Let me just preface this by saying sometimes I complain that Montana is lacking in intellectual energy, specifically in philosophy, politics, and religious studies. While it has in no way caught up with England or even London alone, Missoula has very happily surprised me of late with some amazing talks both by resident thinkers and by visitors. Thanks, Missoula. Last Thursday I pushed for an early meditation so as to make it to a wonderful free philosophy lecture by David... Read more

Thomas Merton, Fr. Louis, meets with a young Dalai Lama in the fall of 1968 From his posthumous Asian Journal, describing his experience upon seeing the great Buddha statues at Polonnaruwa, Ceylon (Sri Lanka): “Looking at these figures I was suddenly,almost forcibly, jerked clean out of the habitual, half-tied vision of things, and an inner clearness, clarity, asif exploding from the rocks themselves, became evidentand obvious. The queer evidence of the recliningfigure, the smile, the sad smile of Ananda standing... Read more

Bhikkhu Samāhita said it well in a recent email titled: “No Nostalgic Nausea!” In that insightful email came a series of Pāli canon quotations: The Buddha once noted: They do not ever lament over the past, They do neither yearn for what has yet to come, They maintain themselves in the present here & now, therefore is their appearance so calm and serene! Samyutta Nikaya I, 5 Let go of the past, let go of the future, let go of... Read more

It was the Goose Moon, according to Cree Indian lore, when the great geese could be seen returning to the northern lands from their long journey south. To see a goose silhouetted in the moon in this night would bring great fortune to oneself and one’s family. Both photos were taken with Julie’s fancy (fancy like my computer, only fancier) Nikon D90 with 200mm lens (300mm equivalent on 35mm film). Date/Time: March 11, 2009, 11pmLocation: Missoula, MT, Julie’s back patioEtc:... Read more

tap, taptap, taptap, taptap, tapthese feet on Missoula sidewalks. tap, taptap, taptap, taptap, tapwhy am I listening to this tonight?Borgmann. The great man spoke tonight.I invited and was joined by my friend Ali.I was rapt, held upon nearly every word. tap, taptap, taptap, taptap, tapthis city is surprisingly loud at night.Cars’ wheels on pavement,trucks:the older,the louder. Then a car with an enginelike a wind-up toy;studded tires like tacksfalling onto the floor in rhythm. Cold air not so cold tonight. As... Read more

My father, who often refers to me as his “Buddha Boy,” sits in a conspicuously Zen style as friends and family gather around for his 60th B-day. Little does he realize just how much I’ve learned from him over the years…. Read more

Julie has convinced me to alter my text color (white-ish on black is hard on the eyes). I’m not sure if I like this one (at all) but figured I’d see what readers think. If you have suggestions for what looks good on a black background let me know, preferably including a link to a site that uses it and a hex code, but just your thoughts would be nice. I’ve also noticed recently a reader in Seattle, operating on... Read more

This title comes from a fascinating somewhat recent paper by UCLA’s Jonathan Silk, one of the great Buddhologists of our time. That paper is titled, “What, If Anything, Is Mahāyāna Buddhism? Problems of Definitions and Classifications” (Numen, Vol. 49, No. 4 (2002), pp. 355-405). It brings to light the issue of defining our subject area and the amazing difficulties therein. One of my great pleasures over the last three years has been serving on the committee for an American Academy... Read more

Many thanks to Miss Vesper for passing this along, re: a recent post of mine. As I mentioned in the post, I’m an introvert, no doubt about it. Reading this article – about me – raised about as many ‘wow – so true!’ moments as when I first read about Borderline Personality Disorder in regard to a past relationship. Like Borderlines, Introverts are a surprisingly large and misunderstood segment of our society. Reading this article, happily titled “Caring for your... Read more

I am reading the excellent article, “Acceptance of the Other as a Similarly Valid Path and awareness of One’s Self-Culpability: A Deepening Realization of My Religious Identity through Dialogue” by Kenneth K. Tanaka of Musashino University. (Buddhist-Christian Studies, 2005) In it he talks about encountering a Christian scholar at the typically very liberal INTERNATIONAL BUDDHIST-CHRISTIAN THEOLOGICAL ENCOUNTER who, after some thought, admitted that her faith meant that she believed that he (Kenneth) could not be saved as a Buddhist. He... Read more