Good news: my talk is over, it went well, I can get on to other things – like a photography weekend in Glacier (which I’m leaving for in 5 minutes). After that a friend/colleague from the UK arrives to give some talks, hike, and hang out for the week. And after that I will probably be off to Colorado with my mum to visit her mum. Crazy busy fun. Bad news: I’m exhausted! I’ll sleep like a rock tonight, if... Read more

– talking, learning… I gave my “warm up” talk on this topic tonight to a group of Vipassana practitioners, a nice, supportive audience before I go before the wolves, the philosophy students, on Thursday. “What would Hegel say about all this dialectical behavior therapy?” “‘All is in flux, ‘ Heraclitus told us long ago – what does a borderline person fail to see in this?” So how did it go? Good. I managed to get in most of what I... Read more

– Meditating on the aggregates of the disorder. It is a gorgeous day in Missoula today – blue skies, 70 degrees, and the forecast is for four more days of the same. Sorry, but on such days I find it hard to ‘hole-up’ and devote myself to sustained thought on much of anything. I’m too much of a sun-lover and combining sunshine and laptops, while nice in theory, isn’t too great in practice. So – a smathering of thoughts/links for... Read more

Part three in a series. Parts One and Two. Some notes on a Buddhist ‘treatment’ / meditation, but first Some blogs about Borderline Personality Disorder by borderlines, in no particular order: (many thanks to those who helped gave suggestions – feel free to add more in the comments) Untreatable’s Blog: great articles on aspects of BPD. This from the one on rage: “Never get in an argument with someone with pure BPD as you will never win and they will... Read more

This is my second post on this topic, preparing for a couple talks. The first post is here. There I gave a brief overview of the disorder and some of the ways it has been understood by different professionals. This time I want to focus on the Borderline person directly. Note that I am not a psychiatrist or therapist, just a Buddhist practitioner who has recently become interested in the disorder. Most of what I know comes from personal experience,... Read more

Best way to cope with upsets is to step back The Economic Times of India today has a short but interesting article on overcoming stress. As the article notes, it uses a technique common to Buddhist (and other Eastern) traditions of simply letting thoughts and sensations arise and fall away – without getting caught up in them. By simply sitting and watching our minds, again without taking part in the drama therein, we get just the kind of “psychologically distanced... Read more

The third and latest of my articles for the website Wildmind has been posted. This month I struggled with the concept of warriorhood. It is not a concept that lends itself to an academic approach, and it is likewise one fraught with connotations that – on the surface – have nothing to do with Buddhism. Have a look, and let me know what you think. Read more

Not too long ago I made this vision board, a vision ‘desk’ as it were. It is a very personal vision board with the six most important parts of my life: family, prosperity, travel, spirituality, service, and love. Each of these has contributed so greatly to my joy in life and for each I am immensely grateful. I grow more grateful for my family every day. I wouldn’t say my parents were/are perfect- both have been through a lot (Vietnam... Read more

1. Accepting our shadow side. How much time do you waste wishing you could be X or not be Y or just a little less Z? Ha. How about seeing that you are greater than all of these. We are each greater than any of our character-traits, any of the labels we or others put on us. This realization is not one of ‘overcoming’ – but one of acceptance. We can and should wrap warm arms around our flaws just... Read more

Some of my photos from the recent 4th Annual Ewam Peace Festival in Arlee, MT… Read more