Category Archives: Buddhism
War and Peace
To escape the news recently, I’ve been immersing myself in 19th Century novels, and one theme keeps coming across: the destructive human obsession with social status. In Tolstoy’s War and Peace, for example, Prince Andrew Bolkonski, infatuated with dreams of … Continue reading
Posted in Buddhism, change, coaching, happiness, meaning, psychology, self-care
Tagged envy, glory, psychology, social status, success, Tolstoy, War and Peace
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No Expectations
There’s a classic zen story that goes like this: A young man approached a great master and asked to become his student. The student asked the master: “How long will it take me to become a master?” “15 years,” replied … Continue reading
Posted in Advocacy, Buddhism, change, coaching, happiness, meaning, mindfulness, positive psychology, psychology, Uncategorized
Tagged aspirations, Buddhism, Deborah Ratner Helzer, expectations, Field Guide to Getting Lost, Kenneth Sheldon, Martin Seligman, motivation, positive psychology, Rebecca Solnit, self-determination theory, success, Tim Kasser, Zen
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Separating the Normal from the Natural
I’m getting ready to head out on a 7-day silent meditation retreat, and I’ve been feeling a little weird about it. So I really appreciated coming across Paul Graham’s essay, The Acceleration of Addictiveness, which in large part explains why … Continue reading
Posted in Buddhism, change, coaching, freedom, happiness, health, meditation, mindfulness, nature, psychology, self-care
Tagged addiction, Buddhism, independence, meditation, Paul Graham, technology
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The Demoralizing Science of Success
One of the most interesting subjects in the field of Positive Psychology is the science of human motivation and success. Why are some people so motivated and so successful? Why do some people not even bother to try? And how … Continue reading
Posted in Buddhism, change, coaching, compassion, environment, happiness, meaning, meditation, mindfulness, positive psychology, self-care, work
Tagged Buddhism, compassion, Ellen Langer, failure, Harvard, meditation, mindfulness, positive psychology, science, Seymour Krim, success, Tal Ben-Shahar
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The Happy Lawyer?
The other night I attended a training session at the New York City Bar Association called “Happiness for Lawyers: Mindfulness and Emotional Skills to Improve Our Professional Life (and Make us Happier).” As I was leaving, the security guard remarked that … Continue reading
Posted in Advocacy, Buddhism, change, coaching, happiness, health, meditation, mindfulness, neuroscience, positive psychology, psychology, social justice, Uncategorized, work
Tagged anxiety, depression, emotional intelligence, happiness, lawyers, legal profession, mindfulness, mindfulness for lawyers, stress
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It’s Not a Package Deal
One of the problems with being a cynic is that, when you’re trying to learn something new, it’s easy to focus on all the things that sound wrong or silly or otherwise questionable and to disregard the entire lesson or … Continue reading
Posted in Buddhism, change, coaching, neuroscience, psychology, Uncategorized
Tagged Buddhism, change, cynicism, Freud, learning, meditation, neuroscience, positive psychology, psychology, skepticism, Twitter
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How to Help
It seems almost impossible these days to listen to the news without getting depressed. Whether it’s the flood of refugees fleeing war-torn Syria or another idiotic inflammatory statement by Donald Trump, the deluge of information about the world’s disasters and … Continue reading
Posted in Advocacy, Buddhism, coaching, psychology
Tagged Brian Lehrer, Buddhism, Christina Feldman, CNN, Donald Trump, humanitarian aid, political change, politics, refugee crisis, Syria, von Goethe, WNYC
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Be Here Now
Whenever I start to do something, I have an annoying habit of wondering if I should be doing something else. Whether it’s reading, or writing, checking e-mail or doing household chores, or even relaxing on a Saturday afternoon, I often … Continue reading
Posted in Buddhism, change, coaching, happiness, psychology
Tagged Helen Keller, mindfulness, presence, psychology, Ram Dass, Tal Ben-Shahar
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You Can’t Own It All
When I go on vacation, I like to find a remote and quiet spot. In fact, much of the reason I go on vacation is to escape the sounds of sirens and jackhammers and car alarms and blaring music I … Continue reading
Posted in Advocacy, Buddhism, change, compassion, environment, happiness, meditation, mindfulness, nature
Tagged activism, advocacy, Buddhism, environment, environmentalism, grasping, happiness, Headspace, jet skis, Maine, meditation, Michel Serres, Nature Conservancy, noise pollution, peace of mind, pollution, private property, property ownership, real estate, The Natural Contract, trulia, vacation, wilderness
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