Archive for August, 2009
Friday, August 28th, 2009
A little bit on kensho…
Over at digitalZENDO, there is an great piece on discussing the elusive experience of insight that Zennists call kensho:
Avoiding talking about Kensho, does not make use virtuous or spiritual. Maybe it’s the contrary, it perhaps avoiding a direct conversation that could be valuable.
I actually agree that at times we blow this one. A direct conversation [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Theory & Practice by Michael McAlister
Thursday, August 27th, 2009
The Dalai Lama, Mandela, and Gandhi just chillaxin’
Over at the elephant journal, Waylon Lewis shares some smile material with this one:
This brilliant, almost-too-subtle (just a line at bottom) ad campaign was created by UNCLE Grey A/S Denmark. It vividly reminds us that in getting up off the couch, in working our butts off for the benefit of others, no matter the setbacks…it’s [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Photos by Michael McAlister
Thursday, August 27th, 2009
Forgotten Elephants
And the tragedy continues for the elephants of Thailand:
Once the revered symbol of Thai culture, the backbone of industry and the protector of the country’s sovereignty during war, elephants now wander the streets of Bangkok, reduced to providing rides for tourists and helping their owners beg for their next meal.
With their drivers — mahouts, they [...]
No Comments » - Posted in People, Politics by Michael McAlister
Wednesday, August 12th, 2009
Podcast: ISmile229 – Harmful Meditation?
In this evening’s talk, Michael discusses how the peak experiences brought on by a meditation practice can sometimes stop our spiritual growth. Issues of vulnerability and anger, along with the various forms of an appropriate response might be are also discussed.
via Infinite Smile.
No Comments » - Posted in Podcast by Michael McAlister
Wednesday, August 12th, 2009
An Excerpt from an Interview with Adyashanti
I have a lot of respect for Adyashanti and his approach to teaching. He’s genuine, honest, and has the capacity to creatively turn up the heat on his students.
Here’s an excerpt from an interview that Tami Simon did:
I no longer believe the next thought that I have. I’m not capable of actually believing a thought [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Writing by Michael McAlister
Wednesday, August 12th, 2009
Attaching to God, Attaching to Markets
Douglas Rushkoff writes a fascinating, and dare I say, important essay titled, Economics Is Not a Natural Science.
The marketplace in which most commerce takes place today is not a pre-existing condition of the universe. It’s not nature. It’s a game, with very particular rules, set in motion by real people with real purposes. That’s why [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Writing by Michael McAlister
Tuesday, August 11th, 2009
Look at the Tweeple.
Oh, the humanity…
Get your twitter mosaic here.
No Comments » - Posted in Photos by Michael McAlister
Tuesday, August 11th, 2009
Buddhist Geeks Podcast: Erik Curren – The Buddhist Politician
The Buddhist Geeks offer up a fascinating discussion with Virginia’s only Buddhist politician, Erik Curren:
Erik Curren is a business leader, community activist, author, Buddhist meditator, and politician—who is running for state legislature in Virginia during the 2010 election period. We were contacted by Erik’s campaign manager, who told us that Erik’s Buddhist background was [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Writing by Michael McAlister
Monday, August 10th, 2009
Norman Fischer writes for the NYT’s Happy Days Blog
Last week’s NYTimes.com posted a nice piece by Norman Fischer:
As most people know, a Zen meditation retreat is not a vacation. Despite the silence and the beauty, despite the respite from the busyness, the experience can be grueling. The meditation practice is intense and relentless, the feeling in the hall rigorous and disciplined. We start [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Theory & Practice, Writing by Michael McAlister
Monday, August 10th, 2009
Meditation, eh?
Douglas Todd, of the Vancouver Sun writes about an important aspect of meditation: it can mask what needs to be exposed.
A recent Vancouver Sun poll conducted by the Mustel Group found one out of three British Columbians, roughly 1.4 million people, have practised meditation. That doesn’t include many more who practise prayer in a contemplative [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Writing by Michael McAlister
Sunday, August 9th, 2009
Five Things Religion-Haters Should Know
Stuart Davis offers us a nice piece of writing that confronts what many might see as fundamental flaws in the Rationalist’s arguments against religion.
I just finished reading God Is Not Great by Christopher Hitchens. He’s given us another powerful work in the vein of Sam Harris (The End of Faith), Richard Dawkins (The God Delusion), [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Fundamentalism, People by Michael McAlister
Friday, August 7th, 2009
Given the proper conditions…
Over at +kenwilber.com, Lama Surya Das offers up an interesting post about Twitter:
I believe that technology is pure spirit. It is not just a tool but can be a transformative force. Some experts, such as Ray Kurzweil and Ken Wilber, say that The SingularitY (when computers evolve to reach the level of the human mind [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Writing by Michael McAlister
Friday, August 7th, 2009
Integral Tweets
Got Twitter?
The folks over at Integral Life are making a show of things.
No Comments » - Posted in People by Michael McAlister
Tuesday, August 4th, 2009
A Buddhist’s Guide to Twitter
Rachel Hiles comments on her twitter reluctance over at Tricycle in a post called A Buddhist’s Guide to Twitter.
As someone slow to embrace the Twitter phenomenon, I’ve approached the site with great caution, and perhaps a touch of suspicion. I often wondered if I could use Twitter without falling victim to my ego and shamelessly [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Theory & Practice by Michael McAlister
Monday, August 3rd, 2009
Podcast: ISmile228 – Non-mystical Buddhism
In this evening’s talk, Michael discusses what it means to strip mysticism out of our practice in order to uncover the Truth beyond name and form more easily.
via Infinite Smile.
No Comments » - Posted in Podcast by Michael McAlister
Monday, August 3rd, 2009
Build a Bigger Brain
Bodhipaksa, over at Wildmind has just posted this fascinating article:
People who meditate have bigger brains than those who don’t, say researchers at UCLA.
Using high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to scan the brains of meditators and non-meditators, they found that those who meditated showed significantly larger volumes of the hippocampus and areas within the orbito-frontal cortex, [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Theory & Practice, Writing by Michael McAlister
Sunday, August 2nd, 2009
Bobby McFerrin touches on the Universe (One Song)
World Science Festival 2009: Bobby McFerrin Demonstrates the Power of the Pentatonic Scale from World Science Festival on Vimeo.
“No matter where I go, audiences get this.”
