to furrow. Talk about sparking the polar opposite of the desired reaction.
Just because everyone else was taking pictures of him didn't make it okay to do it. I knew in my heart that the Dalai Lama had requested no pictures.
Somehow, of all the habits one could pick up while in college -- living on pizza and ramen noodles, drowning one's sorrows in the free flow of a keg -- I got hooked on something entirely different: meditation.
I abhor your actions and, as a devout follower of Jesus Christ, I am embarrassed and ashamed that you would tarnish the Christian family with actions contrary to Jesus' spirit and teachings.
For those Tibetans struggling to survive under the unrelenting and pitiless tyranny of Communist China, the Dalai Lama is not only a religious "tsawae lama," he is the sovereign ruler and living symbol.
What we often forget, or perhaps were never taught, is that the happiness we seek can only be found when we reach outside of ourselves and help someone.
Part spiritual biography, part nail-biting undercover reporting, this book is the result of a quest to uncover long-hidden spiritual truths and real-time violations of religious freedom in Tibet.
By "retiring" from political life, what the Dalai Lama really is doing is prodding Tibetan exiles to take more initiative and stand up for themselves. It's a surprisingly difficult struggle.
While I am not advocating that we forsake obligations and wipe clean our calendars, I am searching for more meaningful ways to frame our activity in the world.
Though the Dalai Lama is ready to settle into extended meditation retreats, his people will not allow it. The Dalai Lama must continue to bear the responsibility of his people's will for freedom.
As a former fundamentalist Christian, I felt the need to defend my beliefs almost continually. I realize now that all I was really defending was a threatened little ego.
The more time I spent in Tibet delving into the 19th-century teachings of Tertön Sogyal, the more often I met Tibetans who wanted to tell me their story of frustration and pain at what they see as China occupying their country.
Wedren began his career fronting the seminal Washington, DC post-punk outfit Shudder to Think, a band that helped define the scenes in the '80s and '90s. Here is his latest release: "Are We."
March 10 marks the anniversary when Tibetans rose up in the streets of Lhasa against China's nascent occupation of Tibet and when a 24-year-old Dalai Lama fled a pursuing Chinese army.