This is a continuation of my contemplation of the traditional Buddhist doctrine on pratityasamutpada, the chain of dependent origination, karma and rebirth. Part 1, Pratityasamutpada: The Evolution of Evolution is here. Please excuse my fumbling words, but it feels like a breakthrough for me, breaking out of the trap of literalist, doctrinaire teaching (an “enlightened”… Read More Freed from [re]Birth: The Evolution of Consciousness
I’m excited about a great new book that’s just out in 2016: Edwin Ng’s Buddhism and Cultural Studies: A Profession of Faith. This is a critical contribution to Buddhist social theory and post-modern Buddhism, a very important and necessary work. Next on my “to read” list. [NOTE: for those of you who have access to… Read More Foucault, Derrida and Buddhism
“On climate change and domination: Some thoughts on the Baton Rouge police protests and rain” Editor: This article by Alycee Lane is a profound analysis that uncovers the connections between police brutality and climate change. She shows that police oppression of Black, Indigenous and other colonized people is part of the same system that enforces the extraction and burning… Read More Atmosphere of Domination: Thoughts on the Baton Rouge police protests and rain
A Five-Part Series on Sexual Exploitation in Buddhist Communities. Part 1: BPF Rising Up to End Sexual Abuse in Buddhist Communities Link to original article in BPF Turning Wheel Media: http://www.buddhistpeacefellowship.org/rising-up-to-end-sexual-abuse-in-buddhist-communities/ Video Transcript Happy Valentine’s Day BPFers! I’m heading out today to join up with One Billion Rising, a movement to recognize that over 1 billion women and girls… Read More Rising Up to End Sexual Abuse in Buddhist Communities Part 1
Today I am very glad to introduce Jim Hartz as a regular contributor to Engage! Jim is an author, teacher and lifelong student of Chögyam Trungpa. Jim teaches ‘Buddhism without Credentials’ classes around the US. He is also a very deep and critical thinker on the subjects of spirituality and materialism. We present his first… Read More Hartz: Some Notes On Buddhist & Marxist Dialectics
The central guiding principle of Buddhism is compassion and concern for the world in which we live. It’s the idea of interdependence—that our actions dictate the experience of others. I don’t think everybody needs to run out and join an aid organization and everyone should feel bad that they’re not doing more for people in… Read More Compassion Demands Engagement
Last night I listened to the CBC broadcast of Payam Akhavan’s speech on his work as a war crimes investigator for the UN, and as a jurist at the Int’l Court of Human Rights at the Hague. Akhavan is a B’hai, and he is now on my list of spiritual teachers that I hold on… Read More Payam Akhavan: B’Hai Human Rights Jurist on Empathy, Interdependence
