A guest post by Andy Lambert Ah, the 2016 election…. This has been a huge (or should I say YUUGE?) test of metta. Loving Kindness meditation is an important Buddhist Practice. Those of us who have spent some time in various forms of practice understand that this can be a very difficult practice in the best of times. In times such as these, it can be damned near impossible. We must cultivate compassion for all living beings, even those that... Read more
The days are mercifully winding down toward November 8th, the day our nation picks the next president. And while much rancor has come from the campaign, some calling it the most divisive period in America in at least 100 years, there is peace on the horizon. But that peace doesn’t come in simply waiting out the next 48 hours. It comes from within. Odd as it may sound, this is a brilliant time to develop loving-kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy, and... Read more
Žižek claims that if he were an American he would vote for Trump. And, he continues, a Trump Presidency would lead to a “kind of big awakening.” Sigh. It’s been a while since I’ve had the displeasure of writing about Žižek, who at one point claimed that the Buddhist state of awakening gave one free licence to murder. Last time I wrote about him, I concluded, “So horrible on so many levels.” I’m afraid this isn’t much better. Would it be... Read more
With just under one hundred respondents so far, the picture emerging is more in Hillary Clinton’s favor than any previous poll, especially when 3rd party contenders are removed from the equation. However, when asked, “In a hypothetical three-way race with Bernie Sanders as a Green Party candidate, who would you support?” things change rather dramatically, as Sanders steals a couple votes from Trump and the majority of Clinton’s. And it seems that in real life Sanders is still getting some... Read more
A guest post by Tom Clements Editor’s note: As this year’s election season winds down, here’s a pause from our political discussions with little help from across the pond. Meditation, like any skill, requires a lot of practice and perseverance. It’s not what many of these self-help guides and relaxation tapes will have you believe. You don’t switch off your brain by imagining yourself on a Bahamian island with white sandy beaches and warm turquoise waves lapping at your feat.... Read more
This will be our final survey of readers’ political preferences with a long and winding road behind us. I, for one, was first introduced to a number of third-party candidates through write-ins on the poll and was exposed to a number of perspectives I otherwise would never have seen. I found out that polling is a fairly costly and time-intensive enterprise if it is to be done scientifically, and while NBC/Survey-monkey seems to have found a way to crunch their... Read more
A guest post by Robert Shuken Ju-Etsu McCarthy My name is Robert McCarthy, my dharma name is Shuken Ju-Etsu, the meaning is “kind humble and goes beyond,” I would say that these elements are reflected in both my spiritual and secular life. I was born and raised in Western Michigan in a fairly conservative working class town. I am currently enrolled at the University of the West’s Masters of Divinity program learning to be a chaplain, with the ultimate goal to... Read more
A guest post from Janet Miller You don’t have to be a Buddhist (or a hippy) to practice mindfulness, and you don’t have to spend hours sitting on the floor in meditation. Practicing mindfulness is simply bringing awareness to yourself and your existence. By practicing mindfulness in your life, you can feel more focused, less stressed, and more happy. Here are eight ways to introduce mindfulness into your life. 1. Mindful Breathing The breath is a common object of meditation, and... Read more
As mindfulness continues its spread across the Western world, along with it has come a myriad of myths and misunderstandings. Here are some of the most common myths, dispelled, for those interested in mindfulness practice. Meditation is about clearing the mind of thoughts. This is probably the widest and most pernicious myth around meditation. After a very long time meditating, it might be possible that some period of time, maybe just a few seconds, is free of thoughts. For days, weeks, and perhaps... Read more
A guest post by David Viradhamma Creighton On October 11, 1956 the leader of India’s “untouchable” community stood before 400,000 of his followers in the city of Nagpur and led them in a mass conversion to Buddhism. Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar had tried for decades to reform Indian society and end caste discrimination using legal and political tools, but he had come to the conclusion that the only hope for his oppressed people was to embrace a religion that denied caste and... Read more
American Buddhist Perspectives
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