The Tribe
“If you wish to experience peace, provide peace for another.” —14th Dalai Lama
We live in an interconnected world. Like ripples in a pond, our thoughts, speech, and deeds influence and affect each other, waxing and waning like a delicate dance of our lives unfolding. Read on for reflections, thoughts, and theories that examine how we interact with each other and our environment.
In his Discourse on Method (1637), René Descartes famously penned “Je pense donc je suis” (I think therefore I am), which became one of the bedrocks of modern Western philosophy. We are possessive of our thoughts (i.e. intellectual property). We strongly identify with, and generally assume, not only the supremacy, but also the primacy of [...]
How do we develop a sense of open awareness from which we can observe our thoughts, emotions and habits from a neutral, clear place? How can we recognize what’s really going on within us and understand the causes and conditions that form the basis of our experience, and in turn, our future context of meaning? [...]
Before taking Doug Powers’ class on Buddhism and Postmodernity, I had only a vague idea of what people meant by “postmodernism.” I knew it had something to do with deconstruction, theory, and meta-narratives—but I wasn’t entirely sure what all that was about either, and frankly I wasn’t particularly interested. I was pretty certain it was [...]
“Far away in the heavenly abode of the great god Indra, there is a wonderful net that has been hung by some cunning artificer in such a manner that it stretches out infinitely in all directions. In accordance with the extravagant tastes of deities, the artificer has hung a single glittering jewel in each “eye” [...]
So what’s going on? Being moved all the time by sensual overload and emotional upheavals. Hoping to stay amused and diverted enough to avoid being left alone with ourselves. Maybe that’s our greatest fear—to be at home with ourselves and not connected. The curse of the contemporary age: existing virtually, connected to everywhere and everybody [...]
My stepfather passed away Sunday afternoon, having been bedridden with cancer for two months. There are a lot of stories to be told about what the past two months have been like for everyone involved, but for this post I just want to tell the story of what my own experience has been like, and [...]
I had a fall and broke my kneecap a few weeks ago, But thought I’d still try joining the retreat In honor of Kuan Yin, for at least one morning. Sue drove me to the hall. I propped my injured leg up on a chair Out of the path of the assembly As they circled [...]
On an early January visit to my sister in New York City, my family and I played tourists and walked around Manhattan, soaking up the city. We ambled up Fifth Avenue, passing by Rockefeller Center, St. Patrick’s Cathedral and scores of flagship stores of companies such as Fendi, Cartier, Gucci, and Giorgio Armani. On this [...]