Myanmar today is not a democracy in crisis. It is a country ruled by terror, coercion, and impunity, systematically brutalized by its own armed forces. - By Alan Clements and Fergus Harlow

Panic attacks can feel like a sudden storm inside our bodies. - George Cassidy Payne #panicattack #anxiety #journaling

They’re raising awareness: peace is possible. Peace is both a solo and community project, and we each work with it in our own way. But the point is to work with it, to not forget it and get distracted from it. -Johnathon Lee #walkforpeace #buddhist #monks

Waiting for a better time is robbing the present moment for the promise of an unlikely future, so why not embrace the now? - By Rob Argent #sitting #meditation #mindful

Half the street corners around here have people--from every walk of life, including republicans--standing guard to watch for suspicious vehicles, which are reported to a robust and entirely decentralized network that tracks ICE vehicles and mobilizes responders.

(1/23/25) The Buddhist monks today are heading to Apex, NC On Day 90, they continue their journey through North Carolina, heading from Pittsboro to Apex via US-64 Highway.

As a meditation teacher and sangha practitioner, I hear the word “anger” a lot these days. -By Gerry Rickard #buddhist #anger #angry #buddhism

(1/21/2026): The Buddhist monks are heading to Liberty and Siler City, NC Lunch Stop: Liberty Fire Department, 515 W Swannanoa Ave, Liberty (Visiting Hours: 10:30 AM - 1PM) Overnight: Jordan-Matthews High School, 910 E Cardinal St, Siler City, NC 27344 (Visiting Hours: 6 - 9PM

Mental health systems are often calibrated for extremes. Care is mobilized when distress becomes disruptive, visible, or dangerous. Until then, many people are told—implicitly or explicitly—to cope, wait, self‑regulate, or come back when things are worse. -George Cassidy Payne #mentalhealth

This walk is their Walk for Peace. It is a 2,300 mile walk that started in Fort Worth, Texas and is aiming to end in Washington, DC. Their mission? To spread peace, loving kindness and compassion. #walkforpeace #monks #peace #buddhist

To say “attachments lead to suffering” isn’t wrong, but the math isn’t so simple when you spend your whole life dog-paddling around in the Sea of Samsara. - By David Jones #buddhist #attachment

To simply be nowadays is a rebellion of sorts, removing yourself from a process of obey, consume, repeat (to quote an old John Carpenter film). -By Rob Argent #resist #sitting #engagedbuddhism

A silent night does not mean an empty one. It means a night spacious enough to hold grief and gratitude, fatigue and hope, without forcing them to perform. -Kellie Schorr #newyear #buddhist #buddhistwriter #newyearseve

When people talk about “returning to ourselves,” it sounds simple, almost wholesome, until you try to touch the self they mean. - George Cassidy Payne #buddhist #self #writer #buddhistwriter

So when things are at their darkest, the light begins to return. - By Gerry Rickard #wintersolstice #writer #buddhist

In a world where arguments are often louder than understanding, teaching can either reinforce division or plant the seeds of compassion. - By George Cassidy Payne #compassion #education

Hope is assurance, reassurance, and trust in the truths of the Dharma. - By David Jones #hope #storiesofhope #buddhist #writer #interfaith

Positive thinking and positive self talk—those affirmations we talked about earlier—have the opportunity to change the chemical make up of the brain that can effect our mental health, effect our stress responses and in turn, help us live longer overall. -By Dana Gornall #hope #storiesofhope

A gesture, a phrase, something that breaks down that horrible feeling of being alone, penetrates the barriers and makes you see that a lot of us are not necessarily on the gravy train and have no intention of being there. And that gives me faith—not hope. -By Tim Cooper #hope #storiesofhope

Our latest podcast talking with author Lee Carlson! #buddhist #zen #podcast #author

This is the paradox so many people living with serious mental health challenges confront daily: their bodies and minds cry out for rest, but the world insists they produce, perform, and persevere. -By George Cassidy Payne #mentalhealth #hope #writer

Late one night, while enduring another bout of insomnia, I logged onto ChatGPT and researched the concept of “hope.” By Rev. Indira Huerta #hope #storiesofhope #writer #writers

TTB is looking for stories of hope! Send submissions to: [email protected] #storiesofhope #hope #writer

Grief is something we carry, not something we leave behind. Its shape changes over time; it softens and sharpens, expands and contracts. Forgiveness may visit us in one season, and anger in another. Both have their place. -By George Cassidy Payne #buddhism #mentalhealth

Listening to Hayley Williams’s album reminded me that it isn’t just me. For lots of us, just getting through the day is a struggle. -Claire Parsons #egodeath #mentalhealth #writer

The preaching will not help, except perhaps to create a vocabulary for the things you will have to face. - By Angel Roberto Puente #buddhist #zen

