As a child, I used to play all sorts of make-believe games.  One day I’d be a teacher; my stuffed animals were my students.  Another day I’d play store, creating a boutique in my basement.  [...]

In America we’re Republicans and Democrats, but across cultures and throughout history there have been two main opposite forces in human political society:  liberals and conservatives.  Interestingly, there are meaningful differences in the brain structure [...]

Mindfulness is often mistaken to be simply thought-observing, as in literally observing one’s thoughts.  On the contrary, it entails at least a dozen practices for different types of people and purposes.  Whichever practice we use, [...]

Just what is the relationship between consciousness and reality?  If Zen is accurate, it would explain human mystification about what, who and why we are.  Our dualistic approach (me vs. everything else) generates bewilderment.  Could [...]

We get wildfires in Los Angeles.  The malicious glow in the night as the wind whips flames hundreds of feet i the air.  The ash and pieces of partially burned bark falling from the smoke [...]

It feels like 100 years ago.  I was probably about 15 years old, enjoying that early teen girl hormone rush, when a guy could be considered cute no matter how bad his sneakers smelled.  It [...]

I find myself in plenty of airport and on plenty of planes.  And so it was that I was chatting with a seat mate the other day about America’s favorite topic du jour…politics.  The flight [...]

We belong to our parents until we belong to ourselves.  We eat their food, wear the clothes they drape around us and listen to the music that comes out of their sound systems.  Their tastes [...]

If you’ve had a relatively loving family background, remember the delight in just being a kid.  No thoughts of comparisons; times of playing without thoughts of performing.  There was an unconscious delight in just being [...]

This is about childhood, the notions of Sin, Love, God—and a brief comment on the all-male priesthood…send hate mail straight to my trash folder, please. I’ve given formal retreats and provided direction for older men [...]

No doubt, you’re still shell-shocked as the economy has clawed its way out of the recession and into revery.  But if you cut advertising dollars, you probably hindered the very rebound you so desperately needed.  [...]

I wanted to be Brenda Starr when I was little.  Before going to school, I’d grab the paper and read the comics.  There would be Brenda starr, the only female I knew who wasn’t a [...]