Observant readers will have noticed that the last Blog post here was in late 2021. In 2022 I began a Substack but it turns out I’m not a consistent writer. Still, I have many drafts in stock and may post finished entries one of these days. Lastly, this website will be closed later this year. Content will be migrated to Kevala Retreat and other media ..read more

I’ve been told that the Winter Solstice is a week of more or less longest nights in northern hemisphere. So it’s not too late for a Solstice post. Barely. Since returning to North America two decades ago, the Winter Solstice has grown in meaning for me. The night-day proportions are much different in Wisconsin than they were in Surat Thani, from where the Equator was just down the road in Singapore. Friends, here, have been celebrating the Solstices in ways that I gradually warmed to. And this year I have a bit of comment to share. Guided by Tan Ajahn Buddhadasa’s teaching in Seeing with the E ..read more

What dysfunction of conscience and empathy make these guys think they have the right? to take power after a legitimate election? to control key national industries? to gouge the citizenry? to lie, cheat, and steal? and yet call themselves Buddhist? Or Christian? Or anything based in decency and ethics? While I’m thinking of Burmese generals first, I’m also thinking of the Trumpists, the big tech moguls, the Bolsonaros & Dutertes, the Limbaughs & Tucker Carlsons. In all these cases pathology is at work. And in all these cases, many people are suffering because of pathological drives f ..read more

I’ve been immersed in an absorbing book project, editing a major work by Ajahn Buddhadasa. While I keep up with current events, I haven’t commented about them actively. Something changed. The events of January 6th in Washington DC yanked me out of my cozy bubble. I’ve been quietly hopeful that the November general election and the Georgia runoffs would lead to change beneficial for a broad and diverse majority of US citizens. Yes, I’ve been deeply concerned by criminal neglect of the pandemic, police violence against black men, and disregard for the increasing damage of climate change. And I’v ..read more

Their canes are left over from last year, in spring new ones emerge, both catch my clothes when I get close. They leaf out and eventually flower, then the berries start to form: tiny whitish-green at first, then some pink as they grow, eventually turning red, and now maturing into deep luscious purple-black. Black is beautiful, black is tasty, black is part of the palette of our woods and fields. What a tired, stale mentality to want everything to be one color, one flavor, one opinion. [* Black caps are the black raspberries growing wild here. Yet another gift of nature, nurturing us in this v ..read more

“Safer at Home” in Covid-19 times is an opportunity for meditative retreat. “Distancing” becomes space for inner work and “isolation” becomes spiritual solitude, as encouraged in the Buddha’s teachings. Santikaro’s scheduled retreats in March, May, and June have been adapted to Home & Online Retreats via Zoom. Upcoming on-line retreats can be found here. May 16-22 is a 7 day retreat with the theme of “Exploring the Diversity of Meditation,” originally planned for Cloud Mountain. If you are staying home these days, and you would like to practice within sangha and with guidance, please cons ..read more

Wise words from Amita Schmidt, a dear friend: You might wonder after a pandemic, “Who is going to lead?” A president? The millennials?  Wise elders? Philanthropists? Corporations? Criminals? Instead of “who,” wonder “what?” What in me is going to lead? Fear? Worry? Selfing? Pushing? Controlling? Thoughts? Emotions? This is a time for new leadership.  Lead with your inner stability.  Lead with your quiet, empty, aware nature. Lead with stillness, wisdom, and connectivity.  Lead with the absence of “you.” The Buddha insisted, “I have stopped, why don’t you?” And Psalm 46:10 i ..read more

During a recent Home-Online retreat with friends of Dharma Zephyr (Nevada) certain talks spoke directly to important aspects of our Covid-19 situation. Perhaps you’ll hear something of practical benefit. You can access through Kevala Retreat’s new Audio Library. Subscribers to this Blog may not have received emails recently. I hope to have fixed that glitch. If this is the first email you’ve gotten from us in a while, the glitch is why. Be well, be wise, be kind ..read more

“Retreating to safe harbor” is a theme Ajahn Buddhad?sa employed to caution against mindless progress. Careening forward out of habit is never wise. There are many times when we must pause and take stock. He borrowed the term from Southern Thai culture: toi lang kao klong, literally “back up into the river.” Klong, in the South, are both human dug canals, as in the rest of Thailand, and the rivers that descend from the mountainous spine of the peninsula to make their brief runs to the Gulf of Siam. The fisherfolk where he grew up would bring their boats up into the local Klong Pum Riang when s ..read more

Avoiding Covid-19 and flattening the curve are on our minds. As many of us will catch it, surviving it is also on the table. Those of us who will experience cold or perhaps flu-like symptoms have healthy choices to make. How do we get through that without taxing the underfunded, strained healthcare system and adding to the emotional chaos? Here are common sense general behaviors that will benefit now and overall (modified from an email forwarded by wise friend): How to be a bad host to illness: 1. Drop Fear because it suppresses your immune system. 2. Three S-words: get Sleep, stay away from S ..read more