Can You Do What is Right Without Belief?
The following is the first draft of a chapter for my new book. I just wrote it yesterday. I’m not sure why, but I feel like sharing it. Is it clear? I want to take a little digression here before we go on to the rest of the Eightfold Path. Because one way that the […]
Freedom, Equality, & Justice
A commenter on my YouTube channel asked if I’d do a video about the Buddhist views on contemporary ethical values such as freedom, equality, and justice. When I thought about doing a video on these topics, I thought it could easily turn into a political discussion. It might even turn into a big argument. And […]
Prayer in Zen
Someone asked me, “What about prayer? Or perhaps, what do you think of prayer in the context of buddhism at large, the zen tradition and your own life?” Here’s my answer: Prayer is a funny thing to me. I wasn’t raised in a religious family, so I don’t have a whole lot of experience with […]
Same or Different
I got an email in which someone sent a link to this video. He explained that the video was about a concept called Turiya, which means the fourth consciousness. It’s also described as Atman, the God inside us, pure awareness, and so on. My correspondent said that Alan Watts refers to this vedantic concept many […]
Be a Loser
Someone sent me an email asking me how to deal with a problem with the boss at work. Here’s how I answered: Well…. It’s hard to guess exactly what the situation is. Even if you explained it to me fully, I wouldn’t know it exactly. In my days of working at Tsuburaya Productions I often […]
