is much more than a medical event. It is a time for important psychological, emotional and spiritual work – a time for transition. To a large extent, the way we meet death is shaped by our habitual response to suffering, and our relationship to ourselves, to those we love, and to whatever image of ultimate kindness we hold.” - Frank Ostaseski Frank Ostaseski is a Buddhist teacher, international lecturer and a leading voice in contemplative end-of-life care.  He is the Guiding Teacher and visionary Founding Director of Zen Hospice Project, the first Buddhist hospice in America, in San Francisco, and also author of  The Five In... posted on Jan 26 2018 (31,530 reads)

wisdom | An interview with Anthony Aveni in Interview Anthony F. Aveni is Russell Colgate Distinguished University Professor of Astronomy and Anthropology and Native American Studies Emeritus at Colgate University. He began his career as an astrophysicist, but soon became interested in cultural astronomy—the study of how various peoples and cultures have viewed astronomical events.  His research led him to develop the field of archaeoastronomy and is considered one of the founders of Mesoamerican archaeoastronomy for his research in the astronomical history of the Mayan Indians of ancient Mexico. A lecturer, speaker, and author or editor of more than two dozen books... posted on Dec 5 2017 (12,747 reads)

I was a young man, I liked ideas and books quite a lot, and I still read a great deal. But each time I come back from a long hermitage retreat, I have no desire to read a book for the next few weeks or even months. For a while I know there is nothing in any book that is going to be better, more truthful, or more solid than what I have just experienced on the cellular, heart, and soul level. If you asked me what it is I know, I would be hard pressed to tell you. All I know is that there is a deep “okayness” to life—despite all the contradictions—which has become even more evident in the silence. Even when much is terrible, seemingly contradictory, unjust, and i... posted on Nov 7 2017 (20,986 reads)

makes you, you or I, I? That is the age-old question science journalist Anil Ananthaswamy tackles in his book, The Man Who Wasn’t There: Tales from the Edge of the Self (Dutton, Penguin Random House, USA, 2015). He examines the nature of selfhood from all angles, turning to philosophy, neuroscience and in-person interviews with people afflicted with neurological conditions that in some way rob them of some aspect of their selfhood.   In his book, Ananthaswamy, a former software engineer and current consultant for New Scientist Magazine, writes about eight diseases, starting with Cotard’s syndrome, in which deeply depressed individuals become convinced they are d... posted on Sep 13 2017 (8,925 reads)

Go of Who You Think You're Supposed to Be and Embrace Who You Are "Resilience — the ability to overcome adversity — has been a growing topic of study since the early 1970s. In a world plagued by stress and struggle, everyone from psychologists, psychiatrists, and social workers to clergy and criminal justice researchers want to why and how some folks are better at bouncing back from hardship than others. We want to understand why some people can cope with stress and trauma in a way that allows them to move forward in their lives, and why other people appear more affected and stuck. "As I collected and analyzed my data, I recognized that many of the people ... posted on Dec 11 2021 (27,725 reads)

out for a walk up in the canyon. This was at Spirit Rock. I walked into this creek bed and laid down. I was just sort of going to take a nap. I was so conditioned at that point to reflecting inward and practicing Ajahn 's body scans, that I just sort of went into this lying down meditation. There was this extreme release after a point, of just—all I can describe it is just energy, just lifting out of my body. Something very dark and sticky was just removed. And all kinds of horrific images came with that, as if in a sort of a waking dream. I describe a lot of this in my memoir. And actually, some of it in the new book. And then I just found myself experiencing this incredible ... posted on Sep 20 2018 (10,694 reads)

following is excerpted with permission from "Odes to Ordinary Things", published by A Network for Grateful Living, 2017 Introduction Some years ago a neighbor gave me a gift—a collection of “odes to common things” by Pablo Neruda. What I didn’t immediately realize was that she had given me, not just the gift of a book, but the gift of seeing “common” things with fresh and celebratory eyes. Neruda writes playfully and lovingly of lemons, salt, socks, a box of tea! And in doing so, he heightens our attention and appreciation for the everyday wonders which fill our days and lives. Odes (themselves miraculous) bring life, depth and wond... posted on Sep 24 2018 (9,742 reads)

her career, New York-based author and activist, Ashton Applewhite has written about a wide variety of subjects including Antarctica, astrophysics, and a village in Laos that got access to the internet via a bicycle-powered computer. Since 2007, she has been writing about aging and ageism at ThisChairRocks.com, and has authored a book by the same name. She's also the voice of “Yo, Is This Ageist?" and has been widely recognized by the New York Times as an expert on ageism. What follows is the edited transcript of an Awakin Call with Ashton. You can listen to the full recording here. Pavi Mehta: Ashton, what brought you to where you are today, and what dre... posted on Feb 22 2018 (13,671 reads)

of heaven) and “This is why I started the center, to have these opportunities.”   This little girl next to me looked up and said “The Lion King Video is too loud.”  What is this? I listened, thought maybe it is on the street or something; maybe someone is playing the music. I said: “I don’t hear it” and she said “It’s in my head.” (Gasps) That was the moment when the idea, the intellectual understanding of how these images are intruding on imagination and attention became real and I knew I had to go work on it. All these things take time. We can bring these strong tools of our own stories to our children: fami... posted on Oct 16 2017 (12,310 reads)

of the heart” (a phrase coined by Alexis de Tocqueville) are deeply ingrained ways of seeing, being, and responding to life that involve our minds, our emotions, our self-images, our concepts of meaning and purpose. I believe that these five interlocked habits are critical to sustaining a society. 1. An understanding that we are all in this together. Biologists, ecologists, economists, ethicists and leaders of the great wisdom traditions have all given voice to this theme. Despite our illusions of individualism and national superiority, we humans are a profoundly interconnected species—entwined with one another and with all forms of life, as the global econo... posted on Jan 2 2018 (22,932 reads)

who successfully tackle big social, environmental, and economic problems are driven by what I call a moment of obligation — a specific time in their life when they felt compelled to act. These moments become their North Star; they keep them going in a positive direction when everything seems dark. The obligation is not only to the world but also to themselves. Activists or social entrepreneurs aren't the only ones who are moved this way. We all have experiences that deeply inform who we are and what we are supposed to do. But only if we allow them to. Take Socheata Poeuv. She borrowed a bulky video camera from her office job at a television studio a... posted on Oct 6 2017 (9,939 reads)

