Tricycle is running another of it’s articles on “anger”, this time in connection to social inequality and activism for social justice. It portrays the Dalai Lama as having “marxist” inclinations because he talks about the injustice of exploitation and inequality. In fact, the Dalai Lama calls himself a marxist. My question is this: why does Tricycle… Read More Dalai Lama as the Angry Marxist

“In a sense I am a refugee – I flee the “domesticated” zone of Western Neo-liberalism, where greed and hate are championed, and I have made it into the wild zone.” –Billy Frugal, Triratna Gender Diverse Buddhists This discussion was sparked by my comment that Chogyam Trungpa taught that “taking Refuge” meant “becoming a refugee”,… Read More On Becoming a Refugee

This talk by Khemasuri of Triratna UK on “Transcending Paradigms” looks at “Refuge in the Three Jewels” as challenges to western systems and paradigms. While I don’t agree with everything in her talk, I appreciate the way she was able to apply systems theory to sanghas as organizational systems that are designed to function as an alternative to western social… Read More Refuge as a Challenge to Western Systems and Paradigms

In Pruning the Bodhi Tree (1997), Paul Swanson explains Hakamaya Noriaki’s essay Critical Buddhism (1990) thus: Hakamaya’s next collection opens with “Introduction to Critical Buddhism: ‘Critical Philosophy’ versus ‘Topical Philosophy’. It’s point, in a word, is that to be a Buddhist is to be critical, that is, to be able to make distinctions; that the only truly Buddhist… Read More The Never-Ending Project: 21st Century Buddhist Social Theory

I went to the first session of meditation with Ven. Sirinanda last Friday at the Dalhousie Multifaith Centre. Every teacher has something different to teach, and Bhante did likewise. (“Bhante” is a Pali term, which in the Theravada tradition means “venerable” or “blessed”, similar to “Rinpoche” in the Tibetan tradition.”). Bhante told us that of all… Read More Theravada: It Starts with Loving-Kindness

The Punk Dharma is DIY. I finally realized that there are no right views or wrong views with regard to awakening. I’m free to believe anything I want, so long as it works for me. I can even make up my own dharma, and that’s just as valid as anything I could read in a… Read More The Punk Dharma is DIY

UPDATE: While I was away on a bicycle camping retreat, the US Supreme Court declared gay marriage legal in all 50 states. The Guardian UK reports. I am going to visit my family in Massachusetts in July. Frankly, I’m quite concerned about being in the US at this time. Whenever a minority gets significant civil rights in the… Read More Stonewall: Sylvia Rivera and the Legacy of Resistance