“Doing good for Others” was always my strong suit. It was my birthright.  I was a social activist, diving into Zen in search of inner peace. I was relieved when Bernie said I didn’t have to be put my activism on hold while I worked toward enlightenment. “In some traditions, one goes up the mountain (to enlightenment) before starting down the mountain (to do good for others). In our way, we go up and down the mountain at the same time.” It was one of Bernie’s most important te

Things don’t always work out the way we’d hoped. It’s part of life. We’re all dealing with disappointments. If we do creative work, disappointment comes with the turf. Early in my professional career, I learned one way to deal this. I was intent on getting articles into professional journals – social work and mental health – when one was rejected by Hospital & Community Psychiatry . This wasn’t an everyday, polite rejection. It came with blind-reviewer comments, one of whom a

I still have a problem. How do I go beyond the first-do-no-harm practice of the Day of Reflection ? What about the other sources of suffering in our lives? What about the trauma in our lives? There can be no end to our suffering without becoming one with these as well.   In our revised version of the Gatha of Atonement , I am vowing to be one with all the ingredients of my life, not just the jagged karma I’ve created. And yet the Day of Reflection  practices work only with th