"A bamboo shoot grows by knots, A human child learns moral lessons." A quote shared by Dogen scholar Steven Heine, who commented that it means to take responsibility.
Roshi Joan Halifax
@joanhalifax.bsky.social
Abbot and Founder, Upaya Zen Center
A simply gorgeous birthday present from my dear Zen colleague Sensei Flint Sparks. This beautiful image by my good friend Kitty Leaken reflects ancient blue corn, a gift from the old ones of this land. How marvelous, these ancient seeds and this gift.
Upaya Zen Center's calligraphy program with Kaz Tanahashi, a marvelous opening session with the brush!
Calligraphy with Kaz begins tonight. Ming, Dainin and I will be with the online community. Join us! www.upaya.org/program/call...
CALLIGRAPHY: Painting Bodhidharma in the Spirit of Zenga and Joy (Online July, 2026)
Soon after you register, you will receive an email with a link to the Resource Page, where all of the recordings and readings are listed. It may take a few minutes to reach you. If the program has…
upaya.org
Voted NO on the $1 trillion Pentagon budget. We have a moral responsibility to stop writing blank checks for endless wars and invest in our communities. My statement with @pocan.house.gov. 🧵
Recalling a tender moment years ago with His Holiness Dalai Lama.
NEW: Mayor Mamdani announces that he has looked at all options and has determined he does NOT have the legal authority to arrest Netanyahu under the ICC warrant if he comes to New York, but the feds do, and he encourages them to do so. He adds that Netanyahu is NOT WELCOME in New York City.
Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani@mayor.nyc.gov · 2w agoBenjamin Netanyahu is a war criminal.
I have not been able to get this quote from @joanhalifax.bsky.social out of my head. It provides the perfect frame for explaining this moment. One derangement out of the many shaping our existence.
Testosterone isn't a free upgrade 💉 Taking extra testosterone (TRT or steroids) comes with a bill. The downsides: ⚠️ Your body stops making its own — supplements shut down natural production ⚠️ Shrinks testicles and can tank fertility ⚠️ Thickens your blood — raising clot, stroke, and heart risks
My friend @joanhalifax.bsky.social led me to think about moral injury and moral beauty, and they've been important frameworks for me. She speaks about it often--and I wrote about it in No Straight Road Takes You There (and elsewhere)....
The Dogen weekend at Upaya is a rare plunge into the teachings of this great master. Join us! In person or online. www.upaya.org/program/doge...
Joy with neuroscientist colleages Cliff Saron and Richie Davidson at Richie's wonderful celebration of his 50 years in contemplative neuroscience. A wonderful reunion of old friends! And the best is Richie as scientist activist! Yes!
A marvelous weekend of calligraphy with Kaz! Join us at Upaya for this special time. A precious opportunity! www.upaya.org/program/call... www.upaya.org/program/call...
CALLIGRAPHY: Painting Bodhidharma in the Spirit of Zenga and Joy (Online July, 2026)
Soon after you register, you will receive an email with a link to the Resource Page, where all of the recordings and readings are listed. It may take a few minutes to reach you. If the program has…
upaya.org
Happy 100th Birthday, beloved friend, Brother David. The great gift of your life has touched the lives of so many. We are grateful for your boundless wisdom and courage.
DO NOT MISS! Please join today, Sun, July 12, 11AM-12:30 MT. The brilliant and brave Bhikku Bodhi on the MEASURE OF OUR HUMANITY. www.upaya.org/program/the-... A special time when great teachers speak to the issues of our era and a gathering of the global community. FREE, ONLINE
Sunday, July 12, 11AM-12:30 MT. Do not miss! The brilliant and brave Bhikku Bodhi in community In the MEASURE OF OUR HUMANITY SERIES www.upaya.org/program/the-... A special time when great teachers speak to the issues of our era and a gathering of the global community. Free, online.
The Measure of Our Humanity: WISDOM with Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi — Online + By Donation [July 12, 2026]
Wisdom involves the ability to see beneath the surface of immediate events into the deep underlying currents that entail future harm, to envision more…
upaya.org
Lorenzo Salgado Araujo..... I cannot imagine the unbearable anguish of his family.
www.ms.now/rachel-maddo... ADVICE ON BEING A DISSIDENT IN THE AGE OF TRUMP Rachel Maddow shares on what it means to be a dissident, being courageous, being stubborn against the wishes of a dictator, and showing up. And the book ON COURAGE! It is an experience of listening to one's
Rachel Maddow Show
More about the MS Now Rachel Maddow Show airing weeknights at 9 PM. Watch Rachel Maddow tonight or online with updated video & episodes at MS Now.
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In a movie called Zen, Dogen said something like: ‘On your last day all your fame, friends, and riches won’t be there. Only your past actions’
www.upaya.org/2026/06/ethi... This is a read that might serve at this time. It is an essay that I wrote when reflecting on people like Trump, Epstein, various religious leaders and clergy, and the harm arising from narcissistic abuse and DARVO (Deny, Attack, and Reverse
Ethical Leadership: Understanding Power, Actualizing Accountability and Trust—by Roshi Joan Halifax
Over the years, I have witnessed many forms of leadership. I have seen leadership expressed with humility, courage, and wisdom. I have also seen leadership distorted by fear, entitlement, self-protect...
upaya.org
Integrity is fundamental to Zen practice: taking responsibility for harms + atoning. Whether it be harmful speech, boundary violations, financial misconduct, abuse, + etc. Without atonement, without taking responsibility, + engaging in the drama triangle of victim, perpetrator, rescuer, there is no
So many years of encountering His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Now he is 91. We are so fortunate for his many years of powerful teaching. May he continue to flourish and bestow the blessing of his presence on the world.
www.upaya.org/2026/07/theu... evil has no fixed nature, and therefore no one is fated to commit it, and no one is exempt from committing it. The line between good and evil does not run between us and them. It runs, as Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn also saw, through every human heart, and
The Unfinished Vow—Essay by Roshi Joan Halifax
There is a story I have carried with me for some decades, and it gets truer every year. The Tang dynasty poet Bai Juyi, a man of considerable learning…
upaya.org
Join Upaya for Residential Zen Training at Upaya Zen Center, a unique and remarkable environment of practice, study and service. www.upaya.org/being-at-upa...
Jul 12, 11-12:30 MT WISDOM with Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi. In the MEASURE OF OUR HUMANITY SERIES www.upaya.org/program/the-... A special time when great teachers speak to the issues of our era and a gathering of the global community. Free, online.
THE MEASURE OF OUR HUMANITY: Actualizing Compassionate Action in These Tangled Times – WISDOM with Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi (Online July, 2026)
Soon after you register, you will receive an email with a link to the Resource Page, which is where the recording, resources, and readings are listed. It may take a few minutes to reach you.
upaya.org
www.upaya.org/2026/06/disc... We often speak of spirituality in psychological language, describing compassion as an emotion, awakening as a state of consciousness, or bodhicitta as an intention residing somewhere within the mind. Dōgen’s understanding is more
