Barring any major catastrophe, I’ll be in London this time eight months from now.Yippppppeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee Read more

An interesting teaching/music video based on the teachings of Mipham Rinpoche (“Mipham the Great”, 1846-1912). It takes a minute to get into, but watch it to the end – it’s worth it. may you be happy may you be happy may you be happy. Read more

It’s official (well not quite, still quite unofficial, but) – I’ve been accepted to Goldsmiths College of The University of London (with ties to the School of Oriental and African Studies, SOAS, King’s College-London, The London School of Economics, and other world renowned libraries/research facilities).Goldsmiths profile (Guardian Newspaper, 2005, with links). So…. Now again I’m faced with choosing between wonderful, beautiful futures: Spending more time in Montana, honing my teaching and community organizing skills, networking in the community (both the... Read more

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About five years ago I remember going to an FWBO Sangha night (where Friends of the Western Buddhist Order gather to meditate and talk and drink tea) where Dharmachari Saaramati (aka Professor Alan Sponberg) gave a talk. To begin the talk he asked us all to write down the ‘essence of Buddhism’ in just a few words. I wrote something like, “Buddha, Dharma, Sangha,” others had their own ideas, but that’s not important. What is important is that it got... Read more

The suffering of the world today demands action. But often enough, far too often, our action increases suffering because we lack understanding. The story that always comes to mind for me is of the Peace Corps project to bring reliable water to a small village in Africa. By all western measures the project was a success: a well had been dug, a hand pump installed, a filtration system implemented. But for the villagers, especially the women, it was a disaster.... Read more

grumble grumble… been sick all week. Could be worse. My current obsession, Regina Spektor: Fidelity Read more

Monday was a very sad day for all of us. Now is a moment in which we are called upon to reflect on ourselves and our world, to face the questions of what went wrong, and what can we do to prevent this in the future. In light of the recent shootings in Virginia, I’m sure there will be discussions of ways to make our campus safer. Some will propose metal detectors, more police, high tech video cameras, or other... Read more

So I’m taking a Philosophy of Law course now and have to choose a final paper topic. I need help. Law has never been of much interest to me: perhaps because I’ve always seen only its surface – the ‘laws’ out there. I’ve never much bothered to examine how/why the laws come to be: historical reasons, embedded principles, democracy, fear and hope, sophistry and dialogue. I’m reading a work called “Legal Modernism” by David Luban now, the first chapter in... Read more

I dated a modern artist for about a year. Because I believed in things she considered me a fascist. Since she was a devout cynic, that was ok. (this needn’t be considered strictly factual) Read more