The Gradual Path Blog
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Five years ago, I felt stuck.
I was practicing psychotherapy in Manhattan—outwardly successful, but inwardly confined. My office had become a box. My patients came to manage symptoms so they could return to their own stagnating and limiting boxes—from their corporate cubicles to our culture’s ma...
What if the very part of you that’s afraid isn’t something to overcome or escape—but something to embrace? What if your most profound growth lies hidden not beyond fear, but within it?
The Camino de Santiago isn’t an escape. It’s not a vacation or a getaway. It’s a voluntary confrontation with the ...
 As the holidays and conclusion of 2024 approaches, I wanted to reflect on the past year, look to the future, and extend on behalf of Geshe Tenzin Zopa, the Rachen nuns, and my family a warm season’s greetings to you and all our best wishes for 2025.Â
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THE YEAR IN REVIEW
2024 has been an intense...
After watching intently former Chief Business Officer of Google X Mo Gawdat’s talk on The Future of AI and How It Will Shape Our World, a couple of things are clear: not only has this technology dramatically disrupted life as we once knew it, affording us god-like power never seen before in human hi...
Gone Beyond: Finding the Middle Way
By: Erica Saccente
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I entered the viewing room with trepidation and approached the casket. I had been in that room numerous times before, but this time felt different. What was Nonno John doing in there? He's not supposed to be in a casket. It seemed like he w...
For the past couple of years, I’ve carried a subtle, persistent feeling that something in my life wasn’t adding up. It may be a surprise, but the professional life I worked so long and hard to build has somehow eluded me. When people say that pilgrimage is “life-changing,” it’s easy to roll your eye...
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In an increasingly fast-paced and hyper-production-driven world, many yearn to return to something timeless, slow-paced, connected, and meaningful. For some, this call manifests in a desire for pilgrimage—a spiritual journey that challenges not only the body but also the mind and soul. As I prepa...
This year marks a significant milestone for me—twenty years as a licensed psychotherapist. Over these two decades, I’ve had the privilege of learning from two extraordinary mentors, Joe Loizzo and Bob Thurman. Together, we explored the integration of Buddhist principles with psychology and neuroscie...
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I’ve been retooling and rebuilding my offerings since the onset of the pandemic. I imagine you too have been undergoing a rebuild, or at least contemplating a transformation of who you are, what you do, where you live, or all three. Dramatic change is underfoot. The archetype of our time is death...
I can admit when I was wrong. When it comes to my thinking about the Rachen Stupa Service project, I was so, so mistaken. Let me tell you why…
We’ve just come down from Lama Konchog’s mountain hermitage where he completed over twenty years of solitary retreat. For those unfamiliar with Konchog, he ...
 
"It took six months of navigating the labyrinth to develop the pilgrimage to Japan into a once-in-a-lifetime tour unlike any other. I almost lost my mind! The lessons of pilgrimage are hard won and the results are seldom what we expect."Â
Details for GONE BEYOND: A Mystical Pilgrimage to Japan are...
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On behalf of Geshe Tenzin Zopa, Emily, the boys, and the whole Gradual Path team we’d like to thank everyone who supported us this year through involvement in courses, pilgrimage, one-on-one sessions, patronage gifts, and subscribing to our platform.
We are growing our mandala steadily and attra...
