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"Buddhism has the characteristics of what would be expected in a cosmic religion for the future: It transcends a personal God, avoids dogmas and theology; it covers both the natural and the spiritual, and it is based on a religious sense aspiring from the experience of all things, natural and spiritual, as a meaningful unity."
Albert Einstein
Oct. 10, 2006
I wonder where all the dreamers have gone? I catch more news and more depressing stories about interminable war and the latest futile exercise in saber rattling machismo andwhere is it taking us? Towards better understanding each other? Towards a more peaceful and Just world? No. Absolutely not. It is carrying us towards yet another confrontation, another war, another disastrous event for women, children, the hungry and the poor. In days past we had prophets of peace, men and women who struggled outside the narrow boxes of their own egos and cultural limitations to issue a Call. We were always called to be better than we thought we could be, to get past the constraints of doing it as we always have done and to resist the dogs of war. But who Calls us today? Who is willing to challenge our usual patterns and demand that we stand for something other than crass materialism, imperial adventurism and the terrible evils of racism and oppression? Why are we so afraid to stop this madness and allow the bigoted and the banal to determine the direction our world inexorably moves to: death, destruction, and division?
I have added a piece first published in CounterPunch the other day entitled, "From Bakersfield to Babylon", and three poems called, "Morning´s watchful tension and other poems". In the meantime, I hope we can all begin to Call up from within a collective Conscience that can defeat the terrible forces continue to cover our planet. Begin to dream again.
May 29, 2006
Interminable war, a passive press, a non-existent resistance movement and a weak "opposition Party", these are the defining characteristics of America today. It is incumbent upon all of those who value Truth to tell it, those who believe in peace, to insist upon it, and those who believe in justice to demand it. No great movement was ever created by politicians and given to the people. They were all created by the people and thrown in the faces of politicians who, invariably, took on the "cause" for their own benefits. We can demand more, and must, for the world we live in demands it. We must stop any and all attempts to demonize the democratic movements in Latin America which are now feeding the poor, educating the uneducated and attempting new models, outside the orbit of the neo-colonial, neo-liberalism which has decimated the economies south of our "border." And we must take responsibility for creating the conditions whereby millions have left their homes seeking work in the United States. Humans, are not "aliens." They are people seeking to better their lives, and their lives were made worse, by our government. Replacing this government, repealing GATT, NAFTA and other so-called "free trade agreements" are only the beginnings. The world is watching and waiting for real leadership, honest new approaches to universal problems and a reinvigorated public demanding justicce. When will we rise up and provide it?
Feb. 20, 2006...
Some new articles are being posted this week and I will soon be adding a few academic papers as well. For those of you who have missed me and said so in your letters, I thank you all and commit to making more of my thoughts and ideas available in the coming weeks. Suffice it to say for now that the burdens of opposing the madness of war and taking care of my family took their toll on me and I have been working to recover some balance. More to come...
June 24, 2005
I wish to apologize to all the letter writers and supporters who have requested that I post more and more regulary. Life interferes with the best laid plans, right? Yet I am truly sorry for the absence. So much has occurred in our fragile little world since my last entry below and to try to catch up now would be futile. What I can say, however, is this: for those of us who strive for Meaning and Understanding, who attempt to reconcile the madness of fanaticism and our own bright potential, we have only the Task before us, and that is a never ending one. Like The Endless Search´s very name (a website belonging to my friend Ian MacFarlane and centering around Gurdjieff´s Work and the lineage preserved through Paul Beidler) we must renew our lives repeatedly, endlessly caressing its curves and straight lines as much as we do the warts and disfigurements. For the body of Work we are each given is this very life. Keep fighting, keep learning and keep struggling, for our struggles define us. When we let go out of exhaustion, find a friend to help you stand again. When we tire from lack of inspiration, look to a child and tell them the world should die because we are too tired to create a better place for them. When we despair, remember that both Hope and Fear are the greatest obstacles to seeing this very moment, and to changing it for the better.
There is much to be done...Glad to be back!
Namo Amida Butsu...
