Another of the recordings from the retreat I’m currently co-leading at Aryaloka retreat center. The retreat’s on creativity and meditation, and I’ve been noticing how self-critical (i.e. “perfectionist” many creative people can be. So I threw in this short meditation at the end of the evening in order to connect us with the fact that life is messy, that we don’t “do life” perfectly, and how this can be an opportunity for us to develop more empathy and kindness rather than to beat ourselves up.
I hope this is of benefit to you. (By the way, the meditation room is kind of noisy, and the recording equipment wan’t great. And it’s only very lightly edited to remove some of the coughs.)
Mahāyāna Buddhism emphasizes compassion, and yet it portrays awakened beings who look anything but peaceful…
Here are things I try to observe in my own communication online, especially around politics.…
It’s hard not to get overwhelmed by what's going on in the world. Politics is…
I am launching a major new course for 2026, on the topic of how we…
One of my students just let me know that there is a group of Buddhist…
I've been practicing and teaching self-compassion for a long time now. My book on that…