I came as close as a young white man could to understanding the black experience in the United States.
Category: Personal Life
Spooky Stuff
It’s comforting and predictable to believe in spooky stuff after the death of a loved one, but that doesn’t mean the spooky stuff didn’t happen and didn’t mean what it seemed to mean.
The Sabbath
…experiencing the world as it is can be emotionally draining work. As poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti said many years ago, “even in heaven they don’t sing all the time.”
The Fifth Precept
…more than half of all adults have a family history of alcoholism. Do we really want to nurture our children with a family tradition of wine with every dinner?
American Capitalism Ain’t All Bad
Buddhism teaches that there is no this without that. There’s a bright side to American capitalism that might not exist without the dark side.
On Wearing Malas
I’m as eclectic and contrarian about Buddhism as I am about Western religions. I’d like to say that I come from a long line of eclectic contrarians, but thanks to the Holocaust I’ll never know much about my ancestors’ personalities. My meditation practice is primarily what you might call Zen light, or mindfulness, or insight/vipassana,…
Ode and Owed to Singer-Songwriters
I’ve developed a deep respect for, and appreciation of, people who devote their lives to creating music that helps heal this ailing world and its suffering citizens.
Why I Flunked Anti-Racism 101
…racism damages the entire culture. As Martin Luther King Jr. said: “We may have all come on different ships, but we’re in the same boat now.”
Music
…music is far more than a delivery mechanism for words of comfort. I believe that good music can cut through what Buddhists call the “monkey mind” — the chattering that distracts us from what is in the here and now.
Smiling and Living Fully
Even the present is filtered through a Rube Goldberg mechanism we call a brain. Which is why we do the best we can to accomplish what sounds like a paradox — quieting our mind in order to be mindful.
A Look Back at a Bloody Arrest
I realized just a few days ago that I am writing this blog, melsmouth.com, not just for me, but for my son Thomas as well. He died June 1 in a skateboarding accident at the age of 29. He was a thinker and a writer who had not yet found a niche and an audience,…
Happy Birthday, Thay!
Thay’s messages are simple. He conveys them over and over again: Stop. Breathe. Enjoy the moment. Listen mindfully to others. Cultivate your compassion. Speak and act from love.
Melting-Pot Dharma 