Speaker: Rev. Ian White Maher

Get Up From Your Cushion

It seems peculiar to talk about power as a virtue, but I think this is because, most often, we talk about it from the perspective of hoarding power, of power over, or the power to get what we want. But power that is used to … read more.

The Beauty of the Begging Bowl

Annie Dillard, reflecting on the writing process, once said, “Do not hoard what seems good for a later place in the book or for another book; give it, give it all, give it now… the impulse to keep to yourself what you have learned is … read more.

YES!

At the core of saying ‘yes’ to anything is a decision: a decision to choose this idea, action, person, or object over all others. The word decide comes from the Latin decidere (de- ‘off’ + caedere ‘cut’) or to cut off. Whenever we make a … read more.

Drop the Rock

David Steindl-Rast reminds us that no matter who we are, we all share a desire to be happy. What happiness means to each of us varies, but there is a deep commonality at the ground of our being, which is the desire to be happy. … read more.

A Pot of Boiling Potatoes

When I tell people I lived in a Zen Center for 6 years many of them imagine a serene temple filled with people guided by the longing for insight and transcendence. But more often than not the temple was tumultuous because our worst habits, thoughts, … read more.

I Hate the Organ

We are simultaneously a nation that is obsessed with religious fervor and beset by generations of people living with religious trauma. The church as an institution is collapsing but where are the communities designed to help us heal from the trauma so we can build … read more.

Day of the People

The word Holiday comes to us from the Old English hāligdæg, which means “holy day.” The U.S. has 11 federal holidays that tell the story of this nation. In recent years, we witnessed a popular movement to change this weekend to National Indigenous People’s Day, … read more.