Racism and Letting Go
There’s an old Buddhist poem called Shin Jin Mei (信心銘), which means “Faith Mind Inscription.” It starts off, 至é“無難 唯嫌æ€æŠž. This means, “To follow (至) the Way (é“) is not (ç„¡) difficult (難). Just (唯) avoid (å«Œ) picking (æ€) and choosing (択).” The “picking and choosing” the author of this poem is referring to isn’t choosing […]
The Crucifixion Was Only the Beginning!
On Easter Sunday I watched the first episode of A.D.: The Bible Continues. I’d been seeing posters and billboards for it all over Los Angeles. The slogan “the crucifixion was only the beginning” was too hilarious to resist. As many of you must know by now, I’m a bit of an amateur scholar of the […]
Bigotry Against Bigots is Still Bigotry
I’ve been looking at a bunch of the articles about Memories Pizza in Indiana. Here’s the story in a nutshell. The state of Indiana passed that they called a “religious reform bill” whose wording was apparently vague enough that some folks believed it would allow a business to legally refuse to service customers whose lifestyles offended […]
My Zen Retreats Are the Best (and Here’s Why)
Now before I say what I want to say here, I want to point out that I specifically designed my Zen retreats to be the best possible retreats they could be. I didn’t even start running retreats of my own at all until I was able to run ones that wouldn’t be compromised into being […]
Quieting the Mind?
A reader asked about quieting the mind. She said she couldn’t find anywhere I’d written about it. I don’t generally write about quieting the mind because it’s one of those things that I find hinders rather than helps. It sets up a goal to reach and a comparison to make. You imagine what a quiet mind […]
