Ask the Monk

The Three Inescapable Factors of Existence

Change Your Thinking... Change Your Life

The Holiday Season…
With the official start of the Christmas season now upon us, the whining, bitching and complaining about the “commercialisation of Christmas” has begun. A couple years ago, I wrote a piece, entitled, “Santa’s Not the Problem” (which you may want to read as well – http:/

The Holiday Season…
With the official start of the Christmas season now upon us, the whining, bitching and complaining about the “commercialisation of Christmas” has begun. A couple years ago, I wrote a piece, entitled, “Santa’s Not the Problem” (which you may want to read as well – http://dharma

Lojong Ladrang – Our Lady of Compassion Hermitage
Moving to Harrisburg represents another challenge and opportunity for personal growth for me. The capital city of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has a total population that’s less than ten percent of the popu

Serving the Christ or the Buddha…
“Don’t tell me that you’re serving the Buddha or the Christ in their Temples and Tabernacles, if you cannot show them devotion in the slums, the ghettos and the streets. We cannot encounter Jesus in the Sacraments, or Buddha in Pure Light of Awareness, if we turn our eyes away from Buddha and Jesus in the bodies and souls of the sick, the hungry, the homeless and the marginalised. Hypocrites! Prayer begins with a servant’s heart… and a servant SERVES!” — my address to the Contemplative Monks of Compassion (inspired by a speech by Bishop Frank Weston)

On giving thanks… an invitation to compassion
In the United States, the tradition of observing this last Thursday in November as Thanksgiving is a time when most people attempt, at least briefly, to cultivate a sense of gratitude. And that is always a good thing. But in all good conscience, I cannot and will not ever say the same thing about the “holiday” itself. I simply cannot call a celebration go