Gavril Nikolaev
Our next community meeting is scheduled for July 12, 2026. It will start at 9 a.m. PST and will last for 30-45 minutes. During our time together, we’ll discuss contemporary Buddhist teachers. Think of it as an opportunity to meet new people and share your experiences. All our meetings are casual and unstructured to facilitate … Read more
Loss eventually touches everyone, arriving without warning or permission, especially when it comes in the form of losing someone dear. While people cope in different ways, my immediate response was to disappear behind compulsive productivity. I convinced myself that if I could reinforce its walls and keep every hour carefully occupied, the grief would remain … Read more
You tell yourself that nothing is going to distract you from your work. Suddenly, you feel an urge to pick up your phone. Check the news. A few reels. That’s it. Before you know it, an hour’s gone. And you made zero progress on that task you wanted to complete. Your favorite apps are designed … Read more
Buddhist nun Pema Chodron’s instructions on how to practice Tonglen meditation transformed the way I handled a job rejection the other day. “We’ll get back to you,” she said in a condescending tone. “All you have to do is wait for our decision.” I did ask her to clarify when she’d get back to … Read more
My latest smartphone report shows 16 minutes of average daily screen time. Sometimes it goes up to 30 minutes. The point is that I try to limit distractions as much as possible, but last year I took it up a notch as a part of a personal challenge. What did I do? For a few … Read more