A Reflection on Beginning Anyway Some of my earliest memories are of watching my father build things. He could fix almost anything. Wood, metal, engines, machinery—it seemed there was nothing beyond his ability. Looking back, I admire the skill he possessed. When I was young, I wanted nothing more than to make something that would…
A Reflection on the Power of Words There is a story Gurudev loved to tell. He would often smile before speaking, as though he already knew what everyone was about to discover. “Our tongue,” he would say, “lives in a cage.” It is protected by thirty-two teeth and guarded by two lips. Nature has given…
“Sometimes we don’t discover stillness by escaping life. We discover it in the middle of it.” For three months at a time, I wouldn’t see the sky. That surprises most people. When they think of the Navy, they imagine standing on the deck of a ship looking out over the ocean. Life aboard a ballistic…
“Perhaps what we call our flaws are often where grace enters the world.” There is an old story about a man who carried water each morning from a river to his home. Across his shoulders rested a wooden pole. Hanging from each end was a clay pot. One pot was perfect. The other had a…
“Wisdom doesn’t enter a crowded mind.” One of my favorite Zen stories tells of a professor who traveled to visit a respected master. The professor had spent years studying philosophy and religion. As he sat before the teacher, he eagerly described everything he had already learned. Every few moments he would pause, only to begin…