Lama Rod Owens’ teaches at Worldwide Insight on ‘The Practice of Love as Social Resistance”, Lama Rod offers profound teachings on Buddhist approaches to non-violent resistance to dominant forms of violence and oppression. (paraphrase) ‘Buddhist forms of resistance that are not wounding or traumatizing, that is natural, healing, sustainable, appropriate and adequate for long-term social… Read More Lama Rod Owens: Loves In Need of Love
Almost from the beginning of this blog, I have tried to understand what ‘sangha’ is, and what it means to ‘take refuge in the sangha’. I figured out a few things: first, it’s not the Buddhist organization you belong to, nor the lineage or tradition, nor students of the teacher or guru you follow (but… Read More In My Tribe 2: Sense8
The Aro g’Ter lineage offers one of the best explanations of the spirituality of emptiness and non-duality that I have seen. What I have found amongst Mahayana/Vajrayana sects (Dzogchen in particular) is an obsessive focus on extreme forms of emptiness, to the point of voidness. Some Zen sects focus obsessively on form, favouring an excessive… Read More Aro: Form, Emptiness and Non-Duality
“Right Now, It’s Like This”: It’s a phrase whose usage is catching on, especially among members of the Against the Stream Buddhist Meditation Society community, and related groups like Dharma Punx and Refuge Recovery. You may have even heard non-Buddhists using it. Read the rest of the article featuring Vinny Ferrano of Against the Stream… Read More Slumdog Buddha #2
[Editor: Over the last eight years, I’ve carefully examined Buddhism and found that, aside from some unusual doctrines (like ’emptiness’), it functions pretty much like any other religion. People use Buddhism to justify all sorts of ignorant and abusive behaviour, even though the Buddha clearly taught that one should never use his teachings to justify… Read More The Universe from Nothing
[Dear Readers: wow, a deluge of postings today. Links have been piling up in my inbox since the beginning of June. My goal is to eventually publish a book on the dharma of social action based on the material posted at this blog. Right after I finish my dissertation.] July 22, 2016 Jose Ramos originally published… Read More The City as Commons: a Policy Reader
Buddhist Education for Social Transformation (BEST) program originally published at Women for Peace and Justice The Buddhist Education for Social Transformation (BEST) course is an innovative yearlong certificated course focused on transformation of individuals, communities, the environment, and the world. The program is open to anyone seeking a Buddhist perspective in his or her approach… Read More Buddhist Education for Social Transformation
