In the Buddhist tradition, we are encouraged to ‘take refuge’ in the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha (the ‘Three Jewels’). In fact, for most this is what defines one as a Buddhist. This weekend I went on a short retreat, learning a lot about suffering (first hand!) only to return to more. More on that in the next post, but first a recap of the three jewels. THE THREE JEWELS: THE BUDDHA The Buddha is the man who awakened... Read more

Beware!Ye of mild angst, moodiness and worry!It may be… Nature Deficit Disorder! It is somewhat funny, how our society is making EVERYTHING into one disorder or another, but oh well. At least the pharmaceutical companies aren’t selling nature pills (yet!). It is also a bit (sadly) funny because, looking back over my last couple months, I seem to be bouncing from one self-diagnosed illness to the next. C’est la vie. In addition to traditional treatments, like going for walks in... Read more

“The only part of one that burns in hell is the part that won’t let go of life.” – Meister Eckhart (Medieval Christian mystic, gracias a Gary, emphasis mine) It seems that the notion of hell is popping up in my life a bit too much lately to be merely dismissed. Not long ago I escaped the “Halls from Hell” in London. I miss my friends there but the environment in general was not healthy. Now I find myself in... Read more

While it appears that things have calmed inside Tibet, don’t be fooled. The fact of the matter is simply that the Chinese government has expelled nearly all – if not all – foreign journalists from the region, making verification of any accounts extremely difficult. They have also cut off cell phone signals in areas of disturbance and ramped up suppression of internet traffic to cut off the flow of information both into and out of Tibet. Young Tibetans question path... Read more

As I mentioned a couple weeks ago, I am working through a new book on Tibetan Buddhism and Modern Physics (one of my odd areas of interest). A friend of mine in Bristol, UK and I are going to be discussing chapters as we go along, and I’ll be posting revised editions of those discussions (my side at least) here. CH 1 Discussing two seemingly distinct fields raises countless methodological issues and problems. Mansfield starts his first chapter trying to... Read more

Time seems to be slipping by much too fast (again). Aside from my Tibet-watching activities (some new links below), I have been: working on getting a job in DC, reading articles on Karma so that I can put together a conference proposal, and reading on Tibetan Buddhism and Modern Physics looking into Confucian, Daoist, and Shinto history (as these may be part of what I’m teaching) First, some updates on Tibet: IN TIBET Tibet Monks Disrupt Tour by Journalists to... Read more

Rev. Danny Fisher has been doing a fantastic job of posting the many developments and reports on the Tibet situation, so here I will basically just summarize those and add some of my thoughts. We’ll start actually with a different blog’s round-up of stories, that of Christopher Kelley at the Columbia University Center for Buddhist Studies. There he has several stories along with a recent edition of Charlie Rose, featuring several prominent guests. Charlie Rose Interview (available here along with... Read more

As Buddhism continues to take hold in the West, many are finding a sense of compatibility between their Western/Theistic beliefs and practices and those of Buddhism and many scholars have entered into the fray attempting to demonstrate the possibility or impossibility of such compatibility. For my own part I tend to think that compatibilities are possible, if only because all religions exist in some state of flux. Buddhist scholar Richard Gombrich has argued that one can have two religions at... Read more

NAHA, Japan (AFP) – – Buddhists clasp their palms together to pray for enlightenment, but Conan, a chihuahua, appears to have more worldly motivations. The dog has become a popular attraction at a Japanese temple after learning to imitate the worshippers around him. “Conan started to pose in prayer like us whenever he wanted treats,” said Joei Yoshikuni, a priest at Jigenin temple on the southern island of Okinawa. “Clasping hands is a basic action of Buddhist prayer to show... Read more

While Tibet has been foremost in my thoughts in recent days, that hasn’t stopped or even slowed down the pace of life here in my life and in the US. ~ OBAMA Last night Kelly and I snuggled up to watch Barack Obama’s now famous ‘A More Perfect Union’ speech on YouTube. For impressive commentary on it I suggest this post from Nacho Cordova, fellow Buddhist/Humanist blogger and professor of rhetoric at Willamette University. For my part, I was hugely... Read more