Geri Larkin

Geri Larkin is the founder and former head teacher of Still Point Zen Buddhist Temple, a Zen meditation center in the heart of inner-city Detroit. She is the author of many books including Stumbling Toward EnlightenmentBuilding a Business the Buddhist Way,Tap Dancing in ZenFirst You Shave Your Head, and The Still Point Dhammapada

What Love Looks Like Now

We welcome back former columnist Geri Larkin. She shares her thoughts on kindnes…

Close to the Ground: The Secret of Abiding Joy

I’m sitting, watching Parker perform her first dance masterpiece. Its baseline i…

Close to the Ground: Sisters Shouting at Gods

I was raised to be a good girl. Embedded in this phrase was the admonition to ne…

Close to the Ground: Even in a Brothel

When I first started out on this meditation path decades ago, I was awed by the …

Close to the Ground: Two Words

When it was time to step down from my role as the guiding teacher of Still Point…

Close to the Ground: Bowing to Spring

At the end of the third week of a monthlong pilgrimage to Korea some sixteen yea…

Close to the Ground: The Great and Mighty Ango

The first thing about spiritual practice is that, for it to work, we have to do …

“How Can I Love You Better?”

An Ode to Thich Nhat Hanh

Close to the Ground: Sun Buddha, Moon Buddha

It is easy to get caught up in headlines and tragedy: Boys and girls ripped from…

Close to the Ground: A Drop in the Bucket

It is 7:30 a.m. on a sunny spring day. Bodhi the dog is walking with me along Ba…

Close to the Ground: Just Stuff

One of my sisters hasn’t spoken to me for some 20 years now. I am guessing it’s …

Close to the Ground: Lean in to Suffering

The young woman sitting next to me looks to be in her late 20s. Given our proxim…

Close to the Ground: Digging For Gold

A lojong slogan advises to “work with jealousy when it’s small; otherwise, when …

Close to the Ground: “The Answer is ‘Yes’”

Devote Yourself to Your Own Goal

Close to the Ground: Monkey on my Mind

The cat died.That she was 17 and riddled with cancer didn’t make her passing any…

Book Club: Geri Larkin on Redefining Faith

“Faith is the beginning of all good things.” The Buddha said.If you are like me,…

Close to the Ground: Buddhaland

She was sitting on a bench outside the grocery store where I shop. It was 8 a.m.…

Geri Larkin: When Flowers Talk

8 Fragrant Ways to Tell Your Love Story

Missed Treasures: Summer Spirituality Book Club, Part 3

Anne Morrow Lindbergh's Gift from the Sea

Missed Treasures: Summer Spirituality Book Club, Part 3

Anne Morrow Lindbergh's Gift from the Sea

Missed Treasures: Summer Spirituality Book Club, Part 2

Pure Heart, Enlightened Mind: The Life and Letters of an Irish Zen Saint by Maura “Soshin” O’Halloran

Missed Treasures: Summer Spirituality Book Club

Join Zen practitioner and S&H columnist Geri Larkin on a guided reading of three essential spiritual texts. For June: A Path With Heart by Jack Kornfield

Cultivating a Gratitude Practice

In all my years of following the Buddhist path, there has been only one teaching…

Out of Stillness, an Idea

My friend Pauline was trying Zentangles—doodling exercises that promise to pull …

4 Steps to Transform Your Morning

Stretching, meditation, and gratitude make up this simple daily ritual from writer and teacher Geri Larkin.

True Intimacy

I INVITE BEAU, now four, to lunch. I want him to meet my good friend Koho, who i…

What We Can Learn From Leaning Into Difficulty

One truism of a genuine pilgrimage is that the wisdom we bring home is completel…

The Pattern of Genuine Transformation

With spiritual practice, "ah" usually shows up as a first taste of "just this" or timelessness or spot-on grace. When we taste it, there is no going back.

The Eye-Twitch Path to Peace

Two months before my 38th birthday, I was offered the job of my lifetime: joinin…

Surviving Elections à la Buddha

Election years are years of melodrama. Whenever the presidential election circle…

Close the the Ground: Fashionista as Monk

In honor of spring, I decided to buy a new pair of pants. Usually, I head for St…

Saints R Us

A year and a half ago I became obsessed with the size of landfills. (This could …