Emptiness, emptiness, emptiness. It just goes round and round, like a dog chasing it’s tail. There’s no end of thinking about what it means, even though lately I’ve gotten ever clearer on exactly what it does mean. (See http://www.thezensite.com/ZenEssays/Nagarjuna/Dependent_Arising.htm for the sharpest explanation I have come across yet). But so what? What does this all… Read More Emptiness, Suffering, Beauty and Truth

Some members of Nalandabodhi Halifax are participating in a Fire Puja at a graveyard in the North End of Halifax tonight. I don’t know why they’re conducting Fire Puja in a graveyard, and I’m not going to speculate. Pretty heavy stuff. And a bit spooky. What might one encounter in a graveyard? Ghosts? Spirits?Vampires?

‘Shocking’ revelation finds $5.3 trillion subsidy estimate for 2015 is greater than the total health spending of all the world’s governments  Damian Carrington @dpcarrington Monday 18 May 2015 14.30 BSTLast modified on Tuesday 19 May 2015 11.14 BST Fossil fuel companies are benefitting from global subsidies of $5.3 trillion (£3.4tn) a year, equivalent to $10 million a minute every… Read More IMF: Fossil Fuels Subsidy $10 Million per Minute

[“Laudato Si” is from the great Canticle of the Sun by Francesco d’Assisi, Italy Pope Francis alluded to this poem in the title of his encyclical.] Canticle of the Sun   —Francesco d’Assisi Highest, all-powerful and bounteous Lord To you belong praise Glory and honor And every blessing. You are transcendent And they belong only to… Read More Brother Sun, Sister Moon

In this Guardian UK editorial, Giles Fraser says that Pope Francis’ encyclical on capitalism and the environment reads like he stole a few chapters from Naomi Klein’s book This Changes Everything. I just finished reading Klein’s book. Not only does Francis ring the same bells as Klein, but he ends up sounding more Buddhist than most Buddhists… Read More Pope Francis: Buddha or Naomi Klein?

Cathy Jones gets personal in new one-woman show My brother Andy told me, he said, ‘Stop feeling like your career is like this thing that you’re climbing. Think about it as a garden and look at the things you have in your garden.’ New one-woman show is part of the Stages Film Festival by Eastern Front… Read More Cathy Jones: The Human Realm is the Middle Ground

Here’s a recording of my last session (6-17-15) with the Khyber Sound Klub, an improvisation group in Halifax. We’re a sound improv group that works with the improvisation teachings of Jerry Granelli, jazz drummer and teacher of direct experience art practice. I’m on the Fender Jagmaster, fucking with my TC Electronics flanger, which produced the most hellacious sounds. I love… Read More The Punk Dharma at Khyber Sound Klub