January 20, 2005
In the last few weeks, I have been inundated by letters and have been trying, one by one to answer them all. Most of them concern an article I wrote for CounterPunch on January 14 called, "The Christians I Know" and it is added here to the Political Articles section. The article itself is not very long, nor all that "academic," but it focuses on a list of characteristics I have encountered among Christians primarily here in Iceland, and contrasts them with the attitudes of Christians I knew in the United States. If you are a Christian, I invite you to read it and to discuss it amongst other Christians because the attitudes described there are quite different than you may anticipate. If you are not a Christian, it still may give you an idea of how differently Europeans and Americans "practice" their majority religion.
I write this brief intro. to my article because though maybe 80% of the responses have been positive and come from around the world, the other 20% or so is frightening, absolutely frightening. I never in my life could have imagined how vicious, racist, mean-spirited, intolerant, irrational and misinformed so many people who cal themselves "Christians" are. In these letters I personally have received death threats, thinly veiled threats against my family, bitter condemnations to Hell and other places, have been called "un" and "anti-American", have been told to stay away from the United States, and that I am unwanted in the country of my birth. Why this is important is this: today George Bush will take the oath of office of President of the United States for the second time. And in so doing, he will pledge to "preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States of America." And nowhere in the Constitution (excepting the horrible legacy of slavery by its counting of slaves as 3/5 ´s human), with it´s Bill of Rights and the many Constitutional Amendments passed and ratified over the years, nowhere have I read that dissent is anything but a proper response to tyranny and that the better ideals contained therein are designed to expand democracy, protect minority opinion and embrace the various differences that make up that country.
But now those grand ideals are being hijacked by people, from the new President on down, whose authoritarian bent and militaristic tendencies want to crush dissent, convert the world to its narrow views, and de-facto establish a Christo-centric theocratic empire. If you care about your country Americans, take it from someone who is observing closely from a safe distance away, and fight this. It is neither within the American "spirit" nor Christian. And remember, the whole world is watching. Good luck...
January 1, 2005...
I have added a few little things to this site: an article called, A "God"-less Path, which was written for the Reykjavík Grapevine, and updated the American Buddhist Study Center Blog which contains my New Year´s Aspirations.
As we watch in horror the devastation that has affected South Asia, I hope we can all do our utmost to help those in need--and to continually press those we choose as our "government" to do more. And at the same time, to press them to actually do LESS in the continued and obscene manufacture and use of war-making materiels.
This year I hope to include notes from the meditation classes I am currently teaching and to continue posting poetry, which remains another meditative discipline that supports me. In the meantime, Happy New Year everyone!
December 5...I have updated the site a bit. An interview with me from Gurdjieff Internet Guide and a collection of my blogs for the American Buddhist Study Center are the newest additions. I have also put in my article, "Goldwater Greens, A Populism For The Future?" for those interested in the more political side of my writings. More soon to come...
October 2...Several new contributions are in and I think you will enjoy them. Rev. Gregg Heathcote of Australia, who has contributed a number of poems to www.nembutsu.info , one of my favorite Shin Buddhist sites, has kindly agreed to let me post some of his work here. Two pieces I particularly liked are now on, "War Crime" and "Singing griefs counsel in lament and reprise". I look forward to continuing contributions by Gregg, who shares many of my own political as well as spiritual concerns.
Prof. Jason B.P. Mierek of Champaign, Illinois has also allowed me to post a few of his works and two are on now with more in the wings. "Thoughts On The Whirling Dervishes" and the fascinating, "Yogic Technique, Religious Freedom and Cognitive Liberty" will begin what I hope is a long and regular sojourn with us on The Path of My Experience pages.
Soon I will be starting a follow-up program here in Iceland for those who last year took the original Path of My Experience (POME). I hope to add an article here on this work and am presently exploring pursuit of a Ph.D. to further the efforts and research into my Meditation-Based Counseling (MBC) theories. Stay tuned!
September 26...There are some new developments in my life these days, on this site and off.
