Reading Time: 5 minutesAn interest phenomenon occurs anytime we sit down and meditate to cultivate more positive qualities of mind and heart. Rather than experience those positive qualities themselves, we often feel quite the opposite. We sit on our meditation cushion to watch our breath but are unable to follow it for even a few seconds. We sit […]
Love Reveals Everything Unlike Itself Read More »
Reading Time: 3 minutesLast week, I covered some of the basics for connected communication, including listening, validation, and communication. What that post didn’t discuss was the underlying assumption that communication is important in relationships. Yes, communication is important, but how important is it, really? And what might be more important than communication in a healthy partnership? Today, I’d
Compassion Is More Important than Communication Read More »
Reading Time: 5 minutesIf you ask the average person what is important in relationships, they will probably answer “communication.” You’ve likely heard the famous quip “the three keys to a successful relationship are communication, communication, and communication.” It’s not just a clever saying, however, as even professionals espouse this perspective. Couples therapists Linda and Charlie Bloom similarly explain
How to Actually Communicate in a Partnership Read More »
Reading Time: 5 minutesThere are a number of insightful stories in spiritual communities that involve looking at the same situation from three different perspectives. Sometimes there are three people meeting the same challenge, sometimes there is one person going through the same task three different times. Usually the first two parts of the story represent two extremes, and
The Monk and The Three Rain Barrels Read More »
Reading Time: 4 minutesThere is a story I love that Ram Dass tells about his guru, Neem Karoli Baba, also known as Mahara-ji. If you know anything about the role a guru can play in a person’s life, you know that gurus are in touch with a profound inner knowing. They know exactly what a person needs to
Seeing Everything as The Mother Read More »
Reading Time: < 1 minuteThe meat industry knows if you saw the horrors you would turn vegan. The military knows if you saw the horrors you would be a pacifist already. The loggers know if you met the family of owls full of hopes in their new nest and the oil companies know if you saw the seal gasping
Reading Time: 5 minutes(This post is Part III of a three-part series on loving the world inspired by, and including poems from, my newest poetry collection, Pebbles, coming June 1st. See Part I and Part II here.) There are a lot of crises in the world today. War in Ukraine. Impending environmental collapse. Income inequality, racial injustice, and threats to reproductive rights.
Loving the World: Part III Read More »
Reading Time: 6 minutes(This post is Part II of a three-part series on loving the world inspired by, and including poems from, my newest poetry collection, Pebbles, coming June 1st. See Part I and Part III here.) Behind my home, there is a beautiful trail that goes up into the hills of Mount Tamalpais. I have been walking
Loving the World: Part II Read More »
Reading Time: 6 minutes(This post is Part I of a three-part series on loving the world inspired by, and including poems from, my newest poetry collection, Pebbles, coming June 1st. See Part II and Part III here.) I have been on this planet for three and a half decades now, and a lot has surprised me about the
Loving the World: Part I Read More »
Reading Time: 6 minutesI believe, quite simply, that love is the reason we are here on earth, and that nothing is more meaningful or powerful than the expression of love. I see every problem in the human condition as the result of a lack of love, and every solution as more expansive and inclusive love. But in order
Attention Is the Food of Love Read More »
© 2020 Zach Beach All rights reserved
