Since I moved in with my partner, I have gotten my own shrine & meditation room; I'm very grateful for this privilege. :) As you can see, it's fairly representative of my dual Theravāda and Zen roots, although I tend to err on the side of Zen aesthetics and of Theravāda practice. :yingyang: I c...

I just posted about Easter on my blog this morning -- the holiday has been on my mind quite a bit, what with the family being particularly active in their church and all... May we each practice rightly, observe the day (if we so choose) in memory of another spiritual legacy, and refrain from thought...

James the Giant, A very poignant image there... even my 2-year-old daughter noticed the image and clearly equated it to a person, pointing, gasping, and exclaiming "Oh no! Oh no!" Definitely something to think about -- I don't think I know anyone who has ever seen a decomposing body before...

Practicing as I have for the last two-ish years, I have gone from being an angry, fat, boozer who lashed out at everyone who got in his way to... well... not being those things. I stopped drinking the week I decided that I wanted to honestly be able to identify as a Buddhist (oddly, the week of Chri...

I don't know for certain that chanting (of any kind) necessarily has healing powers in and of itself, but if your intentions are positive and your actions are skillful, positive results are to be expected.

Nicely done. Please be well, friend.

I'm not entirely convinced that the word we generally translate to mean India wasn't used more widely to indicate the whole world in general... just in a more familiar sense. I'm no Pali expert though... Either way, it isn't something I worry much about honestly. It doesn't affect the here and now t...

Venerable Thanissaro wrote this on the subject of "going for refuge," basically beginning Buddhist practice: http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/thanissaro/refuge.html It won't answer all of your questions, but it was very helpful to me when I chose to follow Buddhism and should pro...

Oddly, every jacket / coat I wear is leather... but not one of them was purchased by me. Somehow I've accumulated several very expensive leather jackets as gifts from family. I would not have purchased such things for myself, not just due to a sense of shame at the loss of life (though there is that...

I too am a convert to Buddhism from Christianity. Fortunately, I didn't convert out of spite for Christianity -- I chose to leave Christianity because I didn't feel like it was "working" to bring me even a moderate level of peace. I know many Christians, and am reasonably happily married t...

I think if "try" is the operative word here, I have to echo appicchato. Surely there is nothing wrong with talking Dhamma among friends -- those who actually inquire upon you for advice -- but for one to make the assertion that one should "try" to convert others is, in my opinion...

As for the question of why bhikkus disrobe, Santikaro has married since disrobing and speculation is that points to the answer of "why". I think we spend a lot of time worrying about the reasons why one might disrobe when those reasons may not really be any of our business. I don't mind t...

My shrine and meditation area has received some updates since Christmas as a result of some generous gifts from family and friends (Thank you!). http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/gg262/Hickersonia/Shrine/shrine1-19-141_zps76adb264.jpg ( Full Size ) The new rupa required the creation of a sort of st...

Our little shrine consists of a small Gandharan Buddha from Afghanistan, made in the 2nd century (if the art dealer is to be believed). It is made from pink schist, and was once part of a frieze. My 17 year-old son helped in the design and construction of the stand. My wife added the orange. She wa...

Wow... sounds like the Burmese monks are far more integrated into their country's political sphere than maybe they ought to be... not that it is really any of my business really. I imagine that ideas such as these don't make a particularly positive impression upon the country's Muslim population, th...

I was thinking about buying this 11'' Buddha statue from Amazon for $23 (£14). What do you think? Or do you know of a nicer one I could purchase? Looks fine to me. As does this one: http://www.amazon.com/Buddha-Earth-Touching-Mudra-Statue/dp/B004SIDNUY/ref=pd_sim_hg_3 I was looking at that one, but...