From Bhikkhu Samahita (with minor formatting by me) The Blessed Buddha once said: Bhikkhus and Friends: Once the mental release by infinite Friendliness has been developed, frequently practised, firmly established, expanded, made a vehicle, foundation, and brought to full perfection, then it will be impossible for ill-will to take possession of and obsess the mind, for the mental release by infinite Friendliness is the release from all ill-will! Once the mental release by compassionate Pity & tender understanding has been... Read more

http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=71377 Me and my friend Jen’s youngest son, Magnus (aka Maggie). Read more

Click here and you should get to a free promotional coloring map put out by Berkshire publishing. And here you’ll find a complementary article on Tibet by the same. Some facts: Xi’an is the capital of Shaanqi province, all just east of the dead center of contemporary China. It is most famous as one of the ancient capitals of all of China, most notably under the T’ang Dynasty (June 18, 618 – June 4, 907). It is also claimed to... Read more

My Visa for China arrived today – amazingly fast. From the looks of the Chinese Embassy website, I feared long delays, returns for lacking or incorrect information, and (perhaps being a bit overly paranoid) some sort of rejection on the grounds that I’ve blogged so much about Tibet. In my brief time in D.C. I dare say I learned the art of paranoia and international intrigue; all far removed from my working/middle-class upbringing at the end of a dirt road... Read more

Things are moving ahead smoothly in my quest to get to China next month: air tickets purchased, a Visa in the hopper (unlike 18 months ago when a planned India journey was scuttled by my ignorance of such “technicalities”), and I’m beginning to educate myself on the area (Chang’an / Xi’an), the history (mostly T’ang Dynasty), and, perhaps most importantly, the music: (from a Buddhist discussion list) http://you.video.sina.com.cn/b/10128346-1317142124.html This is apparently the “Buddhist Anthem” for Chinese Buddhists, known as the... Read more

This was the kind of stuff that intrigued me most when I was a philosophy student. Specifically the Philosophy of Mind, but with it the questions of identity, both of persons and objects. Questions about the soul and God and ultimate nature of the universe follow quickly. Mark Siderits is your guy in Buddhist philosophy if you’re looking for interesting parallels (here’s a bit from his book on personal identity where he mentions the Ship of Theseus). And ah-ha, here... Read more

For those in NYC, specifically the SoHo neighborhood, this will be of interest. Next, thanks to a blog I found linked on a new blog by a guy who did his Ph.D. at Harvard on Shantideva who I met at AAR last year after a bit of correspondence after he posted something interesting on a Buddhist Scholars discussion list and I emailed him (small world, huh?), is this little video. It’s informative and pretty hilarious, if you ask me, but... Read more

All three of these great philosophers seem to share the same opinion regarding the hierarchy of morality and religion: morality clearly comes first. Religion is merely our attempt to describe it, to teach it, to point to it (as the finger to the moon).Socrates with his interlocutor from the Euthyphro: Soc. Ought we to enquire into the truth of this, Euthyphro, or simply to accept the mere statement on our own authority and that of others? What do you say?... Read more

* Full disclosure: Bodhipaksa was my first meditation teacher, way back in 2000-2002, when he taught at The University of Montana and the Rocky Mountain Buddhist Center. I also worked with him in the early days of Wildmind.org and am currently a contributor to the blog there (so yea, I might be a bit biased). Whether it was yesterday or years ago, most us have seen an image of the Buddha, or of someone meditating. These images of peace, calm,... Read more

Dani and Marga at breakfast in the small town of Anaconda, MT (Sunday before Memorial day, 2009) Today I went back in to my workplace, where I now only work about 5 hrs a week (down from 25, gasp), and spontaneously burst into song as I entered. My boss commented upon this and my otherwise (somewhat newly) cheerful manner with some happy surprise. Insert Gratitude: I’m very thankful that I have the ability to step away from work that was... Read more