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Meeting Fractal the carpet python in the Chan Hall at the Gold Coast Dharma Realm. She sniffed me with his tongue, decided that I wasn't edible, and posed no threat, and she lost all interest in me. Snakes are individuals: some are venomous and deadly; others are tranquil and serene. - Rev Heng Sure

Speaking Dharma for Ollie the Kookaburra. Ollie put me in the food production line for his two chicks. He would take the veggie ham chunks that I offered him and fly to the hollow tree nearby, stuff them into the beaks of his offspring and then fly back for another round. When the two chicks fledged and learned to fly, Ollie brought them by to introduce them to the monk who gives food away. Bird family dynamics! - Rev Heng Sure

Taken off the coast of Bandon, Oregon. A tree about ten feet in diameter. It had been bleached white I find it difficult to fathom the length of time it has endured. - Jin He Shi

These petrified waterfalls are called "Hierve el agua" ("boiling water"). Here I can see how the earth and the sky meet perfectly. Here is the land of the Zapoteca native people. Amazed by these views, I feel happy and thankful. - Nahelia Aguilar Castillo

These petrified waterfalls are called "Hierve el agua" ("boiling water"). Here I can see how the earth and the sky meet perfectly. Here is the land of the Zapoteca native people. Amazed by these views, I feel happy and thankful. - Nahelia Aguilar Castillo

These petrified waterfalls are called "Hierve el agua" ("boiling water"). Here I can see how the earth and the sky meet perfectly. Here is the land of the Zapoteca native people. Amazed by these views, I feel happy and thankful. - Nahelia Aguilar Castillo

This is a random stop I made on highway 1 in Southern Oregon. It reminds me of the time, elements, forces, dynamism, mixing, synergy, and mystery, and how awesome and beautiful it all is. - Benjamin Sandel

Finding the sacred in impermanence...

After morning meditation, at the Environmental Sanitation Institute, a sacred space that brings together external cleanliness and inner purification. Care, peace, and harmony pervades the campus. On the last day of our stay, we did three-steps-one-bow around this small pond.

Mamu. Cleans up the center with a big warm smile. He spends 75% of his "honorarium" (salary) feeding the animals around the center. He cooks the food himself with a lot of love and care.

Toni and I were returning from a trip to Williams just at sunset. We saw the sky as we passed the Potter Valley turnoff and took the road down to the north end of Lake Mendocino. As I walked down the boat ramp to the shore line I couldn't believe that what I was seeing was actually happening. I must acknowledge that as I look at these photographs I feel both humbled and disappointed. The photograph doesn't do justice to what I experienced. To stand there in that vast space of luminous color totally enveloped by my feelings of gratitude for the conditions that led to my being there was powerful. - Stan Shoptaugh

Toni and I were returning from a trip to Williams just at sunset. We saw the sky as we passed the Potter Valley turnoff and took the road down to the north end of Lake Mendocino. As I walked down the boat ramp to the shore line I couldn't believe that what I was seeing was actually happening. I must acknowledge that as I look at these photographs I feel both humbled and disappointed. The photograph doesn't do justice to what I experienced. To stand there in that vast space of luminous color totally enveloped by my feelings of gratitude for the conditions that led to my being there was powerful. - Stan Shoptaugh

A log in the stream at the back of campus. It is full of life after the recent rains! - Meghan

On a walk in Humboldt Redwoods State Park this past January, I came upon this majestic redwood tree and just as I was snapping a picture two bicyclists drove by, providing an inspiring perspective. How does a redwood tree, hundreds of years old, experience the world rushing by? - Sarah Babcock

A sunny day in Florence city center looking at the Duomo. Its timeless beauty and the deep history it carries strike me every time. Sometimes, just standing there, you can almost hear it speaking. - Lijiao

Jayesh Patel - a tidal wave of loving-kindness and compassion. A young girl comes to beg and before you know it, he has touched her heart, let her spit out beetle nut into his hand, washed her mouth and face, and is flying a piece of candy into her mouth. Her brother joins in the fun. And so does her dad. And it is like this almost all the time with everyone we meet. ;) Heart-blowing!