True freedom lies in choice -- this is one of the core insights in the writings of Viktor Frankl, a pyschiatrist who was imprisoned in a Nazi concentration camp. In the best-selling book Man's Search for Meaning, Frankl described his profound experiences:

We who lived in concentration...

A couple of thousand years ago, a notorious killer roamed the streets of ancient India. He was called Angulimala, a name which literally translates to "a garland of fingers," in light of his chilling practice of wearing a necklace made from the fingers of his victims. It was his twisted...

In an ancient parable, three masons are sitting in a row, all chipping away at large blocks of stone. A woman observing them is curious about what they're up to. She asks the first man what he's doing, to which he responds, "I'm chipping away at this block of stone."...

An Interview With Dr. Paul R. Fleischman

How would you define meditation?

First off, I'd like to clarify that whenever I talk about meditation, I'm really talking specifically about my own experiences with a technique called Vipassana, which I learned in 1974 from Mr. S.N. Goenka, and have...

Bullying at schools has become a huge issue. In looking for innovative solutions, Canadian educators turned to a unique classroom program called Roots of Empathy. At the heart of the program, now being implemented in 1,400 schools, lies this insight: When you put an infant and...

Service is a word that shows up a lot these days. It can mean very different things, depending on whether we are talking about sports, cell phones, the military or volunteerism. In ServiceSpace, an organization where I volunteer, we use the word to refer to the practice of...

For almost two years, he was bedridden, in such intense pain that just touching his bed would cause him to shriek out in agony. But the story of the late Dr. Venkataswamy, known simply by colleagues and friends as Dr. V, is a story of individual triumph against unthinkable odds....

I almost spat it out by reflex. My friend had handed me a plastic bottle of milk with a bright pink label, and I'd taken a sip from it assuming that it was strawberry flavored, but it turned out to be regular milk -- cold and fresh -- which I...

"What is the relationship between strength and vulnerability?" This was a question for Jacques Verduin, a remarkable activist who has long been working with inmates at San Quentin, a prison notorious for its toughness. We often think of vulnerability as weakness, but Jacques had a unique perspective. In...

It is a simple yet profound metaphor that a childhood mentor of my mom's shared with her decades ago: "When one foot walks, the other rests." It's the way all of nature works, a beautiful reminder that everything is in ebb and flow, engaged in cycles and rhythms.

Our own...

They call it a "kindness internship." My 14-yr-old cousin and his best friend have decided, of their own accord, to spend much of their summer creating spontaneous and mostly anonymous opportunities to grow in kindness. So at summer camp, he was on the lookout. He's a popular kid, and being...

185 billion bits of information. In an average lifetime, this is what the human brain is capable of processing; according to the famous psychologist, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi: "It is out of this total that everything in our life must come -- every thought, memory, feeling or action. It seems like a...

My dear friend Pancho is just thankful by nature. One time, after one of his thank-yous, I responded back in his native Spanish with, "De nada. Isn't that how you say you're welcome?"

"Well, 'de nada' means it's nothing,'" he explained, "so, what you probably want to say is 'con...

Every time I watch it, I get goosebumps. The one-minute "Power of One" video combines evocative visuals of people who've impacted the world by working toward the greater good, inspiring us by their example. Gandhi. Mother Teresa. Ruby Bridges (the first black child to attend an all-white elementary...

A friend of mine is visiting from out of town and staying in East Oakland, in an area that's infamous for its gang violence and unrest. This friend happens to be a monk. He shaves his head and dresses in the traditional brown robes of his monastic order -- not...

It was a cold night in a wooded area, extremely dark, with no moon in the sky. I must've strayed off of the path at some point. I shuffled my feet around, trying to feel for the smoothness of the trail. But there was just wet grass. The moment I...

As a kid, patience was not my thing. In fifth grade, when Mr. Gardner asked a question, my hand would often shoot up in enthusiasm. After giving me a few opportunities, he would try to give other students a chance. My hand, though, would remain in the air, and after...

We live in accelerated times: It took the radio 38 years to reach 50 million users. Television did it in 13 years. Hotmail, in less than a year. Cityville? 15 days. And now, with the advent of social media, the nature of our connectivity is also changing. We are able...

Insight often arises from simultaneously holding two seemingly contradictory notions -- and then allowing a deeper understanding to develop. Take, for example, David R. Hawkins' idea that, "A universal characteristic of genius is humility." Generally we don't equate genius with being humble. If anything, we expect the opposite,...