Today is my last day in my apartment in Montana. I’m off to L.A. via Salt Lake City, and then Fo Guang Shan Monastery in southern Taiwan via Taipei. Back in the US, I have exactly 5 airport-free days before making my way to London and then India to teach. From there, some time in January, I will head to Korea and (and maybe other SE Asia destinations), then back to the US. Then around April I’m heading back to the... Read more

With my upcoming travels to Taiwan, England, and India right around the corner, it has been recommended that I somehow unite my social networking world. Yikes. It makes me realize the slight differences in my use of facebook, twitter, and blogger. Likewise the different audiences of each. Now they will be merged. Perhaps this will mean less time for me in the social media world and more in the real world… We shall see… Read more

Packing began tonight. So much of the past unearthed. What to keep? What to let go? Now it’s 4:30am and I have been awake for over an hour. Reminded of how fragile the mind can be. Worries, planning, and packing, to do, to do, to do. All these replace to calm and ease of suttas, reciting, and chanting, sadhu, sadhu, sadhu. But a friend on the other side of the world sent me this: http://www.wonmind.org/. And I clicked, I saw, I... Read more

Tomorrow will mark my 3rd official half-marathon, added to the one full marathon I ran last fall. A bit of me is sad that I am not running another full tomorrow as I had originally planned. But most of me is just happy to be running. It’s hard to believe it, but I’ve been a ‘runner’ for more than half of my life now. But it’s only been in the last 5 or so years that I have run in... Read more

Well it worked wonders for Courney Love, didn’t it? Or did it?  Here’s the link if you care to read more. Good luck to miss Lohan. May you too be well, at peace, and free from suffering. Read more

This week I received a very kind email from Ashok Kumar of http://karmadungyu.blogspot.com about sharing links.  I’ve added the blog, but noted that if it looks too much like a money-making gig or simply reposts other people’s stories, I would remove it, with respect to my readers (you) and him. Have a look and let me know what you (my readers) think. While adding that one I remembered one that I’ve admired for a very long time and never managed... Read more

Just stumbled across this and half-laughed/half-cringed: World cup numerology : Why Germany will win *Brazil won in 1994; they also won in 1970.Adding 1970 + 1994= 3964 *Argentina in 1986; before that in 1978.1978 + 1986= 3964 *Germany won in 1990; before that in 1974. 1974 + 1990= 3964 *Brazil also won the Cup in 2002; before that in 1962. 1962+ 2002= 3964 Therefore subtracting 2010 from the magic number 3964 = 1954…In 1954 the World Cup was won by... Read more

SN 5.2 PTS: S i 129 CDB i 222 Soma Sutta: Mara Meets His Match translated from the Pali by Andrew Olendzki © 2005–2010 Alternate translations: Bodhi | Thanissaro The nun Soma has entered Andhavana (Blind Man’s Grove) near Savatthi to practice meditation. Mara, the embodiment of delusion, sees her there and desires to make her waver and abandon her concentration. He addresses her with a verse: That which can be attained by seers — The place so hard to... Read more

And writes a pretty song: It really is that amazing here. At least right now it is. Last month it was rainy like Oregon. Next month it’ll be hot like Tucson. The month after that we’ll either be lucky and see it cool a bit, or unlucky and live amongst horrendous forest fires. An estimated 100,000 dead/dying trees are falling every DAY now in the rocky mountains due to beetle-kill. It’s scary to look at some of the mountainsides and see... Read more

I’m an introvert. I come from a long line of men who take life slowly, keep things simple, and enjoying the grace of quiet. Like anyone though, I love spending time with friends, traveling, and so on. I just can’t do that much of it before I’m exhausted. And grumpy. And summertime in Montana seems to equal hang-out time for ‘kids’ my age. And so it goes. A weekend at the lake for the fourth. Beer with professors, followed by... Read more