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.
It’s Not the Devil in the Details
We often say “The devil is in the details” but as Phylis Wilson reflects, if we look closer we can also find evidence that we are not alone at life’s macro level.
Sober Without God: Love, Honesty, and the Pursuit of a Good Life
I have spent the majority of my years on this earth castigating myself for my lack of restraint and poor decision-making, allowing my own weaknesses a drunken pass to design a lesser life. If I am to move forward into a future in which I can both believe and love, a future in which those I care about can also believe and love, sobriety is not an option, and I truly and honestly trust that I can be sober without surrendering myself as powerless before a deity in which I have no faith.
How to Respond to the Building of Controversial New York Mosque
Nathan Thompson reflects on some of the vicious and destructive comments by people who are against the building of a Cordoba House mosque and Islamic cultural Center near Ground Zero in New York.