Monkey Mind

At both of the Zen teacher listservs to which I belong there has been a bit of a brouhaha of late around the question of doctrinal purity apparently being enforced at the venerable E-Sangha Buddhist Portal. Started in Singapore the project seems to be mostly in the hands of Tibetan Buddhist practitioners. It’s quite an operation, with many thousands of participants all around the world. All well and good, of course. Them Tibetans is good people in my book, if given a bit more to hoo-hah than I a … [Read more...]

Today is the feast of Nicholas, late bishop of Myra. For those not in the know, also called Santa Claus in this neck of the woods. He is the patron of children, sailors, merchants and pawnbrokers. He also, I gather, is particularly the protector of highwaymen. And with all the irony of the spiritual path, also the protector of their victims... … [Read more...]

He walks freely in the world,And goes just one way.From the eternal past to the eternal future,He is alone,No one accompanies him.If you ask him how old he is,He will look at you with a smile,And point to the endless sky.Jakushitsu (translated by Nyogen Senzaki) … [Read more...]

Jason Pitzel-Waters over at my favorite UU Pagan blog writes of the recent purchase of Beliefnet dot Com. All that follows is lifted from Jason's blog: According to Fishbowl NY, religious mega-site Beliefnet has been purchased by Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation (which owns Fox News, The Wall Street Journal, and MySpace)."Steve Waldman's belief paid off today when News Corp. purchased Beliefnet.com, the spirituality-based Web site Waldman founded in 1999 and has run as editor-in-chief since. In … [Read more...]

(Thanks to Chalice Chick who got it from Peacebang*)*Look for links to the right... … [Read more...]

While researching for last Sunday's sermon one of the threads I followed although never used was that inspirational story which I've heard in a variety of ways, featuring a small girl (my favorite), a boy (just about as good), an old man (okay) and a rabbi (also okay). (these okays, etc are not meant to be value judgements, only represent tastebuds...) I had in the back of my mind that it was something by Loren Eiseley. And as I began to search the web I read versions that were attributed to him … [Read more...]

A bit on the violent side, but hey, that's sometimes just the way the mind on meditation is.Also, a warning. The second part is just as much the mind doing its thing as the first.Watch.Let go...Watch some more.And let go some more...(Thank you, Josh!) … [Read more...]

LIGHTING CANDLESA Hanukkah ReflectionA Sermon byJames Ishmael Ford2 December 2007First Unitarian SocietyWest Newton, MassachusettsTextWhat are we, any of us, but strangers and sojourners forlornly wandering through the nighttime, until we draw together and find the meaning of our lives in one another, dissolving our fears in each other’s courage, making music together, and lighting torches to guide us through the dark? We belong together. Love is what we need. To love and to be loved.A. Powell D … [Read more...]

In 1988 the World Summit of Ministers of Health on Programmes for AIDS Prevention called for a World AIDS Day, a time to call people's attention to this terrible pandemic. December 1st was chosen to be that day.Here is a story by Jane Greer from last year on the liberal religious response to AIDS.World AIDS Day is led by the World's AIDS Campaign. Check them out. The life you save may be your own. It certainly will be the life of someone you care for... … [Read more...]

This lovely version is sung by a Tibetan named Yang Jin... … [Read more...]