From the Pure Land Podcast

Chelsea Waves is an early adapter—not to technology and modern trends but in the ancient gifts of compassion and wisdom. The 35-year old is a death doula, grief companion, and lucid dreaming coach. She shares her stories and answers questions about death, dying, grief, equanimity, and a lot more in this interview. I’m privileged to have met her (thanks to spiritual teacher Andrew Holecek) and to h...

I never had a bucket list until now—290 days before my 80th birthday. Of course, impermanence might put a hole in the bucket, but I’m not attached to it. I can’t be attached to it. I hope to have my bucket list completed in those 290 days. Here it is: * Publish my next book, A Buddhist Path to Joy: The New Middle Way Expanded Edition . I’m on track to have it on the market around November 1. In ad...

This recent post on Kaspa Thompson’s Substack, Just As You Are , got me thinking about a “higher power,” the two words that turn many away from religion. We wonder: Except for nature, is there really spiritual power greater than you and me? Over the years, I’ve met many recovering addicts who were grateful to Buddhism for enabling them to join 12-step programs. As long as they limited their concep...

Following up on a post from 58 days after Donald Trump's inauguration as president of the United States, we look at the DEI tsunami and how the Buddha practiced diversity, inclusion, and equal opportunity. Training the mind, calming the passions, acting with compassion, and practicing the dharma result in less or no suffering. Giving in to anger, hatred, sensual desires, and the vicissitudes of li...

Each of us individually has an effect on the lives of beings around us through the quiet processes going on in our minds. — Robert Thurman Acquire a peaceful spirit and thousands around you will be saved. — Seraphim of Sarov Emotions are contagious. We catch feelings from one another as though they were some kind of social virus. — Daniel Goleman When we are no longer able to change a situation, w...

On June 7, I announced a one-month sabbatical to finish the narrating and editing of The New Middle Way for Audible. It’s now complete and on sale. If you’ve been waiting for a version you could listen to, you’ll find the audiobook version available on the same Amazon page as the Kindle, paperback, and hardback. Consider listening and leaving an honest review on Audible. I’ll be occupied with fami...

For From the Pure Land blog readers, here’s a sample of what’s keeping me busy over the coming weeks. For podcast listeners, you won’t be hearing much from me as I finish the narration needed to release The New Middle Way on Audible. You’ll be reading and hearing more from me in July. Mel’s book, The New Middle Way: A Buddhist Path Between Secular and Ossified - Enlightenment for Regular Folks , i...

How does a spiritual author celebrate a book launch at a time when so many of his friends, readers, and potential readers are deeply concerned about the world’s suffering? My friend Paula Davis and I conceived the idea of "The Middle Way to the Pure Land," a 90-minute program we held earlier today. It featured talks, prayers, and meditations designed to improve ourselves and our world, as well as...

My morning email contained an announcement from Google about improvements in its Gemini AI engine. I tried it out with two requests. It passed brilliantly, and one result was a teaching on ego as understood in Vajrayana Buddhism. »>TOMORROW!« < Mel’s book, The New Middle Way: A Buddhist Path Between Secular and Ossified - Enlightenment for Regular Folks, is available from Amazon . Instead of a boo...

This is two minutes from an unscripted talk I gave this morning. It summarizes (informally, conversationally, and imperfectly) the message I’d like people to get from my first full-length book, The New Middle Way . The New Middle Way : A Path Between Secular and Ossified - Enlightenment for Regular Folks is due out on June 1 in Kindle, paperback, and hardback versions, and later in Audible. You ca...

Dear Andrew, My Spiritual Friend: In my last blog post, I encouraged living with gratitude, and here I am expressing some of mine. After you helped me find the key to unlock my bodhicitta a year ago, you opened the door wider by taking the time to read my soon-to-be-published book and writing this about it: Mel Pine has distilled a lifetime of learning and packaged it in the most caring heart. Thi...

The Brahmaviharas , or Four Immeasurables, are guides to infinite love for all beings. As I described them here , they are: * Loving Kindness : An attitude of boundless goodwill toward all beings without attachments or expectations. * Compassion : Arising from loving kindness, it’s the sincere commitment to work to end the suffering of all beings. * Empathetic Joy : Taking delight in the success a...

