One City

Dharma is everywhere, if we look for it. This song seems to be about doing things we know are going to cause suffering to us and to others, with a ready excuse – blame it on the alcohol. Drink up! In the clear light of day, we know a bad idea when we hear it.…

by Jerry KolberIt’s a shame that with such initial popular support for his health insurance reform President Obama is running into such difficulties making it possible for all American’s to be healthy.  While I tend to vote Democrat, I have voted for Republicans several times in the past few years, but on health care it’s…

by Greg Zwahlen In our What are the Suttas? study course last Saturday at the IDP New York City center, we had a look at a translation from Pali of the Satipatthana Sutta, and a session of meditation practice based on the instructions contained therein. Although the Pali recension of the Sutta is particular to Theravada Buddhism (and…

The Buddhist philosophical and psychological teachings include in-depth instructions on the destructive power of anger, as well as the possibility of channeling it to unvail insight and compassion. This three part series focuses on an understanding of what anger is from the standpoints of Buddhist psychology and iconography, as well as the Tantric Buddhist approach…

by Ellen Scordato What makes us happy? Nicolas Kristof recently wrote a thought-provoking piece in the New York Times on what makes us happy: “Our Basic Human Pleasures: Food, Sex and Giving.” Since we are reading and writing a buddhist blog here, we probably are fairly familiar with the idea that whatever makes us happy…

posted by Ethan Nichtern Martin Luther King Jr has always had a powerful spot in my personal “lineage,” which is a crucial concept in Buddhism. Having attended a school founded directly on MLK‘s beliefs —Manhattan Country School, a small amazing “private school with a public mission,” as school founder Gus Trowbridge put it–my early childhood and…

By Lodro RinzlerMany people look to Siddhartha Gautama as an example of someone who attained nirvana, a buddha. Each week in this column we look at what it might be like if Siddhartha was on his spiritual journey today. How would he combine Buddhism and dating? How would he handle stress in the workplace? What…

posted by Ethan Nichtern Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was born today (not Monday – we just like having Mondays off for some reason). If he was alive today, he would be 81 years old. That fact alone seems sad. And I know what you are going to say, you are going to say he wasn’t…

There’s a tradition in Mali and Senegal called “joking cousins,” or cousinage. Certain ethnic groups are considered cousins of each other, and as cousins, they’re expected to make fun of one another. Here’s an example from an Utne Reader article set in Senegal, that rings pretty accurate, with the author bargaining to buy peanuts.  My…

posted by Ethan Nichtern Did anyone see TV Evangelist Pat Robertson’s comments Wednesday on the Earthquake in Haiti, from which it is believed a death toll of more than 100,000 people may come? He called the event a possible “Blessing in Disguise,” and linked the tragedy to a “Pact with the Devil” the Haitian population…

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