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Am I a Zen Buddhist?

Earlier this week, I visited a Zen Buddhist temple. As I sat there listening to Abbot Carlson lecture (along with the other students from my World Religions course), I couldn’t help but wonder, Am I a Zen Buddhist too? The Abbot began his talk by tracing the history of Buddhism. Over the centuries, Buddhism, like all majorContinue reading “Am I a Zen Buddhist?”

Thanks for what?

Generally, I’m not thankful on Thanksgiving. So here’s what I am doing to remedy the situation: Today, I am making a list of 100 things for which I am thankful. Then I will remember who is the Giver of good gifts. Let’s do it together. Post your top 10: A baby on the way (7-11-11) AContinue reading “Thanks for what?”

Online Junkies Beware!

I met with another writer last week and she told me about an intriguing project: A lady is living in a glass room for 30 days and can only communicate through online means. The project is happening here in Portland. She is on Day 18. Here’s the link: http://www.publicisolationproject.com/blog/ Comments below

The Prophet Nietzsche

A main component of Friedrich Nietzsche’s thinking was the notion of a master-slave morality. He asserts that in society there are people with power, aka masters, and people without power, aka slaves. I think we can all agree with that idea. We may not agree with the terms, master and slave, but we agree that there are people withContinue reading “The Prophet Nietzsche”

A Simple Gift

In the post last Thursday, I said we would talk about provocative ideas. Here’s one: Hannah is pregnant!!! I know. It is exciting. *Hugs, high fives, thank-yous, more thank-yous, taking a bow* I know I said I would not talk about the mundane things of life, and my friends, this is certainly not mundane. This falls under the heading of “significant life happening.”Continue reading “A Simple Gift”

A Preview of Things to Come

First, we will look at provocative ideas, like the prophetic ministry of Friedrich Nietzsche or the possibility of heaven being a type of communism. We’ll look at philosophical ideas like post-modernism, utilitarianism, and the golden mean of Aristotle. We’ll also come out of the clouds from time to time and talk about things at ground-level. We’ll look at ethicalContinue reading “A Preview of Things to Come”

In the beginning…

Yesterday, I tried to start my writing career. It failed. The Internet gave me guff. Maybe it wasn’t my time. Maybe I had too many needless words. Omit, cries William Strunk, omit needless words! Today, I tried again. Success.