2012

Mental Habits and the Criminal Justice System

The Mind  |  The Scene   |   Alexandra Gross  |   December 13, 2012, 5:00 pm

… we are born with particular mental tendencies … and over time, certain tendencies are repeatedly reinforced, creating ever-deeper tracks for our minds to follow. When the Buddha taught about the human mind, he put forth an idea that has been developed independently by psychologists and neuroscientists in more recent years: that we mainly interpret [...]

Higgs Boson

The Mind  |  The Scene   |   Lauren Bausch  |   November 28, 2012, 9:49 pm

On July 13th, UC Berkeley physicists, including Professors Beate Heinemann and Marjorie Shapiro - collaborators in the ATLAS experiment, explained the discovery of what could be the Higgs Boson. Their explanation of the decades long search for the Higgs Boson serves as an interesting comparison to Buddhist practice - not as a comparison of ultimate claims about the nature of reality, but a comparison of deep and prolonged investigations in subtle, invisible fields. This deep and prolonged investigation is at the heart of Buddhism as a personal practice, in contrast to Buddhism as a set of philosophical or religious assertions. [...]

Repaying the Kindness of my Parents?

The Monastery   |   Bhikshu Jin Chuan  |   November 13, 2012, 7:10 pm

So there I was attending retreats and Dharma talks at a Buddhist monastery, learning from Buddhist monastics, and reading spiritual works that strongly emphasized the teachings on “filiality.” It was a teaching I agreed with: yes, I should repay the kindness of my parents–but whenever I went home and actually spent time with my mother, I had the impression I was making her miserable. [...]
[Admin note: We’re very happy that Alexandra’s piece has been published on Huffington Post. Here is the repost in its entirety.] Last spring, my friend Paris Carriger was diagnosed with liver disease and told he had just a few months to live. His voice from the hospital was weak but calm. “This isn’t the first [...]

Contemplating Sounds of Difference

The Mind   |   James Roberts  |   October 28, 2012, 8:43 pm

If a tree falls in the forest and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound? With the upcoming Guanyin session, many of us at CTTB will be spending the week contemplating the nature of sound. Just as the Buddha was pragmatically agnostic when questioned about a world beyond perception, the [...]

Pragmatic Inquiry

The University   |   James Roberts  |   October 21, 2012, 4:30 pm

Last semester in a course here at DRBU, we compared William James’ Pragmatism to some of the views in Buddhist Sutras. Looking back on some of the topics of the course, I think it’s fair to say that a lot of people who come to Buddhism are first interested in it for pragmatic reasons. … [...]

On Decisions: Monastic Life, Focus, and Obama

The Monastery  |  The Scene   |   Jason Tseng  |   September 20, 2012, 4:00 pm

Jason Kottke had a short informative post about Michael Lewis’ profile on President Obama, titled Obama’s Way, in the upcoming issue of Vanity Fair. (Lewis shadowed the President for 6 months, observing how he lives and works.) Kottke had two interesting excerpts. [...]

Awakening by Light

The Mind  |  The Scene   |   Don Cornell  |   September 10, 2012, 7:30 pm

In one instant observing measureless eons Without going, coming, or dwelling, Thus comprehending the events of past, present, and future, Buddhas transcend expedients and fulfill ten powers. Like unto the infinite worlds in space, Without coming or going, pervading the ten directions, Becoming and disintegrating, having no resting place, So does the Buddha prevade space [...]