Kellie Schorr works as a commissioned novelist who writes mystery genre novels for publication services. Her published writing credentials also include: journal articles, short stories, and a two-year stint writing for a web-comic. Kellie’s fiction is represented by the Kathryn Green Literary Agency. Kellie has been practicing meditation for over 15 years. She studies Dharma and took Refuge vows in the Shambhala lineage of Buddhism. When she’s not sitting down to write, or sitting on her cushion, she enjoys comic books, computer games, tea, and movies. She lives and works in rural Virginia with her partner, Cathy, and three beagles. Her favorite word is chiaroscuro.
Faith in Buddhism?
By Daniel Scharpenburg In Buddhism there was a development called Pure Land. This movement started around the year 100, so…700 years after the life of the Buddha. It began in India but it really took off in China, and was a teaching that had...
What is a Drala Priest?
By Dru Peers More and more people are looking for awareness and guidance in today's world and the Drala priest can offer much light to help them. Drawing from the great spiritual teachings, he or she will also be in a place to generate new...
The Dark Wheel: Dealing Constructively with Intrusive Thoughts
By Kellie Schorr It is a pretty day for her long drive home. Sun setting over the hills, trees shimmering in the autumn breeze as smooth jazz plays on the car radio. Life is beautiful. Suddenly, there’s a car in her backseat! Well, not exactly in the...
The Power of Simple
By Lee Glazier It's good to be simple, man. Not like, ya know, stupid---just simple. The Taoists have this thing called the uncarved block. That's basically the mind when it's free of all the BS we carry around in it. When we carve the block into...
3 Big Reasons Why it is a Bad Idea to do Drugs While on Retreat
By Michelleanne Bradley I have been a Buddhist practitioner for more than a few minutes. It’s been a long windy journey. When I was in my early 30s, I was divorced, and going through some spiritual searching. I had been raised Catholic,...
The Price for Mindfulness
By Dana Gornall "Look at the stars. It won’t fix the economy. It won’t stop wars. It won’t give you flat abs, or better sex or even help you figure out your relationship and what you want to do with your life. But it’s important. It helps you remember...
Compassion for Those That Have Been Discarded
By Sarit Z. Rogers I spent the morning with murderers, thieves, the abused, the wounded, the lost, and the discarded. I was teaching yoga with my best friend, an offering we make monthly at a women’s prison. We don’t get monetary...
People Ask, Why are You Buddhist? This is Why:
By Daniel Scharpenburg “I seek to cure what’s deep inside, frightened by this thing that I’ve become.” -Toto I'm often asked by people, "Why are you Buddhist?" The Buddha felt the unease of life, the same unease that we often feel today....
In Defense of a Passionate Practice
By Kellie Schorr “Kleshas are properties that dull the mind and are the basis for all unwholesome actions. The three main kleshas are passion, aggression, and ignorance.” Chögyam Trungpa. The Truth of Suffering and the Path of Liberation....
Mastering the Art of Meditation
By Manmohan Singh An Indian spiritual teacher once said, “Meditation is painful in the beginning, but it bestows immortal bliss and supreme joy in the end.” Yes, practitioners from different walks of life share the same thought about...
Panel on Sexual Misconduct in the Buddhist Community
In response to the recent live address by Noah Levine of Against the Stream, Buddhist women sit down to discuss their feelings and responses on sexual misconduct in the community and our culture. With the advent of the #Metoo movement, women have been...
Sitting with a Dying Friend
By Michellanne Bradley We are of a nature to die. I have done "A Year to Live" practice, but I still do not know how I would present with a terminal diagnosis. If I had the time to prepare to die, what that would look like? I have a close...
Adventures of a Retired Public School Teacher
By Louis De Lauro I retired from public school teaching 15 months ago. I took my pension with a penalty for being too young to retire. And immediately, everyone, I knew started asking, "What will you do next?" An acquaintance recently asked me, "Have you...
I’ll Take Reality Over Psychedelic Buddhism Any Day
By Sensei Alex Kakuyo You meet all kinds of people on the road. Some of them are clearly running from something; a past trauma or an action they regret. Others are clearly looking for something; a tribe of like-minded people or a safe place to call home....
Vajra Pride: Raising the Vibration of Practice
By Andrew Peers I received some irritated feedback after writing an article. It was a piece from few years ago in which I used the traditional division of Buddhist yanas (Hinayana, Mahayana, and Vajrayana). The reader claimed that no one talked in these...
