Back on the Path

by Jillian As often happens, people practice enthusiastically for a while, and then as time goes on their enthusiasm lessens, their practice and study of the Dharma goes by the wayside, and they return to their previous habits in many areas of their lives. This is...

The Mirror of the Mind

by Atenea Garza Levy For years I didn’t understand why my grandmother answered, “Hearts are mirrors,” every time I told her I loved her. I spent quite some time thinking what that could mean, and then I decided to stop, because I was only circling around the same...

Transformation

One of the Retreatants from Afar wrote us about an unexpected result of her Dharma practice. Mary Grace teaches school and is a wife, mother, and grandmother in addition to being a Dharma practitioner.

A Parent’s Letter to His Children

Henry Baey was on the pilgrimage following the International Buddhist Congregation in Delhi, in November, 2011. His visit to the ruins of Nalanda University affected him deeply, sparking the following email to his sons who were back in Singapore. Whats App to Yi-Wei...
How to Wake Up or How to Cultivate Bodhicitta?

How to Wake Up or How to Cultivate Bodhicitta?

Daniela Mieritz adjusts to Abbey life with the help of bodhicitta: “When some teachers of the past reflected on the rarity of human existence they did not even feel like sleeping, they could not bear to waste a single moment. They put all their energy into...

Thanksgiving

Ken moved to the Abbey is July, ’11, and took anagarika precepts to begin preparing for monastic ordination. He wrote this for his family in Florida to contemplate on Thanksgiving Day. Giving thanks for what we have has many benefits. Through our cultivating sincere...

Except for All Turkeys

The anagarikas at Sravasti Abbey offer this Thanksgiving poem to all our friends (by Terri Chambers [Ven. Tsultrim], Jonathan Owen, Ken Matthews, Daniela Mieritz [Ven. Jampa].

Challenging Ourselves

Becky applied to attend a course at the Abbey. In her application she said that she had a drink several times a week. We responded by asking her to stop drinking completely at least a month before coming to the Abbey so that she didn’t have to deal with changing this...
From Enemy to Brother

From Enemy to Brother

Kevin sent us this touching story, which is a perfect example of how artificial the categories of friend, enemy, and stranger are. When we look beyond superficial appearances and human-made boundaries, into people’s hearts, we see that we are all the same in wanting...