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 have ...

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, “Li...

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 ai...

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 to find out. B...

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 mostl...

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 going...

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 uncertainty in ...

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 change them, let ...

Written by David Nichtern

In mindfulness meditation practice, we are instructed to rest our attention on our breathing as a way to focus and stabilize our mind. This is an ancient and time-honored ap...