On this site I have added two new "poems": "O! Nembutsu!" which is a reworking of the melody to "Amazing Grace" with my own lyrics from a Shin perspective, and "What To Do When It´s All Over" a paean to lost love. I have also added an article I first wrote last year for Counterpunch called, "History Hurts" which I have cleaned up a little. Another article I wrote, "Chickenhawks and Chickenshits" (published in Dissident Voice) sums up my view of the two major parties in the States and what I feel should be done to restore some dignity to the Left. In addition, I have included an article I did for Swans Commentary, "A Perfect Fit - Buddhists & The Greens" which pretty much sums up how I "reconcile" my dual interests in political change and Buddhism. I have also added an article on Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) called "Buddhism and CPE - Concerns and Contributions" which describes a set of tendencies I encountered among fellow Buddhists who trained as Chaplains or were thinking about such. Lastly I have changed the survey asking readers and visitors to name their political affiliation or what comes closest. I hope you all take the survey and enjoy the reading!
Off site I am also contributing weekly to the American Buddhist Study Center by writing a short blog on themes that I am considering that week. I have done three so far and I guess they represent what I might do weekly as a "sermon" were I to be part of my own temple. (Still a distant but deeply yearned for desire).
So what´s new? Well I regard with deep sadness the internecine battles capturing the Left´s attention in the States these last few weeks before the election. Frankly I believe our "ammunition" is best reserved for defeating Bush (and yes, that does mean voting for Kerry if you feel you need to) and building up the most progrssive force out there with any real potential: The Green Party.
Re: voting for Kerry and the so called "safe states" strategy, I have always been a very reluctant supporter of that concept but with all blinders removed from our eyes I think its time to realize that defeating Bush is far more important than beating up on the Dems (who I believe are as execrable as the Reps). People around the world need to be reassured that there is some sanity in the States and though I am hard-pressed to find much these days, defeating that "cabal of neo-con con men" as I recently wrote, who presently run the country needs to take priority over scoring rhetorical points and backing Nader´s quixotic run.
So here it is in plain words: everywhere possible we should support the Green Party in every position they have someone running, from the Presidency on down. In areas where the truly undemocratic Electoral College is assured of going either to the Reps or Dems, you are free to vote for the Greens and build up a real political option. (That´s actually a majority of of where Americans live). Otherwise, take a clothespin with you to the voting booth, pinch your nose and vote for Kerry with no illusions that the struggle for an expanded democracy, social and economic justice andd environmental sanity will stop there because he will pick up that banner. He won´t. That is up to us. But The Green Party represents the most progressive vision we have out there and if in statehouses and in positions around the country we get some Greens in office, we can gradually transform our country into a better place for all of us to live. So there it is...
July 28...In my home are two altars: the main one has a ceramic Amida Buddha, sitting in deep meditation with a small incense burner and two large candles in front. But on the window before the lava field my house faces is a smaller tribute to the Vajrayana lineage I was a part of and remain deeply influenced by. There, flanked by a tiny brass Buddha encircled in flames and the set of Lojong slogan cards used by many Vajrayana Buddhists, is a photo of Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, the late teacher of my old teacher, Dzogchen Pönlop Rinpoche.
What has struck me these days is that the particular saying displayed for this week is "Be grateful to everyone" and it is this sentiment that is precisely the deepest expression of the Shin Buddhism I am now a practicer of.
Gratitude is no easy thing to me, someone quite caught up in changing things, inspiring people and fighting in this or that cause regularly. But each day I return home to this room and often as in today, I am greeted by my four-year old daughter who runs down the hallway and hugging my leg says, "Papa, I missed you".
Now my friends, there are so many things I have done, so many places I have been to and so many people I have met, but it is that small and infinitely tender sentiment, from one small and infinitely tender child, that reminds me of the millions of little things I might have done differently in my life and had I done any one of them, I wouldn´t have the wonder and joy of that single moment.
And so I am reminded that everything and everyone, every experience good or bad that led me here, is something for which I should be, and at least in this moment am, truly grateful for. Namo Amida Butsu...
July 25...Today I sat with my buddy Garđar and we worked on this site. It made me wonder at how easily we can communicate these days and how just a few random thoughts can be instantly transmitted around the world for anyone to see. Well, almost anyone. |
