“White people,” “Black People” and Other Kinds of People
In the past week we’ve seen videos of three humans being killed by other humans called “police.” Two of these humans were what folks in the USA call “Black people.” One was what folks in the USA call a “White person.” Then someone opened fire on some police officers in Dallas, killing five of them. […]
#StraightPrideDay is Dumb But I Totally Get It
I am a white “cis-gendered” heterosexual male. So, in terms of what they call “identity politics” these days I’m nobody. Because I’m everybody. Of course I’m privileged and all of that. Nobody sees me on the street and yells out racial slurs, or makes unwanted sexual advances, or pulls me aside at airport security because […]
The Eternal Value of One Little Thing
I’m working on a new Dogen book. And in doing so, I’ve noticed a little message Dogen sneaks into his writings from time to time that I’d never really seen before. In my current book Don’t Be a Jerk, Dogen says, “Even if the whole universe is nothing but a bunch of jerks doing all kinds of jerk-type things, there is […]
Is There Life After Death?
Last night I saw Chuck Klosterman speak at Skylight Books in Los Angeles. During his talk he read a piece from But What If We’re Wrong? (which I reviewed in my last entry) that illustrates my point about how he — like lots of people these days — voices some of the same ideas contained […]
But What If We’re Wrong?
I just finished reading Chuck Klosterman’s new book But What If We’re Wrong?. Klosterman isn’t a Buddhist. If I were to ever be in a position to give him advice, my first suggestion would be to stay as far away as possible from Buddhism. That’s because what he writes is often very close to the […]
