Category: Personal Life

Re-blog from September 2015: I Know How Joe Biden Feels

Originally posted on Melting-Pot Dharma:
I know how Joe Biden feels. I don’t think I’ve ever used that phrase before, because of course we can never know. But this time I think I’m close enough for horseshoes and hand grenades. Joe lost his 46-year-old son Beau less than four months ago, on May 30. Two days…

I’m Sick and Tired of…

I’m sick and tired of my white privilege. And I’m sick and tired of having my nose rubbed in my white privilege.

Reflection on Election, with Compassion

But most of all the election result has called into question my own eyes of compassion and commitment to the inherent worth and dignity of every person. I failed to see how fearful and angry were so many of my fellow Americans.

Listen…

I voted today. I wish I could say I was proud of it. Much has been written about this election. There’s nothing I can add about that, but maybe there’s something to say about my vote. I realized this morning that I was voting out of fear rather than hope. My Buddhist practice leans heavily…

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In a Time Such as This

Those of us who are not starving, being bombed, or being shot at all need to make daily decisions about what we can do for those who are, and what’s OK to do for ourselves.

‘It’s the Tribe, Stupid!’

What’s missing is the tribe. What’s missing is close relationships with…adults who can help children handle the transition to adulthood.

In Hospital & Out

I wish I could say that my Buddhist equanimity, developed over decades of practice, kept me from panicking, but I’d be violating the Fourth Precept, the one about false speech.

Solar Energy – Day One

I could tell people that it’s a 9.12 kilowatt system expected to produce 971 kilowatt hours a month, but what does that mean in the real word?

Getting to Know my Mind

Although my visual memory is close to nonexistent, in real time I follow my monkey mind, which responds to what it sees. But I am not my mind just as I am not my body. I don’t need to let a monkey lead me.

Pain and Dukkha

The Buddha said that all of his teachings were about dukkha and the cessation of dukkha. That leaves us with a religion based around single word, whose translation is tricky.