Written by David Nichtern

One Saturday morning I was walking from my apartment in downtown NY up to lead a weekend meditation workshop. As I often do, walking through New York streets, I popped in...

Written by David Nichtern

When we practice mindfulness meditation, one of the first things we notice is how un-mindful we are. It is like going back to the gym and realizing how out of shape we...

Written by David Nichtern

I was having dinner Sunday night with a dear old friend, a singer-songwriter of some repute, and I happened to mention the film by Martin Scorsese about George Harrison,...

Written by David Nichtern

In Tibetan Buddhism, there is a popular notion called lungta (Tibetan) or windhorse (English). The central image of windhorse is a powerful horse that can fly through the...

Written by David Nichtern

I think it’s fair to ask ourselves early on, why are we afraid of just sitting still? Why are we terrified of that? Or irritated by it? Actually, it’s for you...

Written by David Nichtern

Our mouth is the gateway to so many kinds of karma. What goes in (food, drink, etc.) becomes inextricably linked with who we are and how we feel. What goes out (speech...

Written by David Nichtern

At Buddhist seminary near Vancouver in 1980, I requested a personal interview with my teacher, the late Tibetan meditation master, Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche. I had been...

Written by David Nichtern

My taiji teacher, Sat Hon, is a virtual lexicon of sage and colorful phrases. One of my favorite expressions of his is “embrace uncertainty.” There is always...

Written by David Nichtern

Sometimes our “negative” habits (like anger, pride, jealousy, craving etc.) seem to come up like a cyclone out of nowhere. Often we might feel powerless to...