Archive for April, 2009
Thursday, April 30th, 2009
Heartbreak Hearts Buddhism
Over at One City: A Buddhist Blog for Everyone, Julia May Jones makes a bet with her readers: you started your practice because of relationship trouble. Walk into any Buddhist dharma center across the country. Sidle up to a pleasant looking stranger. Compliment their eco-friendly aluminum water bottle to get a conversation started then ask [...]
2 Comments » - Posted in Writing by Michael McAlister
Thursday, April 30th, 2009
Attachment Alert: Churchgoers more likely to back torture, survey finds
Anderson Cooper writes: The more often Americans go to church, the more likely they are to support the torture of suspected terrorists, according to a new analysis. Check out Pew’s full survey here.
No Comments » - Posted in Fundamentalism,Politics,Writing by Michael McAlister
Wednesday, April 29th, 2009
Attachment Alert: Ministers Lead Protest of D.C. Same-Sex Marriage Legislation
What would Buddha do? Would Jesus do the same? “We have to say no to same-sex marriage,” said the Rev. George Gilbert, pastor of Holy Trinity United Baptist Church in Northeast Washington, who concluded his remarks by leading a chant: “Not on our watch! Not on our watch! Not on our watch!” Sounds like attachment [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Fundamentalism,Politics by Michael McAlister
Wednesday, April 29th, 2009
Interesting Dialog to Come…
I’ve been wondering when this topic might arise from these two. KEN WILBER: At times like these, our spiritual practice becomes essential. We have to develop a heightened awareness of our own internal mechanisms and of what can throw us back into a contracted, survivalist mode. That’s really important, because there are some very serious [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Writing by Michael McAlister
Wednesday, April 29th, 2009
Redux: In Body – Feelings and Emotions
Just thought I’d throw this out there since it has been a subject of several recent conversations among Infinite Smile Sangha members: Feelings occur when the mind interprets the physical energetic manifestations within the body. As an example, a woman on her cell phone in line at the local café bumped the stroller in which [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Writing by Michael McAlister
Monday, April 27th, 2009
Coming Back From Emptiness
I’ve received much mail about Chip Brown’s recent New York Times article, Enlightenment Therapy. In it we learn of a Zen Master who loses himself and then can not reconnect to his life. It’s a great piece and a reminder of what attaching to non-attachment can do. It also shows us what happens when our [...]
2 Comments » - Posted in Writing by Michael McAlister
Sunday, April 26th, 2009
“Grapes want to turn into wine.” – Rumi
"Grapes want to turn into wine." – Rumi Originally uploaded by Michael G. McAlister
No Comments » - Posted in Writing by Michael McAlister
Friday, April 24th, 2009
Smile Alert: Pirates, Drugs & Gay Marriage
Enjoy your weekend.
No Comments » - Posted in Video by Michael McAlister
Friday, April 24th, 2009
Buddha Incarnated as a German Economist in 1837?
Okay, not really, but over at EnlightenNext, Tom Huston points to Howard Bloom’s vision of how we need to mend rather than end capitalism. In the midst of our current financial crisis, it may seem natural to cast doubt on the entire enterprise of Western capitalism and wonder if its basic tenets of progress and [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Politics,Theory & Practice,Writing by Michael McAlister
Thursday, April 23rd, 2009
The Disney Myth and Barbie Doll Dharma
Over at Shambhala SunSpace, Karen Maezen Miller writes of the struggle she’s had with the little girl initiation of Disney-inspired princesshood and Barbie marketing. This subject is near and dear to my heart as my wife and I are troubled with the bombardment our daughter receives from her peers. Does the princess myth serve our [...]
2 Comments » - Posted in Development,Writing by Michael McAlister
Wednesday, April 22nd, 2009
The Last Temptation of Christ and Blaspheme
I liked this post from Rev. Danny Fisher, about one of my favorite films, The Last Temptation of Christ (now available on Hulu.com): Speaking about the film, its “blasphemous” qualities, and the international outrage surrounding the project, I think critic Roger Ebert put it perfectly when he wrote: What makes The Last Temptation of Christ [...]
No Comments » - Posted in People,Writing by Michael McAlister
Wednesday, April 22nd, 2009
Podcast: ISmile216 – “I”ddiction
How do we ever move past the addiction to a sense of self; this sense of “I”? Furthermore, how do we ever get past our clinging to the ideals of the way we think things should be? If we loosen up around our sense of what is black and what is white; what is right [...]
1 Comment » - Posted in Writing by Michael McAlister
Wednesday, April 22nd, 2009
The Dharma of Capitalism
Great piece over at Shambhala Sun Space: … the Wall Street Journal is talking about The Dharma of Capitalism and quoting the Mahabharata: In [the Mahabharata], the queen asks her husband, Yudhishthira, about unmerited suffering: “When everything was going so well for us, why was our kingdom stolen in a rigged game of dice?” she [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Writing by Michael McAlister
Tuesday, April 21st, 2009
An Invitation to Meet Your Life
At last night’s sitting, I read one of my favorite poems. The intent was to clarify what this Path is really about. So often, deep spiritual work is seen as a way to escape from what is going on when in actuality, awakening involves nothing less than an intimacy with what is going on. The [...]
No Comments » - Posted in People,Theory & Practice,Writing by Michael McAlister
Saturday, April 18th, 2009
Dog as meditation cushion
Dog as meditation cushion Originally uploaded by Michael G. McAlister
No Comments » - Posted in Writing by Michael McAlister
Friday, April 17th, 2009
Extraordinarily Satisfactory Results in Buddhist Economics
Barbara O’Brien posts a great piece on Fritz Schumacher’s paper, Buddhist Economics: The economic models and theories that prevailed through the 20th century are rapidly falling apart. Economists scramble to offer explanations and solutions. However, much of what has gone wrong was anticipated years ago by E. F. Schumacher, who proposed a theory of “Buddhist [...]
1 Comment » - Posted in Politics,Writing by Michael McAlister
Thursday, April 16th, 2009
Redux: No Shortcuts
There has been an aspect to dialogs within the Infinite Smile Sangha recently about how much of this work is about “going it alone.” While this phrase is fairly inaccurate, at least in the ultimate sense, no one will do any of this spiritual heavy lifting for any of us. It is up to us [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Theory & Practice,Writing by Michael McAlister
Thursday, April 16th, 2009
Podcast: ISmile215 – Just Being
What does it mean to Be? In this podcast, Michael suggests that thinking has nothing to do with Being and that giving, as well as receiving are enhanced by our apprehension of the deep connection we get when we can simply rest… simply be. Ultimately, this process is about “not flinching” in the white hot [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Podcast by Michael McAlister
Wednesday, April 15th, 2009
Talk to Me
Jurrian Kamp at Ode Magazine offers an interview with Ken Wilber that addresses, among other things, how to use the most effective language in dealing with the issue of global warming: Other cultures, Wilber argues, may respond to the threat of global warming from different values. African cultures are dominated by feudal clans, he says, [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Politics,Writing by Michael McAlister
Wednesday, April 15th, 2009
Holy War?
Here’s a very thoughtful post by James Wellman on Christianity’s misplaced cheerleading: One of the questions that plagues my study of American religion is why there is such a frequent close correspondence between American Christianity and war making. This question displays my own liberal Protestant belief that violence should always be a last resort, and [...]
