Archive for December, 2008
Wednesday, December 17th, 2008
Sir Paul Attaches
Sir Paul has made his attachments known: McCartney wrote to The Dalai Lama to highlight that meat eaters create suffering for animals, and that this fact contradicted a basic tenant of Buddhism that its followers should “not cause suffering to any sentient beings”. And then: When the Dalai Lama explained that he had been told [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Writing by Michael McAlister
Tuesday, December 16th, 2008
Podcast: The Art of Not Getting Anything
In this 200th podcast of InfiniteSmile.org (Wow!), Michael discusses how our willingness to not get anything, even as we give, shows us the Path to Awakening. Click here to listen.
No Comments » - Posted in Podcast,Theory & Practice by Michael McAlister
Tuesday, December 16th, 2008
That Kind of Silence
In a letter to God, guardian.co.uk‘s Mark Vernon wants to uncover the depth of true Silence. The kind that Thomas Aquinas uncovered on 6th December 1273 when he uttered his final “Ite missa est” (the mass is ended) and then left the altar for good. He [Aquinas] told his friend Reginald that he would not [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Chapter 6 - Practice,Interfaith,Theory & Practice by Michael McAlister
Tuesday, December 16th, 2008
Gladwell plus Brooks equals Awakening
I woke this morning to read David Brooks, once again, making a point about Buddhist attentiveness. Today he takes on the thesis of Malcolm Gladwell’s new book, Outliers: ‘Great people aren’t so great. Their own greatness is not the salient fact about them. It’s the kind of fortunate mix of opportunities they’ve been given.’ – [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Theory & Practice,Writing by Michael McAlister
Monday, December 15th, 2008
A Committed Atheist living a deeply spiritual life
David Ian Miller writes for the San Francisco Chronicle that Even atheists can have what I would describe as deeply spiritual lives. [This] realization came by way of my interview this week with Mike Lee, a name familiar to Mac geeks around the world. Mike Lee, describes himself on his blog as the “world’s toughest [...]
4 Comments » - Posted in Interfaith,Writing by Michael McAlister
Monday, December 15th, 2008
My Teacher the Joker?
Over at the elephant journal, Henry Schliff offers an interesting post looking at pop culture’s treatment of crazy wisdom: Deconstruct the Joker, take away his violence and you have al-Khidr or any crazy mystic in comic style, the wrench thrower, the coyote, you can even keep the violence and he is Bhairava (sans-matted hair). The [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Development,Interfaith,Theory & Practice,Writing by Michael McAlister
Monday, December 15th, 2008
Online Tibetan Buddhist Resource
The Rev. Danny Fisher offers a heads up on a great collection of recorded Dharma talks.
No Comments » - Posted in Video by Michael McAlister
Saturday, December 13th, 2008
Baby Buddha Snoring
No Comments » - Posted in Writing by Michael McAlister
Friday, December 12th, 2008
Pray It Away
Fabrizio Costantini for the New York Times offers us a fascinating glimpse at a possible solution to our current financial crisis. The Sunday service at Greater Grace Temple began with the Clark Sisters song “I’m Looking for a Miracle” and included a reading of this verse from the Book of Romans: “I consider that our [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Fundamentalism,Writing by Michael McAlister
Friday, December 12th, 2008
Biblically Guided Foreign Policy?
Matt Duss, over at The Guardian has some policy analysis worthy of attention. What happens when a developmental orientation focused on a fundamentalist approach inspires foreign policy? What happens when this thinking becomes contagious through the (ahem… viral) delivery system of our current media? Speaking about Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Hannity declared “we need to [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Fundamentalism,Writing by Michael McAlister
Friday, December 12th, 2008
The Ones Who Are Busy
There is a great repost over at elephant journal, worth a read. Dr. Reggie Ray offers his take on negotiating life’s demands and the need for practice. Many, many people tell me “I’m having a lot of problems doing this [meditation] practice because I am so busy. I’m really busy. I have a full life. [...]
3 Comments » - Posted in Theory & Practice,Writing by Michael McAlister
Thursday, December 11th, 2008
Video: Buddhism in the Heartland
Enjoy this. (Bows to The Worst Horse and Rev. Danny Fisher)
No Comments » - Posted in Chapter 6 - Practice,Theory & Practice,Video by Michael McAlister
Thursday, December 11th, 2008
Podcast: How Loss Gets Us Ready
In this talk, the contributions and teachings of an Infinite Smile sangha member that died unexpectedly are discussed. “Jerry’s life served all of us in this work because he was ready to meet this moment.” Click here to listen
No Comments » - Posted in Writing by Michael McAlister
Thursday, December 11th, 2008
Podcast: The Art of Not Getting Anything
Some guy over at Infinite Smile keeps cranking these out: “Ultimately, it is up to each of us to let go of the world and then engage it from that place of surrender.” Click here to listen.
No Comments » - Posted in Chapter 4 - Perspective,Podcast by Michael McAlister
Wednesday, December 10th, 2008
Careful with that iron, Roshi!
Bows, Monkey Mind
No Comments » - Posted in Video by Michael McAlister
Wednesday, December 10th, 2008
The Drunk as the Bodhisattva
Over at Tricycle, Alexandra Kolyanides posts a wonderful bit on Faulkner’s advice to writers back when he won the Nobel Prize. I was struck by how his words sounded like the Path. The young man or woman writing today has forgotten the problems of the human heart in conflict with itself which alone can make [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Chapter 3 - Fear,Theory & Practice,Writing by Michael McAlister
Tuesday, December 9th, 2008
The Spiritually Narcissistic Self 2.0
Andrew Cohen makes some interesting points in his blog entry today. Whenever I contemplate the mystery of consciousness and how it evolves within and through us, I am always struck by the same thing: How easy it is to see a glorious future in those moments when we are spiritually awake, when our awareness is [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Writing by Michael McAlister
Tuesday, December 9th, 2008
The Angry Asian Buddhist
In the latest issue of Buddhadharma, a forum is hosted in which the future of Buddhism in America is discussed. An excerpt: Forty or fifty years after the big influx of dharma to the West, we have a small but active and growing population of young practitioners. But what of the future, when the baby [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Development,Theory & Practice,Writing by Michael McAlister
Monday, December 8th, 2008
When Joy Unfolds
How beautiful when we recognize the Dance within ourselves is expressed everywhere. Bows, Matt.
No Comments » - Posted in Video by Michael McAlister
Monday, December 8th, 2008
Faith That Lacks Faith
TIME Magazine’s David van Biema gives us 2008′s Top 10 stories on religion. For my money, this story is especially fascinating since it applies to our sangha in really specific ways. A 35,000-person poll by the Pew Forum for Religion & Public Life found that 28% of U.S. adults have left their cradle faith for [...]
