Sangha/2
Stating the Obvious for Savannah Thich Nhat Hanh’s poem “The Good News” is good news Universal Design is good news Sunday potlucks are good news Song lyrics dedicated to a friend are good news Vigiling…
Category: Buddhism
Dharma Sister
From the Cover of Amy Schmidt’s book on Dipa Ma Revision The poet W. H. Auden wrote “The funniest and kindest of mortals Are those who are most aware of the baffle of being” (A…
Sangha/1
With the Sangha I meditate to decelerate my rampaging mindI meditate to focus on clear image of you smiling in TahoeI meditate on words of Hanshan and Wang Yang-ming I meditate to be able to…
Writing Our Own Histories: A Fall Class
This is the second time this year I am facilitating a course on this do-it-yourself theme, which comes from Allen Ginsberg, “You have to write your own history, nobody’s going to do it for you.“…
“C’mon, You Can’t Really Be Serious with All This Buddhism-Shmuddism!”
Geshe Rabten & Geshe Dhargyey, Advice from a Spiritual Friend The faults we criticize in others are only our own projected onto them; if they were not, they would not bother us, and…
Totally Alive
A book I am most looking forward to reading is not due to be published until November 10th of this year. The title: Sarasvati’s Gift: The Autobiography of Mayumi Oda–Artist, Activist, and Modern Buddhist Revolutionary. …
Reminder to Self
When you encounter those who are wicked, unrighteous, foolish, dim-witted, deformed, vicious, chronically ill, lonely, unfortunate, or handicapped, you should think: “How can I save them?” And even if there is nothing you can do,…
Making the Best of Tough Situations
Three summers ago, some friends came to our Chouteau home for two months of Wednesday evenings to reflect on Thich Nhat Hanh’s autobiography, At Home in the World. Just today a chapter from that book…
“You Are That Person”
A student asked Soen Nakagawa During a meditation retreat: “I am very discouraged. What should I do?” Soen replied, “Encourage others.” At the beginning of this year, I read Kazuaki Tanahashi’s autobiography, Painting Peace: Art…
“Doing Your Best Is the Surest Way to Remind Those around You to Do Their Best”
Today in Intercultural Studies class I shared some famous passages from the manual Thich Nhat Hanh wrote for Vietnamese social workers back in the 1970s. If you are familiar with this Zen Master, you may…