Anger is uncomfortable, but we need to be more careful about how we get rid of it.
Category: Buddhism
(Personal) San Francisco by Starlight – Walking for Suicide Prevention
The first time I attempted suicide was the lowest moment of my life. I was sprawled out on the couch of a relative stranger, miles away from home, certain that I would never see my family again. It was the summer of 1999, and I had been outed by my therapist to my mother as … Continue reading (Personal) San Francisco by Starlight – Walking for Suicide Prevention
(Buddhism) Taking Refuge
I'm not going to lie -- 2016 has been pretty stressful so far. The day job has been demanding and constantly shifting; racial and identity politics have been as contentious as ever; and the rise of Trump signalling the fall of the GOP has been one of the most depressing stories to follow. Meanwhile, there … Continue reading (Buddhism) Taking Refuge
(Personal) Spiritual Appropriation: Lent
Today is the first day of Lent, a 40-day period of fasting and contemplation for those of us who practice Christianity. It begins with Ash Wednesday, where Christians are marked with the ashes of palm leaves that had been blessed during last year's Palm Sunday and told "From dust you are, and to dust you … Continue reading (Personal) Spiritual Appropriation: Lent
(Personal) In The Weeds
So the last two weeks haven't been very good for me, focus wise. For the third week in a row, I haven't posted a new part to the Jackalope Serial Company -- something that I set out wanting to avoid at all costs. My story for People of Colo(u)r Destroy Science Fiction is practically dead … Continue reading (Personal) In The Weeds
(Writing) New Year’s Resolutions, 2016
It feels like I swing back and forth with resolutions from year to year. One year, I'm all business with concrete resolutions that have a pass/fail success condition. Write 6 short stories. Read 10 novels. That sort of thing. The next year, having been beaten down by life and the unexpected, I ease back to … Continue reading (Writing) New Year’s Resolutions, 2016
(Personal) Choices
It's that time. Best of the year lists are popping up all over the pop-culture and entertainment blogs. Books, movies, TV shows, art installations, plays and musicals, even memes are being reviewed so we can try to make sense of the past twelve months. We spent how much time obsessed over that back in February? … Continue reading (Personal) Choices
(Personal) Three Pounds of Flax
A monk asked Tozan when he was weighing some flax: "What is Buddha?" Tozan said: "This flax weighs three pounds." It is so impossibly hard to do one thing at a time in this day and age. As I sit to write this, I'm thinking about a number of other things -- the 500 words … Continue reading (Personal) Three Pounds of Flax
(Personal) The Wolf We Feed
I’m sure you know this story. One evening, an elder sits down with his son. The son had been getting into trouble because he had problems with anger and lashing out, so the elder tells him a quick fable. “There are two wolves fighting inside of each and every one of us,” he says. “One … Continue reading (Personal) The Wolf We Feed
Spillage
There's a Zen story that goes something like this: a Buddhist scholar comes to a Zen master and asks him for teaching. The scholar then proceeds to establish his credentials, talking about how long he's studied, the doctorate he's received, the professors he's associated with, the whole thing. The master listens while pouring the scholar … Continue reading Spillage
From the Desk of Jakebe T. Rabbit 