Reflections on Buddhism & Personal Growth
10 posts
How I'm Learning to Age with Grace
After his wife's shoulder surgery offered a preview of aging's challenges, Mike discovers a retirement community's unofficial motto — FIP (Formerly Important Person) — and what it reveals about what truly matters in the later chapters of life.
Being a Better Me
Mike reflects on the trap of comparing ourselves to others — and how 56 years of Buddhist practice, a wise mentor, and his wife's courageous example helped him embrace his own unique mission.
How I'm Learning to Age with Grace
After his wife's shoulder surgery and a visit to a Seattle retirement community, Mike discovers a liberating motto — FIP, Formerly Important Person — and what it really means to age with grace.
Finding Hope When All Seems Lost
After 56 years of practice, Mike shares what he has learned about hope — not as a feeling that arrives on its own, but as something we actively create, even in our darkest moments.
I Was Never Happy Being Depressed
Mike carries the weight of generations of genetic suffering — and shares how decades of chanting, therapy and antidepressants finally began to lift a lifetime of inner darkness.
Cells that Fire Together Wire Together
How Mike's wife used daily Buddhist practice alongside medical treatment to go eight years without a serious MS flare-up.
I'm a Buddha, You're a Buddha, Too
The most important — and most elusive — lesson of Buddhism: every single person has an enlightened nature deserving of respect.
Growing Older is a Laughing Matter
Mike reflects on what it means to be 76 and moving closer to the end of life — and how Buddhism replaced fear and regret with hope, vitality and laughter.
Getting Comfortable with Discomfort
Mike explores how a fertile imagination can either paralyze or liberate — and how Buddhist practice and therapy gave him the wisdom to tell the difference.
Creating Hope in Difficult Times
A clear, warm explanation of SGI Nichiren Buddhism — what chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo means and how this practice creates active, transformative hope.