http://uscampaignforburma.org * photo by author from a March for Burma, London, October 6, 2007. Read more

Sitting – sore back (hard bed in Helena). Needing, no – wanting – better office chair for home. Enjoying Missoula – so many wonderful people. Life, pretty good here. Recession, will hit us next year (Montana is behind the curve on practically everything). Nostalgic a bit for Bristol, hearing from many old acquaintances, friends and classmates after Ken’s passing. Funny, how even in death he is bringing people together. A wonderful man. Not so nostalgic for London, but happy for... Read more

In this sutta, Sariputta, a key disciple of the Buddha, recounts the teaching of the Four Noble Truths. Today my interest is in mainly linguistic analysis of the last couple paragraphs of the sutta, in which Sariputta describes Right Mindfulness and Right Concentration. We can begin with the location of the sutta. It is found in the Vibhaṅgavaggo of the Uparipaṇṇāsapāḷi portion of the Majjhimanikāya in the Suttapiṭaka. In English, this sutta, or discourse, is called the Classification of Truth... Read more

I have heard many scholars debating the meaning and so-called “prophesy” of the Buddha, who claimed that his Dharma, or teaching, would last only 500 years (later revised to 5000). In fact I had a class once in which a student tried to ‘calculate’ the end of the world based on the 5000 year cut in half prediction (and it was coming soon!). This is especially discussed in light of his other controversial claim, that the life of the Dharma... Read more

It bothers me a lot when big companies put out obvious spin and lies to dupe people into buying and trusting their products. What bothers me even more is when branches of the government that ‘watch over’ big companies are just as guilty of spin and misinformation. Here’s a video about Gardasil, the vaccine being pushed on young girls with the (mostly*) bogus claim that it ‘prevents cervical cancer’: First the obvious misinformation: Watch it again if you need to.... Read more

It’s been busy times here in lovely Montana (as usual). Work has been busy, lots of spring/summer projects in the air as well as prospects of bigger and better work in the future. Raise prospects are still good, though needing further strategery. Life in the bureaucracy, sometimes thrilling, sometimes dreadful. Thesis work continues at it’s titanic-like steady pace toward completion (bad metaphor, I suppose – my thesis is far more graceful, like floating, a Hindenburg). I read things, I highlight... Read more

A great blog for all those who journey through loss. http://ohenrosan.blogspot.com/ One poem, from a post titled “Farewell” says: Going on a journeyleaving behind everythingeven myself With gratitude for all those who have, and give us, courage through the pain. Read more

Thinking of the recent loss of my friend Ken, as well as of my paternal grandmother two months ago, my mind returns to a passage in Matthieu Ricard’s book, Happiness: A Guide to Developing Life’s Most Important Skill. Matthieu recounts meeting a friend devastated by the loss of his father: “My father died a few weeks ago. I’m devastated, because his death seems so unfair to me. I can’t understand it and I can’t accept it.” In response, Matthieu gently... Read more

An extraordinary man left us yesterday. Ken Robinson was not wealthy or famous, but simply extraordinary in his goodness: his always kind smile, his generosity and support, and his unending quest for wisdom. Ken was a great man, an acute student, and a dear friend. I first met Ken back in 2004 when just beginning my MA studies in Bristol and we immediately hit it off. He was retired, living with his wife not far from the University, and sitting... Read more

A story in today’s BBC News suggests that in down economic times, romance gets a boost. “Times of stress can trigger feelings of attraction – quite simply, you’re more susceptible,” she said. Professor Fisher’s theories are based on a classic 1974 study by Dutton and Aron – in which male subjects walking across a dangerous-seeming bridge were found to be more likely to fall for an attractive woman researcher. (I love that academics get paid to come up with such... Read more