American Buddhist Perspectives
Sigh… I wish I had the time to give justice to the excitement of my life as of late, but alas, the whirlwind continues and only a moment’s rest is granted.
Some highlights:
The trip to DC and Ohio was amazing. I met Kelly’s family and immediately felt at home with them all; really truly wonderful people. My conversation with her mom went immediately to spirituality, into a conversation I look forward to having with my own mother when the time is right. I only wish we had had more time… Kelly’s father was great too. I was definitely nervous and slipped up early, asking, “isn’t the baseball hall of fame down in Canton?” So I won’t win him over on my sporting knowledge; but we had a great moment as I confessed that I don’t know how to tie a tie and he graciously fixed me up and allowed me to return the favor as we prepared for the wedding of his step-daughter, Meghan.
I also had the pleasure of meeting some of the important people in her life: the Tubbs, Mary Fran, and Ramadan. More on them and the rest of my trip to come soon… It all went far too quickly, but such is life sometimes. We plant the seeds and rest content with the day, knowing the life-potential resting within them.
Back in Montana I’ve been thrown into work for our Environmental Ethics Institute and Debating Science programs. We run a small, dynamic office here at the Center for Ethics, what Albert Borgmann would call a quintessentially postmodern firm. It’s fun: no bureaucracy, I usually set my own hours, have candid chats with everyone, I know my boss really well and I could go on. The only downside is that when it get’s busy, we all get busy. But at the same time it pulls us together, we’re forced to be creative, to live beyond ourselves, to help and to ask for help. I’m exhausted now, but I feel good. I worked ten hours today after a 13hr Saturday and 12.5hr Sunday. Yet I know that many people the world over work longer and harder, and simply know no other way it could be. I am very lucky, very privileged.
My philosophical pursuits have hit a very stagnant period, unfortunately. Although, what can one expect when my life is so full of people, love, and spirituality? I haven’t written a single word toward my MA thesis in the last month, and recent studies hadn’t been promising… until… I opened Andrew Light’s latest book to an article by Warwick Fox called, “Deep Ecology: A New Philosophy of our Time?” I’m working for Andrew now, and philosophically we don’t see eye-to-eye much – but that’s ok – he is brilliant and has much to teach me. Yet I didn’t exactly feel receptive or motivated until reading Warwick’s piece. Deep ecology is radical, cutting edge, and questions all of the assumptions of our modern age. But it also seeks to bring us into relationship with nature, out of Newtonian mechanics, and through a radical transformation of thought about who we are and the world we live in. If only all philosophy could be like this! More on this soon too… And photos! soon, soon, soon…
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In