Via the great audiodharma.org. Deconstructing Buddhism (Part 1)     03/20/10 [Download] [Play] 1:23:12 Deconstructing Buddhism (Part 2)     03/20/10 [Download] [Play] 34:17 Deconstructing Buddhism (Part 3)     03/20/10 [Download] [Play] 1:30:33 Deconstructing Buddhism (Part 4)     03/20/10 [Download] [Play] 38:54 I recently wrote about Stephen Batchelor’s new book, Confession of a Buddhist Atheist. Here are some fresh talks he gave on his US book tour just last week. Looking forward to a listen. Read more

This is from the latest Religious Studies News; a report showing the precipitous decline in job offerings over the past three years. Positions registered has gone from 152 in 2007, to 107 in 2008 (just after the economic “Bush Bubble” burst), down to a mere 40 last year – where I chose to dive in to the job market. Or, more honestly, to dip my toes in the tepid icy cold waters of the academic job market. Speaking with a... Read more

Mindfulness in a techno-buzz-twit-book world. Thanks, Google, for simply negating my last nine years of study and practice as a so-called Buddhist. Now that I am no longer following Buddha, what will I do? No white letters in cool blue bubbles fade in from the background to tell me. Sorry Buddha, but the Google Ads in Buzz was uncool. I don’t mind them on websites (to a degree), I don’t mind them on blogs (you can find some here and... Read more

This is just in from Google’s blog regarding their removal of censorship in China: A new approach to China: an update 3/22/2010 12:03:00 PM On January 12, we announced on this blog that Google and more than twenty other U.S. companies had been the victims of a sophisticated cyber attack originating from China, and that during our investigation into these attacks we had uncovered evidence to suggest that the Gmail accounts of dozens of human rights activists connected with China were being... Read more

Julie and I are just back from a round-trip to Freezeout Lake, MT –> Great Falls –> Helena and back to Missoula to photograph some of the beautiful Snow Geese that rest here each year on their migration route.  We were greeted by many thousands of them on the lake when we arrived, most gently paddling in the water or walking on ice. After waiting for 30 or so minutes in the chilled air we were rewarded with a “take... Read more

A sad day for Mac fans here in Missoula. Of course Mac-fan psychology being what it is, nothing that ever goes wrong on a Mac is the Mac’s fault – it’s always the program, the hardware (even if it’s internal, Mac hardware, it’s not the Mac’s fault), or the user(s). Yes, to you of the Mac ideology, I’m a ‘bitter PC stalwart.’ But in truth I’ll happily accept that Macs are faster with lots of things and sturdier overall – and... Read more

Here are some photos from last night’s welcoming ceremony for Gochen Tulku Sang-ngag Rinpoche at Ewam in Arlee, Montana. The Sanga up there is really getting fired up now that they have a deadline to finish their Garden of 1000 Buddhas and plenty of planning to do for the visit of His Holiness the Dalai Lama in the fall of 2011. See my recent “How to make a Buddha” post for photos on the Buddha-makin’ that you can get involved in... Read more

Buddhism and St Patrick’s Day? Yea, I’m Irish. More Irish, at least, than this guy;.With some Flood and Doyle on my pappy’s side and some I-forget-what on my mum’s, I’m probably just over a quarter Irish, but I round up to half. And so, as with past St. Paddy’s Day, it’s time for our annual Catholic-bashing (well, not really). And for fun I had a couple twitter tweets myself finding curious similarity between Buddhist and Irish (though not necessarily Catholic) culture:  ... Read more

Lots going on, little time. Here are the tidbits: I was accepted into the woodenfish in Taiwan program; they’re still taking applications and if you’re a more advanced grad student, definitely look at their China program. Well worth it – email me/comment if you have any questions I can help with. Next up is applying to teach in India with Antioch. My good friend Rev. Danny Fisher worked on this program as has our new UM Buddhism prof and hopefully... Read more

(Intense Zen voice): Do not make a Buddha…. Be a Buddha. (Nice Western Theravadin Teacher – think Gil Fronsdal): Well, to make a Buddha, you first, you cultivate generosity. Then you meditate (a lot). Then you study like crazy (A Masters is proffered, but BA is okay). Gil has a Ph.D. but assures us that that isn’t necessary. And presto, you’ve made a Buddha. (Tibetan pragmatism): Come up to Missoula or Arlee, Montana to make some out of good ol’ concrete. Have... Read more