The Ides of March… Be fearful of exalted rank, o soul. And if you are unable to subdue your aspirations — doubtingly pursue them and with precautions. And the more you rise, the more examining, the warier be. And when you are arrived at the supreme height of your glory — a Caesar, as it were: when you are become a man so widely famed: then specially be wary — at such time as you come out into... Read more

    While researching something else I stumbled on this in my files. The only leadership lesson anyone will ever need. Fill your bowl to the brim and it will spill. Keep sharpening your knife and it will blunt. Chase after money and security and your heart will never unclench. Care about people’s approval and you will be their prisoner. Do your work, then step back. The only path to serenity. Tao Te Ching, chapter 9 (If you need a... Read more

    Question: What is Pi? Answer: A mathematical constant, the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter, the distance around the edge, it turns out, is a little more than three times the distance across. That “little more” makes it wondrously irrational… Question: What is Pi Day? Answer: Every March 14th, mathematicians and those who appreciate or perhaps even love math, celebrate pi, as William Schaaf says, “probably no symbol in mathematics has evoked as much mystery, romanticism,... Read more

My friend the Reverend Mary Gates writes “Rabbi Yaakov Bleich, the Chief Rabbi for Ukraine, has asked Jews and Christians around the world to pray Psalm 31 in solidarity with those in Ukraine who are under attack. Apparently millions of people are saying this psalm daily, and in Ukraine people are praying it aloud in subway stations, bomb shelters and wherever else they are sheltering. Many people are reporting that the psalm has taken on new meaning for them since... Read more

    A Holy Curiosity: A Meditation on Albert Einstein and Nondual Religion James Ishmael Ford A Sermon delivered at the First Unitarian Church of Los Angeles 13 March 2022 The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing. One cannot help but be in awe when one contemplates the mysteries of eternity… Never lose a holy curiosity.  Albert Einstein In 2008, Albert Einstein’s so-called “God Letter” was put up for auction. It was... Read more

    STOP THE WAR Tom Daimon Wardle Empty Moon Zen   A Ritual to Read to Each Other If you don’t know the kind of person I am and I don’t know the kind of person you are a pattern that others made may prevail in the world and following the wrong god home we may miss our star. For there is many a small betrayal in the mind, a shrug that lets the fragile sequence break sending with... Read more

    I am a High School dropout. I am forever grateful for California’s community college system, its night school in San Diego offered me a way toward higher education. In my mid thirties, when I landed at Sonoma State University, I was pretty single minded about getting into graduate school, and moving as fast as I could. A couple of friends advised me to do myself a favor, look around, find a professor I admire and take whatever classes... Read more

At five fifty four in the afternoon on the 10th of March in 1933, Long Beach, California was stricken with a terrible earthquake. The epicenter was actually off the coast southeast of the city. As it turns out, close enough. It lasted for ten seconds. Ten horrific seconds. There were as many as 120 casualties, and millions of dollars in property damage. The damage was widespread, but schools were particularly hard hit. It was noted if it had happened a... Read more

    I recall reading how someone quoted from the wonderful teacher Norman Fischer’s Mountains and Rivers Sutra. “When the Chinese encountered the word ‘dhyana’, the Pali word for meditation, they translated it into something that sounded like ‘dhyana’ in Chinese. They chose the word ‘Chan’ which became ‘zen’ in Japan. But ‘Chan’ or ‘zen’ doesn’t mean meditation, it only sounds like the Pali word that means meditation. The literal meaning of ‘Chan’ is ‘to bow before mountains and rivers.’”... Read more

    I find the great gift of the Mahayana Buddhist tradition is expressed within the four seals of existence, the two truths, and the three bodies of the buddha. While I am wary of dogmas, I find these the most helpful pointers to the structures of the human heart of any I’ve encountered in my life. While all things need to be held lightly, subject to mutation and change, these have been the pointers that have so far proven... Read more