Turning: Everyday Buddhism

Another solo podcast! This time it's about my Everyday Buddhism podcast journey and how I lost my "why." If you want to hear more about how important understanding what your why is, I talked about that in my second podcast episode , "Everyday Buddhism 2 - What is Your WHY?" The podcast has been such a meaningful space for me: A way to explore, connect, and grow with all my listeners. But more rece...

It's been a long time since I've done a solo episode of this podcast and I've been getting requests for a bit more of those to include along with the guest episodes. And this episode is one of those. In this episode I reflect on the Fifth Realization from the sutra, The Eight Realizations of Great Beings. The Fifth Realization, as translated by Thich Nhat Hanh says: Ignorance is the cause of the e...

It's a pleasure to share a conversation with Ani Lodro Palmo, an ordained Tibetan Buddhist nun and Director of the Vajra Vidya Monastery in Crestone, Colorado ; and a spiritual teacher and author with more than three decades of monastic experience. Ani has devoted her life to spiritual practice and shares her understanding of the Dharma as an author of the books,  All That Appears & Exists: The Bu...

I am excited to share this conversation with Henry Shukman, a Zen master in the Sanbo Zen lineage and spiritual director emeritus at Mountain Cloud Zen Center in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Henry is the co-founder of The Way meditation app and founder of the Original Love meditation program. He is the author of the books,  Original Love: The Four Inns on the Path of Awakening and One Blade of Grass: A Z...

As some of you have noticed and commented on, I haven't been as active in releasing podcast episodes. A few listeners were worried about me and, for your concern, I am grateful. I plan to get back to more timely podcast releases, with quite a few on my schedule, but in the meantime, I will re-run some podcast episodes so my podcast listeners will know I haven't disappeared … and to that end I will...

I am delighted to have another conversation with James Crews, a return guest who is joining me for a conversation about his book, Unlocking the Heart: Writing for Mindfulness, Courage, and Self-Compassion. James is the author of the essay collection, Kindness Will Save the World , and editor of several bestselling poetry anthologies, including The Wonder of Small Things (winner of the New England...

This is a special episode announcing the release of my new book, as a Substack serial book: Living Life As It Is: An Honest Narrative of My Challenges Practicing Right View I started writing my second book in 2020. But along came the Covid-19 pandemic and so much after that. So here I am still writing what was to be my second book, focused on Right View. The stumbling block in getting it done was...

In this episode I talk with Nate Klemp, PhD. Nate is a bestselling author and formally trained philosopher. He is the author of the new book OPEN: Living With an Expansive Mind in a Distracted World . Nate is also the coauthor of the New York Times Editors' Choice, The 80/80 Marriage: A New Model for a Happier, Stronger Marriage , and the New York Times Bestseller, Start Here: Master the Lifelong...

In this episode I invited Scott Snibbe to join me for a conversation about Buddhist responses to the anxiety, apprehension, insecurity, fear, dread, anger … and on and on … that some people are feeling now. Scott Snibbe is a twenty-five-year student of Tibetan Buddhism whose teachers include Lama Zopa Rinpoche and His Holiness the Dalai Lama. He is the author and host of the  How to Train a Happy...

In this episode I talk with Natalie Baker. Natalie is a psychotherapist and Buddhist teacher , with more than 30 years of personal practice and 2+ decades of teaching experience. She is the founder of Neurofeedback Training Co. and a practicing psychotherapist in New York City, Natalie blends the wisdom of Buddhist psychology with modern therapeutic techniques, empowering individuals to navigate l...

In this episode I talk with Nadia Colburn. Nadia is the author of the poetry books, I Say the Sky and The High Shelf , and her poetry and prose have appeared in more than eighty publications, including The New Yorker , American Poetry Review , T he Kenyon Review , Spirituality & Health , Lion's Roar , and The Yale Review . She holds a Ph. D. in English from Columbia University, is a yoga teacher a...

In this episode I talk with Scott Snibbe, the creator and host of the popular podcast, A Skeptic's Path to Enlightenment and the author of the new book, How To Train a Happy Mind, with foreword by His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Scott is a twenty-five-year student of Tibetan Buddhism whose teachers include Lama Zopa Rinpoche and His Holiness the Dalai Lama. He leads meditation classes and retreats wo...

In this episode I talk with Cindy Rasicot, about her new book, This Fresh Existence: Heart Teachings from Bhikkuni Dhammananda. Cindy is an award-winning author of the memoir Finding Venerable Mother: A Daughter's Spiritual Quest to Thailand . Cindy also hosted a weekly YouTube series that welcomed people from all walks of life to explore their spiritual practice in conversation with Venerable Bhi...

