The U.S. President now wants Congress to authorize the use of military force in Iraq, again. Having ended “combat operations” (murder) in 2014, now we are supposed to go back in again because of the Islamic State/ISIS/ISIL. Why did the Islamic State come into existence in the first place? Because our troops were invading Iraq.… Continue reading Where Has All The Wisdom Gone?
Category: Kindness
The Pope Leans Toward Zen
For many years meat-eaters have tried to cure me of my vegetarian views by advising me that animals, unlike people, have no souls and therefore it is OK to kill and eat them. “God put them on this earth for us to eat. That’s what animals are for,” they conclude. Rational people, on the other… Continue reading The Pope Leans Toward Zen
Zen Yes, Religion No
It is OK to believe that exercise is good because there is evidence to support that belief. It is OK to believe that a vegetarian is healthier than a meat eater because vegetarians live longer than animal killers and have far fewer diseases and health crises. But it is not OK to believe that the… Continue reading Zen Yes, Religion No
Mean Zen, Good Results
So Time magazine tells us that the U.S. Marines are into Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction. My first reaction was that using MBSR to increase the efficiency of a killing machine was a bad idea. Meditation is not a self-improvement program; quite the opposite, it lowers the boundaries between people until the meditator realizes that there… Continue reading Mean Zen, Good Results
The Rise Of Zen Buddhism
Years ago, having read the delightful novel Don Quixote, I decided to read a scholarly criticism of the book. It was filled with fascinating insights, including, for example, why Cervantes killed off D.Q. at the end (because he wanted to stop other authors from writing the further adventures of…) But the most interesting insight, one that had a… Continue reading The Rise Of Zen Buddhism
Meat, Murder, Tofu And Zen
The first fold of the Eightfold Path, Right View, is sometimes translated as Right Understanding and is explained by many commentators to mean that one has Right Understanding if one understands the Four Noble Truths. But that common explanation doesn’t jive with the Buddha’s words. He said the first fold of the Eightfold Path was… Continue reading Meat, Murder, Tofu And Zen
Zen Precepts: Black or White?
I had the misfortune of taking a tour of a Buddhist temple in Orlando today. It was a spur of the moment tour, taken only because the tour group passed by us and a lady who worked at the temple suggested we (my wife and I) join it. The man leading the tour, which was apparently over,… Continue reading Zen Precepts: Black or White?
Can Zen Rename the Realms?
The ten dharma realms smack of religiosity. Whenever I tell my friends that Buddhism is not a religion of blind belief but a rational system of mental cultivation practices, they say: But your website speaks of hell realms, hungry ghosts and other such religious-sounding, old-fashioned things. They are correct. However, although Master Hsuan Hua speaks… Continue reading Can Zen Rename the Realms?
Is Zen Practice Subversive?
The Zen practice of zazen (sitting meditation) is subversive. In our gun-promoting, militaristic culture, sitting on a cushion and practicing metta is a practice that undermines the foundation of that culture. I live in a so-called progressive town that has many fine attributes. We use re-claimed water on our lawns. We have the highest quality re-cycling… Continue reading Is Zen Practice Subversive?
Zen, the Sniper and Jesus
In the spring of 2009, I saw a pickup truck with “My boss is a Jewish carpenter” on one bumper and “This vehicle will be unoccupied in case of Rapture” on the other. Centered on the glass behind the passenger compartment was the Eagle, Globe, and Anchor (the logo of the Marines), under which appeared… Continue reading Zen, the Sniper and Jesus