http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=7914131&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1 Joanna Macy at Bioneers 2009 from Defend theCommons on Vimeo. Read more

I’m slowly but surely working my way through Destroying Mara Forever: Buddhist Ethics Essays in honor of Damien Keown, and came across this thoughtful gem by Peter Harvey: … Human freedom of will is of a variable nature, increasing with mindfulness and wholesome actions.” p.50 I’ve written before about my theory of “nested causality” in Buddhist thought, represented by the image above. It’s not a prominent or well-formulated system in early Buddhism, and citta (mind) and kamma (action/moral) even swap... Read more

– a festschrift for Damien Keown, has finally arrived. It’s a good one… I’m just getting started on it, but the contributors list alone makes it a must-have for everyone interested in contemporary Buddhist studies and ethics. A quick quote from the prologue (describing Professor Keown’s Ph.D. days): “The two areas where Buddhism had invested virtually all of its intellectual energy, it seemed to Damien, were psychology and metaphysics, subjects reflecting the central Buddhist preoccupation with the nature of reality... Read more

While I was in China this summer I tried to explain my ph.d. thesis to one of my travel mates. “I am examining the underlying structure, philosophically speaking, of Buddhist ethics. I seek first to understand the Buddhist worldview or cosmology -based roughly in the dualism of samsara and nirvana- and then spell out the various injunctions found in the texts that purport to lead one from the former to the latter.” “That doesn’t seem to have much to do... Read more

As mentioned in my last post, it was yet another beautiful (though cold) day in Missoula, MT and I decided to add about 3o minutes of walking into my afternoon Pali studies. I’m very happy and lucky now to live just 3 blocks from the “hip strip” and 5 from downtown (with the Clark Fork river constituting the dividing line). Here are some photos from the journey to and from my Pali study spot in downtown Zoo town. The Clark... Read more

Another quick shotgun blog as the sun arcs its way into my office and across my desk. We’ve had 3 straight sunny days in Missoula, which is unheard of in the winter – of course the forecast is for a prompt end to all that. I took advantage on Wednesday by going out for a run along the snowy and icy river trail. It’s hard to believe this was me (finishing my marathon) just four months ago. I guess being... Read more

Know of any great sites for resources on Buddhist basics? I’m especially interested in printable charts, graphs, and the likes similar to those at the bottom of this page (I would have posted them here as I think they’re great and well worth spreading, but the author explicitly asks that content from the site not be used elsewhere). I’ve just stumbled across a great one that seems to be a hidden gem: http://www.aimwell.org/ There and a host of books, sutta... Read more

In the mix of ancient cultures of central China outside of Xi’an we find this map: Pulpit one way, Alchemy kiln the other. The pulpit is actually the remnants of a stupa and little else, allegedly from Nestorian or Syriac Christians. The Alchemy kiln is from the Daoists. It was at this temple that Lao Tzu (Laozi) wrote the Dao De Jing. Read more

Five Subjects for Frequent Recollection (LEADER): Handa mayaṃ abhiṇha-paccavekkhaṇa-pāthaṃ bhaṇāma se: Let us now recite the passage for frequent recollection: (ALL): Jarā-dhammomhi jaraṃ anatīto. I am subject to aging. Aging is unavoidable. Byādhi-dhammomhi byādhiṃ anatiito.I am subject to illness. Illness is unavoidable. Maraṇa-dhammomhi maraṇaṃ anatiito.I am subject to death. Death is unavoidable. Sabbehi me piyehi manāpehi nānā-bhāvo vinā-bhāvo.I will grow different, separate from all that is dear & appealing to me. Kammassakomhi kamma-dāyādo kamma-yoni kamma-bandhu kamma-pa.tisaraṇo. I am the owner... Read more

Wealth on the backs of the poor (2009) I’m editing, again, my photos from China (working down from 5000 or so to hopefully under 3000). This is one of the many of bicyclists, moped riders, and motorcyclists I photographed on the streets in the cities of China. In these streets are found the gamut of wealth (Philips big-screen TVs, for instance) and poverty. It is hoped that this summer I can visit (the Republic of) China, aka Taiwan, for a... Read more