Sunday morning, and my puppy is curled up in my lap, as she often is. The rainfall outside has subsided for now, replaced only by the occasional medley of bird calls. The hum of my computer, a familiar sound, seamlessly blends into the background. My phone sits in the other room, unattended, until it pings for my attention. My tablet rests in the closet for now, idling before I dive back into one of the three books it currently stores. Look around you. How many devices are bidding for your attention? If someone came into your dwelling space, could they tell what year it was by the technology that immediately surrounded you, or would they have to dig a little deeper? When was th... posted on Oct 11 2017 (13,520 reads)

say that spirits make music  by moving through the breaks  in what is living.  If so, the work of love  is to hold each other and listen. "When I was ill, it was easy to separate myself from others, as a patient surrounded by caregivers. While this, of course, was outwardly accurate, in the truer moments of crisis, we needed each other, and it was hard to tell who was ill and who was well, who was giving and who was getting. In the center of it, we were just tumbled in an authentic embrace that saved us all. "During those days, I had a dream in which love was the fire and experience was the wood. And since, I've come to understand that it is... posted on Feb 1 2018 (14,300 reads)

Grant is a renowned Wharton psychology professor and bestselling author of Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World. He recently joined Ryan Hawk, host of The Learning Leader Show, to talk about what makes an Original, the role of creativity and curiosity in non-conformity, and what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur. This conversation has been edited and condensed. To listen to Adam and Ryan’s full conversation, click here. Adam: The most consistent common attribute of people who have been widely successful and done it again and again is that they’re dedicated learners. What’s fascinating about them is, no matter how much... posted on Jan 19 2018 (12,734 reads)

expert Robin Dreeke and co-author Cameron Stauth talk about their book on building trust. Building good teams starts with having strong relationships based on a foundation of trust. But how does one develop that trust at work or in life? Counterintelligence expert Robin Dreeke, who spent decades as a senior FBI agent, knows how to make strangers trust him enough to be recruited as spies. And it’s not about deception or being a ‘yes’ man. In the book, The Code of Trust: An American Counterintelligence Expert’s Five Rules to Lead and Succeed, Dreeke and co-author Cameron Stauth share simple steps to generating trust from all sorts of people. T... posted on Feb 5 2018 (12,548 reads)

Singer is a spiritual teacher, entrepreneur, and the bestselling author of the spiritual classic The Untethered Soul. He has collaborated with Sounds True to release the online course Living from a Place of Surrender: The Untethered Soul in Action. In this episode of Insights at the Edge, Tami Simon speaks with Michael about the core idea of his teachings: that it is only through complete surrender to the essence of the moment that we experience life's full potential. They talk about what this sense of surrender actually means when it comes to decision-making and day-to-day activities, as well as how to recognize when we are still clinging to resistance. Micha... posted on Dec 22 2017 (47,520 reads)

following is the edited transcript of an Awakin Call with Ulrike Reinhard. You can listen to the full recording of the call here. Preeta Bansal: It's my pleasure to welcome Ulrike Reinhard as our guest this week! Ulrike Reinhard: Yeah, thanks a lot and hello to everyone out there! Preeta: Ulrike is a German publisher, author, a Futurist and she's been involved in a lot of global development efforts throughout her lifetime. Currently, she lives mostly in India, in rural India, where she is the woman behind a skateboard park, that’s in a village; the park has been upending notions of caste and gender, and empowering a community economically. She's been also ... posted on May 18 2019 (3,610 reads)

question is not what to do but how to see. Seeing is the most important thing—the act of seeing. I need to realize that it is truly an act, an action that brings something entirely new, a new possibility of vision, certainty and knowledge. This possibility appears during the act itself and disappears as soon as the seeing stops. It is only in this act of seeing that I will find a certain freedom. So long as I have not seen the nature and movement of the mind, there is little sense in believing that I could be free of it. I am a slave to my mechanical thoughts. This is a fact. It is not the thoughts ­themselves that enslave me but my ­attachment to them. In order to under... posted on Dec 20 2017 (7,892 reads)

would happen if schools focused on kindness and gratitude before achievement and academics? This is a question that Andy Smallman not only entertained, but also acted upon. In 1994, Andy with a group of dedicated parents and their children started Puget Sound Community School [PSCS] “founded upon the belief that people are intrinsically compelled by their own curiosity and desires to learn, and when provided a positive and supportive environment…will enthusiastically pursue meaningful and challenging tasks.”  At PSCS, kindness was not just a concept, it was part of the curriculum—a class. The kindness class became so successful, that Smallman o... posted on Apr 7 2019 (7,644 reads)

from Kent Nerburn's book, Small Graces: Night is closing in. It is time for sleep. I have walked a quiet path today. I have done no great good, no great harm. I might have wished for more — some dramatic occurrence, something memorable. But there was no more. This was the day I was given, and I have tried to meet it with a humble heart. How little it seems. We seek perfection in our days, always wanting more for ourselves and our lives, and striving for goals unattainable. We live between the vast infinites of past and future in the thin shaft of light we call 'today.' And yet today is never enough. Where does it come from, this strange unquenchab... posted on Mar 10 2018 (22,582 reads)