Bernie taught me to use all the ingredients of my life to prepare what he called the “supreme meal.” We don’t use every ingredient in every recipe – we’re not emptying the spice shelf into every pot – but all the ingredients have value. Each one is there to be appreciated and used. This teaching came up for me as I looked at the first words of the Gatha of Atonement , “All evil karma.” Why just the evil karma? Why not all the ingredients of my life?   “Evil” was never the rig

I have been listening to Bruce Springsteen’s song , feeling the anger. I’m grateful that he’s putting it out there. I can see it in his face, hear it in his voice. Should I be out there on the streets? I’d heard the call for clergy to come Minnesota to bear witness. I’m still a Zen Buddhist priest although rarely play the role. It’s been years since I’ve donned my robes. I tell myself I’m too old for the streets. Should I have gone? Cancelled my doctors’ appointments? Can I s

One of my great joys in growing older has been the joy of rediscovery. Sometimes it’s the joy of a song I haven’t heard in years, singing forgotten words with Dee on a road trip. Sometimes, it’s coming back to novel I haven’t opened in years and finding that I don’t remember it at all. I’m reading it for the first time. Sometimes, it’s studying some piece of Zen with students and realizing how much I’d missed on previous visits.   The rediscovery of the Gatha of Atonement  ha