Om mani padme hum, y’all: HHDL visits Atlanta
Karmym, Open Hearted (2009). Used with permission of the artist. What a dream of a painting. The Tibetan flag‘s sun radiates from his head, the wheel of dharma appears on his chest, and those words! Have you ever seen its equal? While you think about that, here’s HHDL on the Tibetan Buddhist chant Om mani [...]
Fear of a Muslim planet
The POTUS and FLOTUS celebrate their takeover of the world with a nice interspouse fist bump. The cover of The New Yorker, 21 July 2008. By Barry Blitt. Perhaps my Jordanian friend had seen this cover and missed the satire One of the delightful things about attending seminary is that you are made to do [...]
A Muslim approaches the Qur’an and its vilifiers
The first surah, or chapter, of the Qur’an. This chapter is known as Al-Fatiha (“The Opening”). By Turkish calligrapher Hattat Aziz Efendi (1871-1934). Source: Wikimedia Commons So this week I’ve been thinking about that utterly insane pastor in Gainesville, Florida, who thinks that burning a huge stack of Qur’ans is a good way to “send [...]
Behold the Void
The Zen enso, a symbol of the interplay between Form and Void Sitting meditation is not, as is often supposed, a spiritual “exercise,” a practice followed for some ulterior object. From a Buddhist standpoint, it is simply the proper way to sit, and it seems perfectly natural to remain sitting so long as there is [...]
Dogs and cats living together! Mass hysteria! Or not
Christina Varga, Jesus and Buddha, Neobyzantine Triptych, 2001 (detail). I think that if these two fellows had ever met, they would’ve gotten along swimmingly. But can they get along in one person’s theology? I mean, really nicely? For years I have been a practicing Christian with a kind of background interest in Buddhism. But I’m [...]
Dalai Lama: Shambhala not in Canada
The Dalai Lama hosting a private audience at his residence in Dharamshala. This is not my photograph but shows almost exactly the view from my seat on Friday. Image source: www.dalailama.com Dad and I were the recipients of a great honor last Friday: we took part in a private audience with the Dalai Lama at [...]
This too shall pass
The Buddhist Wheel of Life, which emphasizes the futility of grasping for one’s “life.” Artist unknown. Source: Library of Congress. Click on the image for a high-resolution version During my last few years as an astronomy professor, I started off the first day by walking to the front of the class and writing the following [...]
Mark Rothko recovers the sparrow
Mark Rothko. No. 61 (Rust and Blue), 1953 I have just finished reading a book called Buddhism is Not What You Think: Finding Freedom beyond Beliefs by Steve Hagen. There is a double meaning in the title because the book is about not-thinking and really seeing. In it Hagen writes of Foyan, an ancient Chinese [...]
Po and Gus know what’s up in Jackson Hole
Here’s a nice quote from Huang Po, a 9th-century Chinese Zen master: The foolish reject what they see, not what they think; the wise reject what they think, not what they see. What this means to me is that it is unwise to cling to your ideas, because your ideas are eventually going to run [...]
Dream on
It’s a crazy dream, like finding the Theory of Everything: finding the Universal Theology, or some such. It would be nice, wouldn’t it, to reconcile all faiths once and for all, at some incomprehensibly deep level? Well, it’s not going to happen. A Sufi dhikr ceremony. These guys really have it going on. Photo by [...]