Celebrate the Everyday Sangha by listening to this special bonus re-release of episode 26,  Why Sangha? Bringing Buddhism to Life. This re-released episode is the first episode I talked about the Three Treasures, The Three Jewels, or the Triple Gem of Buddhism. Back in April of 2019, I released this episode to announce the launch of our Everyday Sangha. I'm re-releasing it today, in a bow of grati...

In this episode I talk with Oren Jay Sofer about his new book, Your Heart Was Made for This: Contemplative Practices for Meeting a World in Crisis with Courage, Integrity & Love. Oren teaches meditation and communication internationally. He holds a degree in comparative religion from Columbia University and is a Certified Trainer of Nonviolent Communication and a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner...

Join me for a delightful conversation with Steve Kanji Ruhl about his book, Appalachian Zen: Journeys in Search of True Home, from the American Heartland to the Buddha Dharma , the 2023 Gold Prize winner for Memoir in the Nautilus Book Awards. Steve Kanji is a Zen Buddhist minister ordained in the Zen Peacemaker Order, now teaching independently and instructing Zen students through his Touch the E...

In this episode, I welcome back Rebecca Li to talk about her new book,  Illumination: A Guide to the Buddhist Method of No Method . Rebecca and I had a conversation in May of 2021, about her previous book, Allow Joy into Our Hearts: Chan Practice in Uncertain Times. Rebecca is a meditation and Dharma teacher in the lineage of Chan Master Sheng Yen and founder and guiding teacher of Chan Dharma Com...

This week, over at my new premium Substack podcast, Words From My Teachers, I released Episode 6, continuing readings from the book, The Center Within by Rev. Gyomay Kubose. In the episode I read the following essays:  Middle Way,  Water,  Purposeless Purpose,  No Mind, and  How the Buddha Taught. As a special bonus episode for the Everyday Buddhism podcast, I am sharing the reading of the essay ...

As a special bonus episode for the Everyday Buddhism podcast, I am sharing the reading of the essay Purposeless Purpose. It's a wonderful essay to reflect on, as they all are in The Center Within , but I'm releasing it here on the Everyday Buddhism podcast as a companion piece, which you will find in the next episode, 104. But as a special introduction to the bonus episode, I am adding new content...

In the spirit of the holiday season, I am re-releasing a popular episode from 2019: The Boundless Heart - Bodhicitta. It is my wish that we all try to practice being a Bodhisattva during this holiday season … Starting with me! ;) Stating the obvious, it's been a rough 7 years or so. Years marked by war, pandemic, social injustice, tribalism and, overall, something called "high conflict" made popul...

I n this episode of Words From My Teachers, an Everyday Buddhism podcast, I am reading the first five chapters from The Center Within by Rev. Gyomay Kubose: Awareness A Shining Star Buddha Nature and Gassho Buddhism Is Everyday Life Empty-Handed I hope you enjoy these readings and I hope you will take my suggestion and cue to do some reflection at the end of each essay. As my teacher, Rev. Koyo Ku...

Introducing  Words From My Teachers , a premium, weekly Everyday Buddhism podcast. Words From My Teachers  features readings from the books written by and about my teachers from the Bright Dawn Center of Oneness Buddhism and the Kubose Dharma Legacy … Rev. Gyomay Kubose, Rev. Koyo Kubose, and Haya Akegarasu.   This is the first of 2 episodes that will be offered as public podcast episodes … then m...

Introducing  Words From My Teachers , a premium, weekly Everyday Buddhism podcast. Words From My Teachers  features readings from the books written by and about my teachers from the Bright Dawn Center of Oneness Buddhism and the Kubose Dharma Legacy … Rev. Gyomay Kubose, Rev. Koyo Kubose, and Haya Akegarasu. I started the Everyday Buddhism podcast in June of 2018 so that I could share the everyday...

What a delight it is to have James Crews joining me for a conversation about the book, The Wonder of Small Things: Poems of Peace & Renewal , which he edited. James is the author of the essay collection, Kindness Will Save the World , and editor of several bestselling poetry anthologies, including The Wonder of Small Things , Healing the Divide , The Path to Kindness , and  How to Love the World ....

I am very happy to share the wisdom of Gemma Naturkach, a member of our Everyday Buddhism Community and Sangha. I asked Gemma to join me for a conversation on the podcast, after listening to her share her reflections and insight about her experiences as a refugee from Ukraine . It really helps give us a bigger perspective—a perspective from the real-life experience of a woman trying to make sense...