Last night, in a Dharma study group I attend at the local FWBO center, we read and discussed the Canki (pronounced “chunky” like peanut butter) Sutta. What follows is a lengthy but rewarding (I do think) review of the sutta and its meaning for contemporary Buddhists. ~ The sutta describes a conversation between the Buddha and a very learned young Brahmin on the nature of knowledge: how does one come to know the truth? The Brahmin, Baradvaja, asserts that it... Read more
Tonight the “Hellgate winds” swept in; winds that blow into Missoula from the north-east as opposed to the typical wind from the west. The winds blow through a narrow canyon just outside of town called Hellgate, hence the name. The canyon won its name in one of two ways – or maybe even both, I don’t really know. One way might have been for these very winds: icy, icy cold and particularly blusssstry for this otherwise tranquil valley. The other... Read more
Sunset from Mount Sentinel Relaxed, calm, at peace, the simple beauties of the world seem to flood in. My newest thing is to try to ‘run’ up Mount Sentinel to the famous ‘M’, about a 1000 foot climb. The technique, taught to me by a veteran hiker, is to run the southbound switchbacks and walk the steeper northbound portions. I’ve tried it twice now and haven’t made it up the 14 switchbacks without stopping yet. I’ll get there. Or maybe... Read more
This is an elaboration of a Dharma talk I gave for our campus sangha this week. We have been doing the metta bhavana (cultivation of loving-kindness) for a couple weeks now and a question has arisen: How can we practice non-discriminating openheartedness without potentially becoming a doormat to harmful people in our lives? Or, as I placed the question to a teach of mine recently: How can we love unconditionally even those who have hurt us? My teacher answered by... Read more
This came through the wire on one of the Buddhist discussion groups I’m on. All-in-all, Americans are pretty happy. And, given our relative material ease, this makes sense. But if wealth and the ability to consume and travel at will were the main ingredients to happiness, then America should be number one. What might not make sense is why we’re tied with the relatively poor Malaysia and behind the even poorer Bhutan. (see partial chart below or full one in... Read more
(for some reason I goofed and left the generic ‘answer 5’ in there. Obviously don’t guess that one!) Which of these was NOT an actual panel or paper at AAR 2008? (no peaking at their website) ( surveys) Oh, and I suppose you’ll want to know which is the one I made up…. (click in the comments to find out) Read more
Well, now just over a week since I’ve left, I figure I should try to wrap up the great time which was AAR 2008 (American Academy of Religion). This was my first national AAR meeting, or meeting of any such size for that matter, so I didn’t know what to expect, or really how to prepare… Luckily, I saw that the great Buddho-Blogger, Danny Fisher, was going as well and offered to pall around with him, which was graciously accepted.... Read more
I must say that of the big cities I’ve visited, Chicago sits right up there with San Fransisco and Seattle as my favorites (Calgary and Vancouver are up there, as is Bristol, UK even though it’s not quite a ‘big’ city). I had been assured before visiting that I would meet with plenty of very friendly “mid-western” people, and it was true. While there was still at times the hustle and bustle of any large city, there was also a... Read more
What is technophilia? the love of loud European music? No. Technology. That is what has been coming my way recently at least. At my work at the Center for Ethics in Montana, we have recently completed a two-year project with the National Science Foundation (NSF) which brought students together in person for a week and then sent them home to continue collaborating using wiki software. The result, an Online Deliberation Center (ODC) will at some point be made available to... Read more
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