Writing a book has taught me about many things—ego prominently among them. Over an almost 60-year professional career, I had come to think of myself as good at writing, editing, and managing publications—that is, a person with certain skills. As I completed my book manuscript, I began to take on another role—a person who has written a book and is shifting into the business side of publishing it. T...

On April 10, I posted the Epigraph and Introduction of my forthcoming book, The New Middle Way: A Path Between Secular and Ossified , which is scheduled for publication this summer. The book combines explanations of Buddhism for beginners with glimpses of the path that has brought me to a joyful life . The portion I shared on April 10 was largely anecdotal, so I’m now releasing a more teacherish c...

The journey toward publishing my first full-length book is progressing better than I had hoped. I now expect a release date no later than August. I’ve begun an author’s email list , website , and Facebook Page . The results from early reviewers are encouraging, with one reader saying: The best book I’ve read on Buddhism…a gift to the world. So, it’s a good time to make the book’s first 2,000 words...

May all beings be happy. May all beings be healthy. May all beings live with ease. May all beings live in peace. May all beings live in pure joy, free from bias and hatred. Words similar to those are expressed out loud or prayed silently thousands, maybe millions, of times a day around the globe. They are known as the metta prayer or blessing, and in meditation, they cultivate loving kindness towa...

The mind, hard to control, Flighty--alighting where it wishes-- One does well to tame. The disciplined mind brings happiness. --The Dhammapada verse 35 I realized this morning that, for me, the First Precept… I refrain from taking life. …applies to the monkey mind. What’s the monkey mind? It’s that aspect of your mind that likes to chatter “bada-bada yada-yada” all day. It likes to travel through...

As I drafted the book The New Middle Way over the last eight months or so, my self-image changed. While my roles as husband, father, friend, student of Buddhism, and myriad other things remained, my identity as a writer, blogger, and editor began to change. I was now working on the first full-length book to be published under my own name. As I researched, wrote, and edited my work, my confidence g...

When Dominique Side wrote a series on her Substack, The Softer Gaze , about her recent encounter with cancer and the resulting surgery, I thought that would make a great subject for her second From the Pure Land video interview. An expert on Buddhist philosophy, Dominique is a delight to talk with, as I learned in our first discussion . I wanted to hear how her decades of Buddhist experience prepa...

In my March 10 interview with Jordan Bates , he mentioned this quotation from Carl Sagan, the brilliant scientist and communicator: If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe. It’s one of the coolest things I’ve ever heard about the interconnectedness of everything—what Buddhism calls dependent origination. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it. My fo...

Since Kenna Day entered my life as my son’s partner, I’ve enjoyed conversations with her, especially the probing questions she asks and the topics she raises on life, writing, and literature. So, I had the brainstorm of asking her to interview me for a video podcast. She accepted, and we both enjoyed doing it. We hope you enjoy watching or listening to it. We did have some technical problems. Beca...

* What’s ahead for spirituality in the West? * What happens to us after we die? * Is reality real? * Are stories real? * What is reality anyway? * What is Buddhist emptiness? * What is Direct Heart-Opened Experience? * Are “magic mushrooms” an opening to transcendence? * Is there a suprapersonal God? Jordan Bates and I answer those questions and more… Just kidding! We don’t answer them, but we hav...

It was a joy this morning to spend 45 minutes interviewing Tara Mandala Executive Director Cady Allione and Chögé Lisa Erickson about that worldwide organization, which was created by Lama Tsultrim Allione, who traveled to Nepal and India in 1967 hoping to learn to paint mandalas and ended up with that and much more. She was one of the early pioneers in bringing Buddhism to the West. While Lama Ts...

The essence of my practice is connecting with my pure mind, or my Buddha Nature. Teachers in the Dzogchen and Mahamudra traditions have pointed the way for me. If you are unfamiliar with the terms, there’s no need to distinguish between these slightly different ways to reach that inherent Buddha Nature. Just find the teacher you’re comfortable with to help guide you. Machig Labdrön (1055-1149) fou...

My flow of blog posts has slowed because I’ve been finalizing my book proposal. I’ll have it ready for my chosen publisher by Wednesday. To keep my subscribers and podcast listeners supplied with a steady flow of my words of wisdom, I’m making today’s release of a draft book chunk free to all. My experience in the writing, editing, and publishing universe confirms my belief in impermanence. Everyt...