I recently visited a friend who lives in Franche-Comté and whose parents, now retired, were the last independent farmers of that region. Now, there are no more. As we travelled across the countryside, my friend told me, ‟In the past,

In France, according to a report by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), 26% of the breeding birds (568 species) are considered to be endangered. Urban concentration and the massive use of pesticides are deemed to be the

Feeling guilty does not help. Regret does.

Guilt creates the impression in the mind that one is forever and intrinsically unworthy, which is not true of anyone. It is more productive to regret negative things that you have done with

Please try to contemplate the following: No matter what, Buddha-nature is always present in all sentient beings. Therefore, there is nothing in any human being, you or anyone else, which is fundamentally wrong.

This is not just some naïve belief.

Dark times can be a source of progress in our spiritual practice, since they allow us to see clearly the difference between what truly matters in life (inner peace, altruistic love and compassion for instance) and what is just the

Meditation, or more accurately mind training, helps to cultivate the inner resources that give us confidence to deal with the ups and downs of life. These inner resources include inner freedom that makes us less vulnerable to ever-changing outer conditions.

We would be very happy to receive personal accounts, anecdotes, or stories concerning actions that clearly point to manifestations of genuine altruism.

These could be examples that you witnessed or heard about, or facts that belong to our time or