A couple weeks ago, I shared a story about a conflict that someone had with her mother-in-law. A key learning from that story was that sometimes, we think we are totally right and the other person is clearly at fault. But if we were more humble and wise, we would…

Have you ever been in an embarrassing situation and not know what to do in the moment? Recently, I was at a lunch event with one of my teachers, Venerable Chengde, and someone did something quite embarrassing. I was really impressed by the way my teacher handled the situation. …

Recently I attended a teaching workshop, and we were discussing the importance of teachers cultivating their own character and virtues so that they can be a good role model for students. More specifically, we cultivate our character through our daily interactions with the people closest to us. For most people…

Have you ever tried to help someone, but they got annoyed at you? Pretty outrageous, right? I read a story related to this problem that I thought was quite enlightening. During the Great Depression (1929–1941), there was a small grocery store in a town in southeastern Idaho. The store was…

Recently in a Chinese history class that I attend, I learned about Yi Yin (伊尹), who was a Minister and chef to King Tang of ancient China. One time, Yi Yin asked the king, “Do you know how cooking relates to leading a country?” I thought this was a very…

Many years ago, there was a scholar who spoke in front of a large audience, “There’s no way the Buddha is real! All this stuff about karma and reincarnation is ridiculous.” He gave a lot of reasons for his arguments, and he ended by looking at the sky and saying…

A recently graduated PhD just got hired to be the lab manager of a prestigious research lab. What’s more, he is the only PhD on his team; the other two team members only hold a Master’s degree. Since he wanted to get to know his team members better, he asked…

Have you ever harmed a relationship or spoiled an opportunity because you couldn’t endure or control negative emotions? I certainly have. It’s no wonder that the Buddha said, “The success of everything depends on endurance.” I heard a great story on the topic of endurance. In the Tang Dynasty of…

It was a quiet afternoon in a small American town in 1848. Everything was peaceful, when suddenly, there was the piercing sound of a gunshot. The chief of police immediately rushed to the scene with his new, young police assistant. When they arrived, they found a teenager lying in a…