Transforming Problems into Happiness

Transforming Problems into Happiness

“May I see each difficult condition as a precious teacher, and an opportunity for transformation.”  “Instead of seeing all the problems you experience—whether caused by living beings or by situations and circumstances—as problems, you need to develop the habit of…

Changing How We Think About Thinking

Changing How We Think About Thinking

“Mostly my thinking is compulsive and distracting, therefore I take it very lightly.” “A psychologist walked around a room while teaching stress management to an audience. As she raised a glass of water, everyone expected they’d be asked the “half…

Ageing as the Path

Ageing as the Path

During the question-and-answer period, someone asked, ‘Why do we meditate?’, Suzuki answered with a laugh, ‘So you can enjoy your old age.’  I’m about halfway through a book called Aging as a Spiritual Practice and really enjoying it. Written by…

Real Happiness At Work

Real Happiness At Work by Sharon Salzberg *Date specific for the the author, visiting Guelph on June 7, 2014  After first reading Salzberg’s Lovingkindnesss, I thought it was okay – another decent spiritual book. However, after working with the ideas…

The Tools

The Tools: Transform Your Problems into Courage, Confidence and Creativity by Phil Stutz  About a month ago, I saw and episode of The Charlie Rose Show on PBS. His guests were a couple of psycho-therapists who had written a book called…

The Fruitful Darkness

The Fruitful Darkness

The Fruitful Darkness by Joan Halifax  I don’t know about you, but I’ve crossed over from fearing the worst to believing in it. From the sixties onward there has been lots of speculation that our industrial free market system was…

Naughty or Nice

Naughty or Nice

“It is important to understand that loving-kindness is not an attitude of trying to make oneself like everything. Having loving-kindness towards other beings – towards those who are harmful and destructive as well as those who are cuddly and pure-hearted…