General Spiritual Director
Spring Festival 2026 Day 1
May 22, 2026
We still don’t realise that not knowing how to manage our emotions and anxiety makes us feel exhausted, discouraged and unable to help others or ourselves. Meditation can be a great tool for reversing this state and giving us a new perspective.
Panic would set in: how was I going to be able to support him with his journey in life when I still felt like I was behaving like a reactive teenager who was managing a massive “to-do” list that never ended?
The world really looks different. Instead of looking for faults everywhere, such as potholes in the road, traffic jams or grumpy people, I now see the kindness in between.
The envelope arrived in the mail explaining the basic info I needed to know for my surgery. “Surgery?” I thought… I wanted to use this experience to really apply Dharma, to strengthen my refuge practice.
We still do not realise that not knowing how to manage our emotions and anxiety makes us feel exhausted, discouraged, and incapable. Meditation can be a great tool to reverse this state of deep exhaustion.
I first encountered Kadampa Buddhism when I was 16 years old. I was full of hope and ambition. But I was also midway through a new and crippling challenge that had crept up on me and begun to ruin my life, social anxiety.
I came to meditation when I was in a very dark phase of my life. I didn’t realise it at the time, but I was experiencing high functioning depression and high functioning anxiety.
We talk about “living in the now,” but having cancer gave me this real opportunity — this knowledge that if you truly live in the now, you won’t experience the suffering of things that haven’t happened.
I started to suffer from insomnia. Worrying about not sleeping soon became a “runaway train” and soon was followed by general anxiety and depression.
As I navigate this confusing thirty-something singlehood, I am discovering that some Buddhist principles, learned at my meditation centre, offer profound wisdom and serenity.
