Why rest is not just desirable, but absolutely essential for animals and our own human lives
bodhisattva
A Minor Prayer for Galactic Peace
May all beings everywhere, in this galaxy and beyond,find peace within ourselves, with others, and with Mother Earth.May we rediscover health, joy, naturalness, and freedom.May those in dark places know the emptiness of suffering.May the demonic forces behind our enemies be extinguished byAvalokiteshvara’s inexhaustible wisdom. May Mañjuśrī’s flaming swordcut out the infection in our hearts […]
Activism and Reflection: Finding the Middle Way
These certainly are trying times for any person alive to the suffering of others. We read about new stories of respected teachers abusing their power, new waves of bombings in Syria, a new school shooting in Florida, new worries about global warming, new concerns about the fragility of democracy and human rights in much of […]
Bodhisattva Vows as Liberation Theology
I was raised in what I consider to have been a very “liberal” Catholic household. Outside our evening “grace” before dinner and weekly church service, God and religion were rarely discussed. When I was of confirmation age, I was given the option to go forward or not. I chose not. Fast-forward through the nearly 25 […]
On Reading David Loy’s “A New Buddhist Path”
Graham Lock I have recently finished David R. Loy’s latest book A New Buddhist Path: Enlightenment, Evolution and Ethics in the Modern World (2015, Boston: Wisdom Publications). While reading it I found myself frequently saying, “Yes! yes!” and furiously underlining passages to read again later (though, knowing me, I probably won’t). I’ll try to briefly […]
Guan Yin Temple: Flower Ornament and Pure Land Vistas
Raymond Lam “Pay respects to the Buddha first, then to me,” advised my preceptor once, when we visited him at his monastery, Guan Yin Temple. “Because we take refuge in the Buddha first, then in the Dharma, then in the Sangha.” He was implying that compared to the Buddha images of our temple, he was […]