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December 2015
December 21, 2015
Five Sure Ways to Improve Family Relationships during the Holidays
Nothing's better than family at showing you where you still fall short of your own...
December 18, 2015
I Discover I Can Only Know God with My Heart (Not with My Mind)
I spent last week at an intensive, silent Zen meditation retreat. We meditated for 7...
October 2015
October 16, 2015
Three Reasons the Climate Movement Needs Ordained Religious People
When I started my Journey of Conscience over a year ago, how to respond to...
October 02, 2015
Not Just Guns and Madmen: Our Whole Society Is Insane
Just about every blogger will have something to say in the wake of the Umpqua...
August 2015
August 02, 2015
The Nature of the Zen “God”
The comments and discussion provoked by my previous post, "The Burden of Atheism," has inspired...
July 2015
July 25, 2015
The Burden of Atheism
Lately I've been working on a book on meditation. It's involved extensive research into other...
July 14, 2015
Dogen and My Journey to Oneness with a Flower
At my Zen center right now we're studying one of the most treasured Zen texts: Zen...
June 2015
June 20, 2015
Being Real Rather Than Happy
Sometimes I shock my students and the other people who come to my Zen center...
May 2015
May 27, 2015
Daring to Speak about Our “Buddha Nature”
Today I am giving a short talk at a nearby Zen center as a visiting teacher....
May 21, 2015
What Did Thich Nhat Hanh Mean by “Accept That This Civilization Can Be Destroyed?”
A friend recently sent me a link to an interesting Youtube video featuring a short...
May 13, 2015
The Radical Effort of Non-Effort (Meditate Is Not a Verb)
I teach 8-10 new people to "do" Zen meditation every month. At times I feel...
April 2015
April 13, 2015
Dear Emily, My Great-Grand Niece
I have no children of my own, so any descendants of my sister will be...
April 02, 2015
What Good Is Religion, Anyway?
When I contemplate the GOOD of my religion, I immediately start to think about some...
March 2015
March 26, 2015
The Joy of Having No (Versus Low) Expectations for the World
There are two kinds of expectations. One is a belief that something is likely to happen....
March 13, 2015
Confessions of Complacency in the Midst of Global Warmth
Yesterday I was walking my dogs in the sunshine. When I turned my mind to...
March 10, 2015
More Reflections on Activism as a Person of Faith
Yesterday I attended a rally in downtown Portland against fast-tracking the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade...
March 09, 2015
Missing Kyogen Carlson and His Dharma
At my Zen Center last Sunday we read and discussed a beautiful teaching from Kyogen...
March 07, 2015
When Religion Refrains From Explaining “Why”
If religion’s purpose is to help people find peace and strength and to live good...
February 2015
February 27, 2015
Everyone Is on a Path Toward Greater Wisdom and Compassion
A friend of mine has a saying, “It takes all kinds of people to make...
February 24, 2015
Let’s Start a Global Movement!
Would you be willing to adopt the following Seven Principles and become a Global Citizen?...
February 20, 2015
Remembering There’s Nothing We Can Do to Prevent Change
Sometimes I notice stress sneaking into my life. It starts accumulating under the surface of...
February 19, 2015
My First Protest Rally
Just thought I'd write a little report about my first protest rally. I'm guessing my...
February 13, 2015
Back to the Drawing Board with Meditation for the Homeless
I thought it would be a good idea to post an update on my efforts,...
February 07, 2015
When It’s Time to Speak Out as a People of Faith
Last week one of the largest Zen Centers in the U.S. published an open letter...
February 03, 2015
Three Ways Activists Alienate People – and What They Can Do about It
If, like me, you want to be an effective activist, it's good to keep in...
January 2015
January 30, 2015
We’ve Got to Passionately Love Life Itself
I've heard folks speak in placid tones about suffering and destruction due to climate change,...
January 23, 2015
From the Individual to the Global Scale: Greed, Hatred and Ignorance Cause Suffering
For millennia, spiritual traditions have recognized that greed, hatred, and ignorance cause suffering in the...
January 11, 2015
We Have to Do Something AND Everything Will Be Okay – AT THE SAME TIME
On the one hand everything's going to hell in a hand basket and we have...
January 06, 2015
I’m Afraid You’ll Stop Reading this Blog If I Talk about This
On New Year's Eve, 2014, I found out that we have two years - until 2017...
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