Gallagher Business Building October 2006 What an amazing day. I awoke to stormy skies and blustery winds through my windows and began my day just as I would any other: shower, breakfast, coffee. I read a bit, I wrote a bit. Then, around noon, it began. I was going ‘to class’. Now, granted, I’m a T.A., not a professor, not a student, but still I was going to class. True to form I worked on things right to the last... Read more

Garnet ghost town, Montana Things to be grateful for? Hmmm… So many. Peace – of mind, of body, of living in harmony with work, people, studies, nature; of sitting on the porch and listening to squirrels bickering back and forth across the street, the distant hum of power tools as homeowners take advantage of this beautiful day to work outside, of having a Pepsi even though I know it’s bad for me because it reminds me of growing up and... Read more

Missoula Sunset, 8-19-08 Last night’s “Dharma Tuesday” centered on the simple act of reading a sutra. What benefits may be gained in this practice? Why, in Buddhism, which seems so focused experience and activity in the world, are texts so important? I recall learning years ago of a discussion amongst two Greek philosophers, perhaps Socrates and an interlocutor. In the dialog, one of the great thinkers lamented the invention of writing. He said that now people will simply write down... Read more

It’s been a bit since my last gratitude post. As usual, I suppose, I’ve spent the time with friends, in nature, and hard at work. In my more pensive moments, I’ve found myself asking: what’s it all about? (and I laugh now) And my mind tends to toss and turn, this way and that. Until, out of the depths comes a soft answer: service. Hokey, perhaps. Or just too obvious. But it’s the same answer time and again, and it... Read more

This is the conclusion of a fascinating talk on TED by psychologist Barry Schwartz. It follows my last post perfectly, so I thought I should share it with y’all. His latest book discusses the paradox of choice, how we think it makes us happy, but actually doesn’t. Have a watch: http://static.videoegg.com/ted/flash/loader.swf Read more

“Through cultivating and refining the perfections [Buddhist virtues], the practitioner ascends to the stage of a kalyana-puthujjana, or virtuous worldling — this being equivalent to the attainment of “complete simplicity of character.” During this process … greed, ill-will, and pride gradually diminish and the practitioner spontaneously begins to feel disenchantement with the world.” from The Goal and the Path of the Great “generation of mind” Essoteric TeachingBurma, 1987 My niece Tyera (left), celebrating her upcoming tenth birthday with my folks.... Read more

And I don’t just mean my travel partner… This weekend I postponed a trip to see my folks in Helena (leaving tomorrow) to grab an opportunity to visit Glacier National Park. It was the perfect end to a long and wonderful week. The Center for Ethics had just concluded hosted Debating Science, a major project bringing around 30 graduate students, mostly in the sciences, together with experts in the fields of Biotech, Nanotech, and Climate Change for five intense days... Read more

This is the title of the third chapter of Dan Arnold’s book, Buddhists, Brahmins, and Belief: Epistemology in South Asian Religion. New York: Columbia University Press, 2005. 318 pp. Index. $50.00 (cloth), ISBN 978-0-231-13280-0. I am currently working my way through the Journal of Buddhist Ethics review of this book by Roy Tzohar (Columbia University) and came across a section worth digging into a tiny bit, as it relates to the correspondence between Buddhist and Kantian metaphysics (understanding of the... Read more

If it begins with gender analysis and ends in systems of domination, it’s feminism! I sat down for dinner tonight with Karen J. Warren, one of the country’s best known feminist philosophers. In our conversations I found myself both challenged and inspired. You see, on a certain level I have long been a feminist. I grew up in a ‘matriarchal’ household. My dad was the primary bread-winner, but my mom was better educated, more worldly, and most of all –... Read more

Me, trying to look smart (just in case….). Being so busy is a good thing in many ways. Perhaps not in others, as I look fondly at my days in the fall of 2005, working hard on my MA thesis, no job, taking only one class at UM – exploring Ken Wilber, Hegel, Buddhist Ethics, and life…. A fledgling on Mount Sentinel (too young to fly, but too old to stay in the nest. I think we all know that... Read more