When we choose NOT to live in anger and fear, we will experience more joy and less suffering in our lives. And we will introduce less pain to other people’s lives. Recently, I had a conversation with a good friend in the deconstruction community. He described how he overcame his fear of leaving church. Although I had never focused on overcoming my fear, I realized that my story required overcoming fear, too. Many of us live in fear of death... Read more
Many Christians do NOT understand non-religious spirituality. Christianity focuses on beliefs, and its beliefs focus on a personal God. But most religious and non-religious traditions focus on practices (orthopraxy) more than beliefs (orthodoxy), and they may NOT believe in God. Spirituality, broadly defined, involves the connection to something greater, which is NOT necessarily personal, supernatural or intentional. Some religions allow their practitioners to adopt different beliefs, and some religions do not worship gods at all. Hindus can be... Read more
How did the Universe begin? How did life begin? How did sentience begin? I wrestle with many spiritual questions. Often, I encounter mystery, paradox and uncertainty, rather than “solid” answers. Sometimes, I change my mind. Changing our minds can be helpful, even necessary, as we gain more life experience and encounter different perspectives. Three Big (Loaded) Questions I used to think that the big questions were things like, “Is there a God?” or “What is the meaning of... Read more
Real spirituality is embodied—right here and right now. I wrote about the false presumption of “normalcy” here. Some small corners of the world might look mostly Christian, middle-class, or white. Globally, we are NOT predominantly Christian, middle-class or white. We never were. We never will be. One purpose of that article (and this one) is to assert that NO identity is “normal” in a multicultural, secular society. All religion is cultural, and all theology is speculation, so we... Read more
Can we build a community that works for ALL of us? One of my friends was venting about the “woke” media. “How come we see so many gay people, Muslims, non-white people and poor people every time we turn on the TV or watch a movie?! Why don’t we just see regular people anymore?” “That’s easy,” I replied. “It’s because we see so many gay people, Muslims, non-white people and poor people every time we look around the... Read more
Don’t Fear the Reaper A glimpse of mortality can bring attention and presence to our lives. At age 68, death is present to me in a way that it was NOT present only a few years ago. Zen teacher John Tarrant tells a touching story about Issan Dorsey, seen by some as a “Zen saint,” who ministered to people with HIV until he himself died from complications linked to AIDS: “A friend was helping him come back from the bathroom.... Read more
My actual life is ephemeral, finite and fleeting. That’s the point. That’s why it’s meaningful, precious and worthwhile. The Buddhists realize that pain and suffering are NOT the same thing. That is, pain is universal and unavoidable. Suffering arises from craving, notably longings or regrets about the past and hopes and fears about the future. So I do NOT need to imagine a future, eternal life. To me, it’s a distracting speculation that pulls me out of the here and... Read more
Spirituality requires both curiosity and skepticism. I wrote about the dubious existence of souls here. In the article, I wondered why some people assume that near-death experiences (NDEs) prove that there is an afterlife. Seems like a stretch to me. There is NOT a way to know whether an NDE is the last thing we see when we die or the first thing we see when we reincarnate. I suspect it’s the former. But I can NOT know. ... Read more
Eventually, I will fall asleep for the last time. It’s OK if I do NOT wake up one day. I am grateful for the 25,000-odd days (and some of them were very odd!) that I DID wake up. Do We Have Souls? I wrote about the different gods, religions, and scriptures that people have chosen to follow here. Assume that we were lucky to choose to worship the right god among 3,000 gods. Also, we chose to follow the right... Read more
Many people are concerned about existential questions. Maybe the metacrisis and the threats of climate change, global pandemics and nuclear wars are upsetting people. (No wonder. Me, too.) In Buddhism generally, and in Zen specifically, there is NOT much emphasis on speculative questions about the existence of God, the meaning of life or the possibility of an afterlife. Regardless, these questions increasingly arise in my circles, both religious and secular. Ryan Burge, an academic who studies religion and politics, recently... Read more
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