Jaune Evans is a senior priest practicing with Everyday Zen Foundation, leader of Heart of Compassion Sangha in Pt. Reyes, CA. She is a student of Zen teacher and poet Zoketsu Norman Fischer, and the Executive Director of the Tamapais Trust, supporting Indigenous-led initiatives worldwide. I met Jaune for the first time in 1991 when she was… Continue reading →

What a tense, roller-coaster of an election week this has been! And what a vivid illustration of how the mind reacts wildly to what it wants – and doesn’t want. However you voted, for me, it was a Tuesday night of tears from not getting what I wanted, followed by elation – time to get… Continue reading →

Yesterday I taught at the Embodiment Conference, wearing my “I VOTED” sticker. In the chat thread, I saw ‘thanks for voting’ and ‘prayers for America’ from some of the international participants. At this time in our world, maybe you, too, are longing for connection and cooperation, for economic, racial and planetary justice. Some of us… Continue reading →

Many of you met my beloved cousin Myra Goodman when she taught with me at InsightLA and we shared practices from her new book, Quest for Eternal Sunshine, A Holocaust Survivor’s Journey from Darkness to Light. Now Myra is spearheading an initiative called Circles of Light, a daily meditation practice to connect people who are… Continue reading →

Recently I took part in a process to settle an ethical matter. I saw how easy it is to see things from one way; how easy it is to objectify and blame someone who makes a harmful mistake; how easy it is to fall into knowing certainty and self-righteousness, how easy to forget to keep… Continue reading →

Recently I had a chance to be part of a small seminar with Van Jones, TV host, author, and much more. A longtime activist with deep roots in the conservative South, Van has made it his mission to build bridges, challenging voters and viewers to stand in one another’s shoes and disagree constructively. The key… Continue reading →

I changed five nouns in this poem for us, for now: “Thanks” by W. S. Merwin. I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t mind a bit. It reminds me of Zen teacher Yvonne Rand’s last audible words before she passed away Wednesday evening: “No form – Just thank you” Listen with the night falling we are saying… Continue reading →

I loved my wasband George with all my heart. To navigate the heartbreak of his alcoholism with some modicum of mindfulness and compassion, I went for refuge in Al-Anon intensive care, where I stayed for four years. I came to see the 12-step work as parallel to the Buddhist mindfulness trainings we call precepts. Both… Continue reading →

Monday I learned that Yvonne Rand, one of my teachers in this life, has entered hospice to do her dying. An accomplished Soto Zen priest, Yvonne came to teach with me at InsightLA in the early days. Yvonne has lived a life that has given so much to so many, born of her love of… Continue reading →