What I said this summer still applies on this saddest of sad days. We know what happens next: more tragedies like the one today. They’re inevitable with relatively unfettered access to deadly weapons and a rapidly deteriorating safety net for those who need treatment for mental illnesses. Will we be able to stop terrible attacks like these all together? No. Could we stop the frequency of them with greater attention and resources given to mental health care? I should think... Read more

My friend Pamela Ayo Yetunde is the creator of the Dharma Care website, which she describes as both “a resource for Buddhist pastoral counseling” and “a myth-buster” (more on both later). Ayo has served as a volunteer with Zen Hospice Project, Pathways Home Care and Hospice, and other locations, and she completed Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) at Alta Bates Summit Medical Center (all in the San Francisco Bay Area). Ayo holds a certificate in Buddhist chaplaincy from the Sati Center for... Read more

Shortly after the conclusion of the recent American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting in Chicago, a piece appeared at Religion Dispatches entitled “Religious Scholars Convene, Have Nowhere to Sit”. For just shy of 1,000 words, Dr. Ivan Strenski, a professor of religious studies at the University of California-Riverside, laments “how convention centers are killing academic culture” by launching a “War on Sitting Down.” He observes that there is often nowhere to sit or socialize or drink in convention centers (and no... Read more

In my capacity as a blogger for Buddhadharma: The Practitioner’s Quarterly Online, I just posted about the Buddhist women leaders who participated in the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence Campaign— an international campaign originating from the first Women’s Global Leadership Institute and sponsored by the Center for Women’s Global Leadership: Wendy Egyoku Nakao and our friend Alisa Roadcup (who was interviewed not long ago for this blog). The two have recorded video testimonials that you can watch below.... Read more

Not long ago, I shared about a missive I had the privilege of collaborating on with my friend Joshua Eaton: an open letter from Buddhist teachers and scholars and others on Islamophobia. Joshua authored the letter — with a few of us offering little tweaks and edits — and I put together a website for the letter and helped spread the word and generate signatures. The letter was motivated by recent news reports out of Burma and Thailand, as well... Read more

This via our friend Erica Hamilton: Brother Protection at Deer Park Monastery in Escondido, CA (a practice center in the tradition of Thich Nhat Hanh), has written a letter entitled “Dear Mr. & Mrs. 1%” — an open letter of sorts from one of the 99%. Written in the parlance of the Occupy Movement (which Brother Protection participated in at Occupy Boston), it is an earnest expression of the monk’s thoughts and feelings. Here’s a snippet: As a Buddhist Monk I do... Read more

Well, here’s something you don’t see every day! (Though we certainly need more Buddhist leaders doing things like this, so I say that delightedly.) I’m not sure if it will really take hold as an internet meme at 11 minutes minus the snappy presentation of similarly lengthy memes like “Kony 2012”, but who knows? The message is important, and I commend “Buddha Bob” on this. Now let’s see more Buddhist activism of this sort! [UPDATE: I just noticed that my... Read more

The title says it all you can download a copy of the sheet here. And don’t miss all the other great work the National Disaster Interfaiths Network is doing at www.n-din.org. Read more

I’m very excited to tell you all that I will be moderating an upcoming event with Academy Award-winning actor Jeff Bridges (The Big Lebowski, True Grit, Tron) and Zen master Bernie Glassman for the Library Foundation of Los Angeles’ [ALOUD] series this coming January 10th, 2013!! I’m delighted and shocked that this opportunity has come my way, and am very much looking forward to it. Tickets for “An Evening with Jeff Bridges and Bernie Glassman” are on sale now. Reserve... Read more

Recently, one of my students mentioned that he’d be curious to see a list of general recommendations I might have in terms of arts and literature. Not long after, in an interesting coincidence, Cornel West’s Hope on a Tightrope: Words and Wisdom found itself on my reading table: Dr. West ends the book with a list of the books and music that “made him.” I took that as a hint from the universe that I should take a moment to answer my... Read more