Nathan Thompson explores the seduction of hope, and wonders: if you give in to it, do you lose the improvisation skills necessary to fully engage with life as it is?
Longing for Certainty
Rick Bateman explores how the human propensity to live in a world of “What Should Be” instead of “What Is” is a recipe for suffering. So how do we free ourselves?
20 Ways to Peace
…even though I’m a Buddhist, I have always found Jesus to be an inspiring figure, especially the Jesus of the Gnostic writings. In honor of the holiday’s true meaning, I offer 20 possible ways to embody and create peace in the world.
Bone Deep Fear as Planetary Experience
Nathan Thompson reflects on the growing fear and anxiety throughout the globe, and the massive changes facing humanity. He takes a lesson from the night sky that “out of darkness, the new is born.”
Buddhism And The Romantic Poet
Rick Bateman reflects on Buddhism and Romantic poetry and the connection to the Beloved through mindfulness and meditation.
Holding the Bag of Life and Death
Last winter, after what was probably about 10 years of Alzheimer’s and a myriad of other issues, my grandfather finally died. I think that, like the woman who wrote the essay, many of us in my family had that similarly odd desire for it all to be over. That last year or so, grandpa had become a young child in an old man’s body…
Buddhism and the Dragons Of Eden
Not all problems, personal or global, can be resolved through thinking. As individuals and as a species, we would be wise to remember that there is another way of being. A way that existed long before the guards took over the castle.
Guest Houses of Autumn
The poet Rumi wrote, “This being human is a guest house. Every morning a new arrival.” Sitting in a park amidst autumn foliage, Nathan Thompson contemplates how we honour or do not honour what or who knocks on the doors of our ‘guest houses.”
Thomas Merton – Sexuality and Spiritual Denial
I have always found the deep split between the spiritual and sexual in nearly all religions, including the Buddhism I practice, very troubling. While it’s possible to argue that Buddhism has less of this than Judeo-Christian traditions, I’m still convinced that there’s a gap in the teachings that has lead to an enormous amount of confusion, condemnation, and suffering. And I don’t think it’s necessary to be a monastic in order to experience these gaps – no one, I think, is really immune.
Land of the Hanging Monastery: The Buddhist Treasures of China Part 3
In Part 3 of the Buddhist Treasure sof China series, Vincent Ross visits The Hanging Monastery, Yungang Caves, Wooden Pagoda and the Nine Dragon Wall. He also explores how Buddhism first came to China.