For the most social of creatures, the mammalian bee, there’s no such thing now as society. This will be our downfall. George Monbiot The Guardian, Tuesday 14 October 2014 19.49 BST ‘Social isolation is as potent a cause of early death as smoking 15 cigarettes a day. Loneliness is twice as deadly as obesity.’ Photograph: Feri… Read More Monbiot: The age of loneliness is killing us
Western Buddhists are very suspicious of attachment. They feel they need to be detached . . . so dont get upset about racism, or injustice, or the poison in the rivers, because that means youre too attached. I think one of the problems with Westernized Buddhists is premature equanimity. When the Buddha said dont be… Read More Don’t Just Sit There, Do Something
Fulon Gong members and others imprisoned, tortured and abused as slave labour to make Halloween decorations. The New York Times The administrative building of the Masanjia labor camp and other facilities in China. By ANDREW JACOBS MASANJIA, China — The cry for help, a neatly folded letter stuffed inside a package of Halloween decorations sold at… Read More Behind Cry for Help From China Labor Camp
The so-called real world is a perpetual cycle of suffering and discontent called samsara, in which base emotions such as hatred, envy, grasping, and ignorance reign. In our own time the materialistic outlook is completely dominant and almost impossible to resist. Only by removing our blindfolds and confronting these forces of negativity can they be… Read More Welcome to the Real World
Engaged Buddhism begins at home. . . The following is a preview of an upcoming article in the Fall 2014 Tricycle Magazine, which I received by email. It’s called “White Trash Buddhist” and it’s about the class divisions of contemporary Buddhism. I’m glad that someone had the guts to write this article and name the… Read More White Trash Buddhist: Class Divisions in Contemporary Buddhism
