Author Archives: Michael Gray

About Michael Gray

I first started studying TSK in the mid 1980's and have since attended a number of retreats and workshops at the Nyingma Institute, in both TSK and Buddhist themes. I participated in the life-changing Human Development Training Program in 1991, and upon returning to Albuquerque co-founded an organization, Friends in Time (with a friend who has Lou Gehrig's Disease), which continues to serve people with similiar disabilities. I contributed an essay to "A New Way of Being"--the last one in the book--in which I describe how learning to honor who I have been has broadened and deepened my openness to present experience. I live in New Mexico with my wife and two sons.

A Pain in the Neck

What causes an old memory to return, like Little Bo Peep’s sheep or like a painted horse spinning off a carousel we are surprised to discover is still running? In the memory that came back yesterday morning, I was standing … Continue reading

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A Bird on the Wing

I always took Kafka’s phrase, “A bird went in search of a cage,” as referring to the human tendency to feel anxious with too much freedom and openness (like a child’s panic when he notices that his family has disappeared … Continue reading

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Clear Sailing

How easy it is to lose track of all the space that permeates every part of our embodiment and lies within every surface that greets our eyes and fills our days. Spaciousness is unlikely to be the image that comes … Continue reading

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We are not alone

In “The Wizard of Oz”, we may have our favorite character, but if you’re like me you can find a bit of yourself in each of them. It’s together that they fill up a complete personality, while individually they reflect … Continue reading

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Empty and Full…

EMPTY AND FULL… Several Sanskrit terms have made it into Western vocabularies. Some, such as karma and samsara, require no translation, and are considered by many to be undeniable facets of our experience. We may deplore the uncaring behavior of … Continue reading

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BE THE SPIDER…

When Phil (in the film, “Groundhog Day”) tells Rita, “Be the hat” he has already shared with her that he is waking up every morning to the same day, over and over again. That afternoon, he is trying to teach … Continue reading

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Cells Unite

I’m just one cell, reporting in from the field. Things are quiet for the moment, but the rumblings of animosity between various factions seems to be hardening into place. It seems that these days everyone is a political pundit, repeating … Continue reading

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Nature, Nurture and the Flickering Flame

We’re all born into circumstances and for our entire lives our experience is thwarted or facilitated by those circumstances. The twin influences of nature and nurture (what we were born with and what we receive after that) both contribute to … Continue reading

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At One with Nature

Who doesn’t want to live naturally? Yet, less than natural calls to action tend to drown out a quieter voice urging us to live in balance within ourselves and with our environment. Our environment is a counterpart to an inner … Continue reading

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Here, Above and Below

It seems that at every level—both seen and unseen—a few shapes and patterns are repeated. That could be due to (especially in regard to the unseen levels) my applying the interpretations I’ve adopted to deal with ordinary life to other … Continue reading

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