Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche has just published his fourth major book, The Shambhala Principle, and I've been lucky enough to spend a good deal of time reading and rereading my now-wrinkled advanced readers' copy over the past few months. I love it. It adds a needed volume...

Last month, my dear friend, author and generally awesome lady Susan Piver asked me to write something before the U.S. elections about overcoming "Us vs. Them" mentality. She wrote a great, thoughtful post here. If there was ever a collision of events to force a needed discussion of...

Former Gov. Mitt Romney was caught on tape at a fundraiser saying that most people who voted for Barack Obama, 47 percent of the country, are "dependent" and he would "never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives." Actually, about 53 percent of the country...

I always consider Labor Day and the beginning of September to be a more pragmatic and realistic New Year's occasion than whatever happens in January. In fact, many people who question our Gregorian calendar point to the fact that New Year's in January simply makes no sense, considering the rhythm...

I'm not sure about you, but I have a lot going on. I always have to preface talking about feeling busy by stating that most people I know feel like they have a lot going on, especially in the major cities of America. It is no badge of honor, no...

Editor's note: This letter was co-authored by Ethan Nichtern and Michael Stone.

As teachers and leaders of communities that promote the development of compassion and mindfulness, we are writing to express our solidarity with the Occupy movement now active in more than 1,900 cities worldwide.

We...

I wanted to share a fairly simple observation from teaching this week, related to the meditation practices that focus on the development of compassion, such as metta and tonglen. It's interesting that if we see a great athlete or yogi, or just someone in prime physical condition, we have a...

The Social Network is an amazing phenomenon, an amazing opportunity to see the truth of interdependence, that none of our lives occur in an isolated vacuum. Social networking is also, possibly, the most widespread addiction on our planet right now, sucking billions of hours we'll never...

Critical theorist Slavoj Zizek has an interestingly harsh critique of Western Buddhism and the meditation tools it employs. Framing his critique in Marxist terms, he argues that Buddhism is the perfect spiritual tradition to be co-opted by our self-absorbed, destructive, and consumeristic society. For...

The New York Times Magazine reporter Mimi Swarz recently did a major profile on Anusara yoga founder John Friend. They say all press is good press. I hope that's true and my guess is it will be. Beyond Anusara, which receives at least some...

There is a Whole Foods across the street from the Interdependence Project in New York's East Village, the Buddhist-inspired nonprofit organization which I direct. Some nights, after teaching or participating in a class on meditation and Buddhist psychology, or after yoga practice, I head to the Whole Foods on...