impermanence

Compassion in Buddhism: Why does Kuan Yin have so many hands?
May 18, 2024
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tom davidson-marx
Kuan Yin is an archetype of compassion in Buddhism. Sometimes portrayed as female, or male, or androgynously, they manifest the impulse to help suffering beings. In his celebrated Four Quartets, T. S. Eliot observed: Human kind cannot bear very much reality. Reality is a lot to take sometimes. One teacher says this practice builds our
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Buddhist death meditation: letting go of regrets
May 30, 2023
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tom davidson-marx
Buddhist death meditation encourages a gradual letting go of regrets. In her most recent book, Alive Until You’re Dead: Notes on the Home Stretch, the 81-year-old Zen teacher, editor and writer Susan Moon relates an ordeal she went through while riding on public transit from Berkeley to the San Francisco airport. When she got to
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the courage to grieve, and to sing
May 26, 2023
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tom davidson-marx
We realize everyone is experiencing the same impermanence that we are. This is one Buddhist insight I hang on to. It feels comforting. These are not my words. They were written by Kathryn Schulz, a staff writer at The New Yorker and the author of the deeply moving Lost & Found: Reflections on Grief, Gratitude,
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