Zen Master Hakuin Ekaku‘s Zazen Wasan. Sentient beings are originally Buddhas.Like water and ice.There is no ice without water,No Buddhas outside sentient beings.Yet sentient beings don’t know how close it is,And search for it far away. How sad!It’s like dying of thirstIn the middle of a fount of water;Or a rich man’s sonWandering like a lost beggar.We are bound to the realm of samsaraBecause ignorance keeps us in darkness.Walking in darkness,When will we escape from birth and death?The Zen of... Read more

Not me, and I have the scars to prove it. We have two of these monsters dominating our household… (Thank you, Sue!) Read more

Dumbledore is gay. Ain’t it loverly? Read more

Their private conversation… Read more

On the 13th of October this year, the world lost a remarkable woman. Andree de Jongh, a Belgium national, was born in 1916. Trained as a nurse and worked as a commercial artist, de Jongh joined with her father, Frederic, in establishing the Comet Line, assisting escaped Allied soldiers. Derek Shuff’s book Evader tells of three British crewmen from a crashed bomber who made their way to the underground network, where they were taken to a twenty-four year old woman.... Read more

The brutal suppression of the people of Burma continues. The generals are counting on the world getting bored and turning away. Danny Fisher reminds us of three ways we can help. Amnesty International is continuing to provide urgent actions and information at their “Library” page on Myanmar. They update very regularly. Keep yourself abreast of what’s happening and take part in Amnesty’s urgent actions there. Avaaz.org is currently raising funds for technical support and equipment that Burmese citizen groups can... Read more

While I found myself chilled by the song “Molasses to Rum,” it also reminded of that horrific scene in the movie “Cabaret.” It is seared in my mind with it’s many levels of meaning, so few good. The happy threesome are on their sybaritic jaunt when they stop at a roadside cafe. There they’re caught by a sweet and sentimental song with the refrain “tomorrow belongs to me” sung by an almost unbearably beautiful boy. Gradually the camera pans back... Read more

When I was mining those Youtube clips from 1776 for my little appreciation of President John Adams, I noticed another clip from the movie: “Molasses to Rum.” I find that clip one of the most chilling in movie history. While I’m endlessly an admirer of the American dream, I’m also profoundly aware very little happens with a single causal thread, and how frequently good mixes with ill. “Molasses to Rum” sings to America’s original sin. If we hope for the... Read more

John Adams, second president of the United States of America was born on this day in 1735. He assisted Thomas Jefferson in the writing of the Declaration of Independence. He is the author of the Massachusetts constitution. One of the more moving events for Jan and me not long after we relocated out here to Massachusetts, was visiting the First United Parish in Quincy, the Unitarian Universalist congregation where Adams, his beloved wife Abigail, their son John Quincy and his... Read more

I see how yesterday was the feast of St Teresa of Avila, one of only three women to be named a “Doctor” of the Roman Catholic Church, and to my mind one of the greatest of Catholic theologians. I wish I’d noted this significant marker yesterday, but am happy to do so today. Actually, writing as a Unitarian Universalist Buddhist, somehow perhaps this slight lag is appropriate. Teresa is one of my favorite believers in the Christian religion. She and... Read more