I sat on my cushion last week, sipping tea and gazing at the birds flitting amid the otherwise empty birch branches outside my window. Our teacher from the Insight Meditation Society for this month of short, guided morning sits was sharing about the Three Jewels – the Three Refuges – as they are called in Buddhist tradition. They were preparing to lead us in a chant. Buddhism takes refuge in the Buddha, of course, right? – the Dharma and the Sangha. Jozen went further in

Have you ever had one of those moments when you just knew – an ‘AHA!’ moment they are sometimes called – when you know deep inside your being that things are just as they should be – you are in the right place at the right time - there is a oneness that exists between you and your surroundings or your circumstances – an alignment if you will of stars and planets – a knowing that the Universe supports what is happening and that, indeed, all will be well. Such moments often d