Few things drain our energy like repeated exposure to toxic behavior—constant criticism, emotional manipulation, or uncontrolled anger. Psychology often describes three common reactions: we fight back, we shut down, or we avoid and withdraw. All three are understandable. All three cost us something. The Dharma points to a fourth way. The Gift You Don’t HaveContinue reading “How to Deal With Toxic People by Setting Boundaries With Loving-Kindness”
Category Archives: Dharma Stories
How to Stay Peaceful and Compassionate in an Unstable World
In a world that feels unstable, it can be hard to remember that peace is a choice we can return to. Staying peaceful and compassionate is not about avoiding anger, grief, or difficulty. It is about recognizing them, seeing them clearly, and deciding, moment by moment, not to let them control us. There is aContinue reading “How to Stay Peaceful and Compassionate in an Unstable World”
When Strength Isn’t Enough: A Lesson from the Great Monkey King
AI image A story from the Jataka Tales — the early Buddhist tradition of teaching through past-life stories The Jataka Tales are among the oldest narrative teachings in Buddhism. They describe the Buddha’s previous lives—not as a distant figure, but as someone cultivating wisdom, compassion, clarity, and responsibility over countless lifetimes. One of these storiesContinue reading “When Strength Isn’t Enough: A Lesson from the Great Monkey King”
Giving Thanks to a Departure Marked by Quiet Gratitude
The Pause Before a Threshold There are mornings when the world seems to pause just long enough to remind us what matters. The air is quiet, the light soft, and even familiar paths feel charged with possibility. My last day at Gyuto Monastery was one of those mornings. It was not an ending, but aContinue reading “Giving Thanks to a Departure Marked by Quiet Gratitude”
How to Find Warmth in the First Snow
Outside, snow falls steadily, folding the world into white. Sound softens, muffled by trees and rooftops. Frost gathers on branches and windowsills, bending the light into subtle patterns. Each breath carries a quiet stillness, a gentle weight in the chest that draws attention inward. The first snow offers a pause, a threshold between what hasContinue reading “How to Find Warmth in the First Snow”
The Play of Illusions in Global Leadership and Our Collective Life
We live in a moment when our world is not only asking to survive, but quietly—and sometimes urgently—hoping to flourish. In such times, the subtle play of illusion that moves through our collective life becomes easier to notice. It is not as something “out there.” It does not belong to a particular group of leaders.Continue reading “The Play of Illusions in Global Leadership and Our Collective Life”
Quantum Leaps and the Quiet Space Before Your Shift
Reflection on Transformation Through the Five Buddha Families The Dance of Your Mind’s Potential Sometimes change arrives not as a slow unfolding, but as a sudden opening — a quantum leap. One moment we are circling the same habitual thoughts. The next moment, we are standing in a wider field. We wonder why we everContinue reading “Quantum Leaps and the Quiet Space Before Your Shift”
Finding Clarity Amid Uncertainty: Cut What Is Ready, Leave What Is Not
Sitting in the Unknown As a Buddhist practitioner, I have learned that uncertainty is not an obstacle — it is the ground we walk on. We cannot predict the storms of life, but we can learn to meet them with steady attention, to sit with what arises, and to trust that clarity can emerge inContinue reading “Finding Clarity Amid Uncertainty: Cut What Is Ready, Leave What Is Not”
Expanding Our Circles of Loving-Kindness in a World of Cries
Loving-Kindness in a World That Feels Too Restricted Love is rarely as simple as we might want it to be. It arrives quietly, insistently, sometimes in forms we do not recognize. We celebrate romance, cherish those closest to us, and yet often glance past the vast, unfolding field of beings who share this world withContinue reading “Expanding Our Circles of Loving-Kindness in a World of Cries”
Brytningstid: Embracing Change and Letting Go with Autumn’s Grace
There’s a hush that arrives before the leaves surrender their green. A pause so small it’s almost imaginary—like the breath before someone speaks a truth they’ve kept hidden for too long. The sun’s angle grows tender, the shadows lengthen and hesitate. This threshold between seasons—what in Swedish we call brytningstid—is not a clean cut butContinue reading “Brytningstid: Embracing Change and Letting Go with Autumn’s Grace”
Lama Chimey 