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President Obama wrote a ‘letter to the editor’ in response to a New York Times article on the campaign to roll back rights established under the 1964 Voting Rights Act. In his letter. Obama characterizes the Voting Rights Act as a process by which the country works to establish a more perfect union, which requires movement of continuous effort toward social… Read More In Order to Form a More Perfect Union: Voting Rights Act as Process

Back from retreat at Aryaloka, a Trirtana Buddhist Retreat Centre in Newmarket, New Hampshire. On retreat, it came to me that I’ve seen two versions of Buddhist community, as “containers”: the canning jar and the salad bowl. The canning jar is the two Tibetan communities I’ve been in: single lineage, single guru, you only associate… Read More Aryaloka: the Architecture of Awakening

The Imperfect Buddha podcast looks at Buddhist cults and dysfunctional Buddhist sanghas. Both Matt and Stuart have been personally involved with what they consider to be Buddhist cults, so they probe this issue very deeply, taking in perspectives from sociology, social-psychology and the professional study of cults. Matt breaks down his experience with the NKT and… Read More Imperfect Buddha Podcast: Buddhist Cults

Trust and the Sharing Exchange: A Buddhist Response to Kojin Karatani’s The Structure of World History: From Modes of Production to Modes of Exchange What will persuade you to share your information with me? Trust, as a moral medium of exchange. Karatani’s Model of Exchange: Table1 Modes-of-Exchange Matrix B: Plunder and redistribution A: Reciprocity (Domination… Read More Trust and the Sharing Exchange: A Buddhist Response to Kojin Karatani’s Modes of Exchange

My definition of addiction is “any behavior you continue to do despite the fact it brings negative consequences into your life.” If you are stuck in addiction, you have an addiction story. This is the story you tell yourself that permits you to engage in addictive self-harming behaviors. My addiction story was powerful and well-defended.… Read More Tommy Rosen: Dropping the Addiction Story

This is a beautiful and intimate portrait of Hijras in Mumbai. I feel a great kinship with these women as a transgender person practicing Buddhism in a very straight Buddhist culture. These women are Hindu and Muslim and very devout. The issue came up about their ceremonial roles at weddings and births. This becomes a… Read More 24 Hours with the Hijras of Mumbai