In life, our “cars” are the systems and supports we believe will carry us safely through. Religion. Therapy. Meditation. The gym. The job. The partner. The plan. We fuel them with intention and polish them with hope. -Kellie Schorr #equanimity #buddhism

Courage is measured not by the harm we can cause, but by the suffering we refuse to inflict. In a world that rewards aggression, this is revolutionary. -By George Cassidy Payne #nonviolence #ahimsa

Empathy is not a currency. You don’t earn empathy by good actions, being young, being religious or being a parent. It doesn’t matter who he is or why this happened. What matters is the rupture of security and goodness we feel around us. -Kellie Schorr #engagedbuddhism #politics #empathy

I’m living on borrowed time. I have to be. When I was a teenager I had a dream or revelation or something that suggested to me—quite strongly—that I would die before I hit 30. -By Holly Herring #writer #thoughts #carpediem

American Buddhists often think of right speech is when we use words that are kind and gentle. Words that might lift someone’s spirit are encouraged. - By Louis DeLauro #buddhist #rightspeech #kindness

Nothing is fixed in place or being. -By Ross Cloney #buddhist #impermanence #writer

One of the persistent ideas is that we are on a search. Bankei Yōtaku turned this on its head. His teaching was to begin practice not by searching but by finding. -Angel Roberto Puente #zen #zenteachings

You carry fear like a second skin. And yet, even there—in my most unstable, frightened moments—the Dharma found me. -Warren Rosen #zen #dharma #writer #buddhist #mind

Survivors of infidelity, abandonment or narcissistic abuse have long known it: the death of a deeply committed relationship can trigger trauma almost indistinguishable from PTSD. -George Cassidy Payne #betrayal #relationships #mindfulrelationships #trauma

What does ahimsa mean in our time, an age marked by digital outrage, rising authoritarianism, ecological destruction, and war? - George Cassidy Payne #ahimsa #nonviolence

Thai Tattoo Magick: The Initiatory Practices of the Thai Buddhist Magicians by Sheer Zed is not your standard coffee table tattoo book. -Kellie Schorr #bookreview #buddhism #thaitattoo #tattooed

The word “mindfulness” doesn’t convey the practical aspect of the original Pali word: Sati. Sati indicates remembrance. As an aspect of right concentration, it tells us to remember to return to practice. -Angel Roberto Puente #zen #zenwriter #buddhist

The Holocaust is the darkest example I know of freedom gone terribly wrong. And it shakes me to my core. How could a good God allow such suffering? By George Cassidy Payne #interfaith #suffering #buddhist

“If you’re feeling any kind of way,” she told me, “you can go to the gorge and let it hold you. That water is ancient. It carries big energy—the kind that can transform the heaviness we all carry sometimes. The gorge isn’t just a landscape; it’s a living force.” -George Cassidy Payne

There are AI Buddhas who can share all of the teachings with you, but do they have Buddha-nature? ~ By Johnathon Lee #AI #buddhanature #buddhist #buddhistwriter

No matter our lineage, language, practice, or path, there are sacred rhythms that tether us to each other. ~George Cassidy Payne #humanconnection #beinghuman #buddhistwriter

I, like probably many of you reading this, have been completely overwhelmed by the news. -By Dana Gornall #politics #doomscrolling #lionsroar #buddhism #engagedbuddhsim #writer

So as the world seemed to spiral, what did the perfectionist me do? She hatched a plan to be “the good one.” Everyone else might go crazy, perfectionist Claire told herself, but not me. ~ Claire Parsons #perfectionist #retreat #growth

In a time when religion is too often weaponized to divide, dominate and destroy, a quieter truth remains buried beneath the rubble of dogma and war: Every morally grounded spiritual tradition teaches us how to live without violence. ~ George Cassidy Payne

I believe, as many dharma traditions teach, that healing is never a solitary journey. It happens in sangha—in community—where mutual aid becomes spiritual practice, and connection becomes medicine. -By George Cassidy Payne #sangha #community #resist

Then I ran to ChatGPT. It’s been keeping me company as I journal all the things I’ve been learning and working through in my dreamwork, so maybe it knew something. I typed it all in, and it came back with an explanation: maybe it was exactly what it appeared to be. -David Jones #silence

I was on the point of abandoning Buddhism a few months ago. I’d hit a brick wall. -Tim Cooper #buddhist #buddhism #writer #buddhistwriter

When Meditation Retreats Go Wrong. Jaqui’s Story. A few days into the retreat, Jaqui’s mom received a phone call from a volunteer saying that Jaqui had left in the night and they just wanted to make sure she had gotten home safely. Trigger warning ❤️ #podcast #mentalhealth #meditation #cheetahhouse