I just read a lovely little book by Jeffrey Armstrong* called Karma: The Ancient Science of Cause and effect (Mandala Wisdom Library, 2007). It’s an explanation, in laymen’s terms, of the concept of karma and rebirth, taken from the Vedas. It’s not an explanation of Buddhist concepts of karma and rebirth. Armstrong states that all… Read More Non-Self is the Only Buddhist Concept
Member of Malcolm X Grassroots Movement Gains Momentum in Jackson, Mississippi’s Mayoral Race Sarah Jaffe originally published at truth-out.org In 2013, radical attorney Chokwe Lumumba was elected mayor of Jackson, Mississippi on a platform of economic self-determination for the people of Jackson, but his untimely death cut his plans short. Now, Lumumba’s son, Chokwe Antar Lumumba… Read More Black Grassroots Economic Justice
I was introduced to the music of Fabrice Liut through the Insight Timer meditation app, which features a catalogue of recordings of ‘ambient’ music for meditation. While much of this music is predictable gongs and flutes, the music of Subvers, aka Fabrice Liut of Lyon, France, is truly brilliant: complex and challenging, with strong atonal and… Read More Fabrice Liut: Subvers Music
Western Buddhism has become neo-liberal Buddhism for profit, Retail Buddhism. http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20170417/SMALLBIZ/170419919/for-profit-meditation-centers-are-the-new-yoga-studios Photo: Buck Ennis SERENITY NOW: Keledjian founded Inscape after selling his successful clothing company, Intermix. Can money buy happiness? It’s an age-old question that researchers recently have become eager to answer. A 2016 study by Case Western Reserve University found that making… Read More What Buddhist Practice is Now
[I am posting this article by economist Kate Raworth as a counter-argument to Julie Nelson’s article, and as a realizable set of solutions to our ecological and economic conditions.] Kate Raworth is a senior visiting research associate at Oxford University’s Environmental Change Institute and a senior associate of the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership. Her new book… Read More Seven ways to think like a 21st century economist
[Editor, Shaun Bartone. Note: my original writing is in italics] This article is a response to an article by Julie Nelson “Are Corporations Anti-Dharma?” that has been published in Tricycle and One earth Sangha websites. Nelson is a neoliberal economist and Zen Buddhist who believes it is possible to change corporations by “changing hearts,” seeing them as run by… Read More Can Mindfulness Change a Corporation?
When I first walked into a Buddhist shrine room and sat on one of those squishy cushions, I looked around the room and saw lots of people that I thought were like me: mostly white and older than 35. Sitting on the floor together in a shrine room has a way of equalizing the appearance of… Read More The New Brahmins and the Buddhist Precariat
