“But what about your savings for when you retire? Aren’t you concerned about your future?” My father and I were standing in the kitchen arguing about my decision to train in a Zen monastery. I’d been there for over two years and every time we’d see each other, we would…

I didn’t decide to train in a Zen monastery. I didn’t say to myself one day, “I think I’d like to give up everything I have and go train as a monk in a Zen monastery for 14 years.” Before I discovered Zen, I had no interest in anything even…

“Only one person in a million becomes enlightened without a teacher’s help.” — Bodhidharma Every so often, I’ll run into someone who will disagree with my point that a teacher or a master is essential to proper training. This person will typically argue by saying, “I’m my own guru. I…

One of the most unfortunate lies people believe is that they beat themselves up. I hear it all the time. It will inadvertently come out of people’s mouths while I’m talking to them. “I want to work on my project, but I don’t, and then I beat myself up for…

“Every time you are tempted to react in the same old way, ask if you want to be a prisoner of the past or a pioneer of the future.” —Deepak Chopra I’m a huge fan of finding out how I typically handle a situation and then trying something different. Not…

Imagine a world that had a unique problem: Everyone was falling into a hole. Over and over, people kept falling into this hole. It was misery. No one had a good solution. One guy beat himself up for falling into the hole. He assumed that the beating would prevent him…