Well, I’ve made it. We’ve made it. We’re at Patheos now and I suppose that calls for something a bit special in terms of a first post. So I’ll take a moment now and tell you some of my hopes for where I would like this little corner of the blogosphere to go in the next six months, year, and beyond. I hope it keeps its personal feel. My blogging began as a way to track my travels and muse... Read more

This week, American Buddhist Perspective is packing up and moving to Patheos. It is set up there now: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/americanbuddhist/ – but still has some kinks to work out before the official move. While we will have a redirect in place, it’ll be wise to update your RSS feeds, email subscriptions, and all that jazz asap. Read more

My life is often a mess – in just the way you’d expect a student and aspiring professor’s life to be. I have eight projects in the wings, a thesis I should be writing right now – it’s next on the agenda, no crazy Friday nights here, just thesis writing, – a long and growing list of people to get back to, about a dozen ‘tabs’ open in my browser now, and so on. At least for the moment my belly... Read more

“Oh monks, the great ocean has a single taste: the taste of salt. In the very same way, Oh monks, this Dhamma-Vinaya has a single taste: the taste of liberation.” — Ud 5.5  Bhikkhave, mahāsamuddo ekaraso loṇaraso. Evameva kho bhikkhave, ayaṃ dhammavinayo ekaraso vimuttiraso. The East China Sea (and the Pacific Ocean beyond it). Jeju-do, Korea. February 2011. Read more

Kant defines the sublime as that which “is great per se.”  It is similar to the beautiful for him insofar as it pleases on its own and does not presuppose any concepts. Whereas the beautiful always involves a question about the form of the object, the sublime can be encountered even in objects without form. It involves a representation of limitlessness.    – M. Kuehn, Kant, A Biography, p.347 (bold added) Sunset over the Higgins St Bridge, Missoula, MT, 2010. Read more

I’m finally back in the UK after a couple very busy, educational, and enjoyable weeks in the US. And now I have a cold – a light one – but a cold nonetheless. Sadly, the first thing to go when I get even mildly sick is my mind. I just returned from shopping for stay-at-home-sick supplies and instead of buying fresh ginger and lemon (for tea), I bought a price-reduced pizza. I’m afraid that being in NYC makes me want... Read more

There have been a number of Buddhist responses to Occupy Wall Street. See here for a recent round-up by Maia Duerr. Here are a few more. First is Bob Thurman, a Columbia University professor of Buddhist studies: From James Ford’s blog, I found this video. James remarks: I just love it.   Obviously a motley crew, representing who knows how many traditions. But, it gives me some hope that mindfulness by many names is part of this deal. Maia also posted... Read more

The recent and first ever conference devoted to Buddhist Ethics was a wonderful success. If you haven’t already, have a look at their website. They have promised to upload audio from the addresses and panels, and they have opened up the site, in blog style, to ongoing Q&A; via the comments section on each panel webpage. So once the audio is loaded (it’s not yet as of now, Monday morning), you can listen to the discussions and post questions of... Read more

This weekend my friends at the Garden of 1000 Buddhas will be out cleaning a portion of highway in Western Montana. Such actions of voluntary service to improve the lives of others, both human and nonhuman, should be lauded. Or better yet, joined and repeated. Volunteers and Sangha members needed! We will be doing the last Adopt-A-Highway clean up for 2011 this Sunday, October 9th. Click here for the full details of this and other events in Buddhism in Western... Read more

Fantastic news for Buddhist Philosophy: HONG KONG, October 3, 2011 — Mr. Robert Y. C. Ho, Chairman of the Board of The Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation, today announced that the Foundation has expanded its initiatives to promote the understanding of Buddhist philosophy in the West, and to bridge the study and practice of Buddhism, by donating a total of $5.2 million US in grants to Harvard University and Stanford University. In their combined purpose and effect, these grants are... Read more