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Activist Buddhism โ a review of A New Buddhist Path
Since the age of 3, I have been interested in other peoples. Apparently that was the age when I toddled up to the television, pointed to the evening news, and stated: “I am going to Tokyo.” All throughout my travels and…
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39
Today I am 39. “3” in Japanese is san. “9” in Japanese is kyuu. San-kyuu is how Japanese pronounce “Thank you.” Thus, I am making my 39th year my Thank You Year. I intend to me more mindful of how I…
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Timeline of Japanese in the Okanagan
May is Asian Heritage month in Canada. Here in the Okanagan our local Asian Heritage Month committee has been working for months to ensure that there are a number of events and activities to raise awareness of Asian-Canadian contributions to our…
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Drifting towards the stream
Parallel to the shore Even while learning spells for invisibility, or getting a tattoo of protection from the war-goddess Marishiten, I never really considered myself “into” Buddhism. It was always a peripheral topic to my main interest in Asia and the…
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A hypercompetitive race โ review of The History of White People
The History of White People by Nell Irvin Painter By default, any book claiming to be a history of “white” people must necessarily be a history of “race science.” Surely one must clearly define the boundaries of your subject? It is…
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Conscious labour and supreme blessings
To be well caring of mother, of father, to look after spouse and children, to engage in a harmless occupation, this is a blessing supreme. This line is from a discourse with the Buddha known as the Mangala Sutta. The Buddha…
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Best of 2016
2016 has been a tumultuous year, for both the entire world and for me personally. I have categorized some of the best hits and big changes below into three categories: Life, Posts and Media. Life Death and rebirth This year we…
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Japan travel roundup
On this trip to Japan, we resolved to visit some of the nearby regions to Kyoto on a couple of day trips. I took tons of photos on our travels, but there are a few highlights that I would like to…
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Quarterly review: FY16Q4
Each quarter I do a quick roundup of the book and film reviews that I do on Goodreads and Letterboxd. These reviews are too short and too off-the-cuff to be included with the more in depth reviews I do on this…
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Mental Flexibility: My first Zen experience
In 1335, a few years after he abdicated the throne, the 95th emperor of Japan Hanazono (1297-1348) decided to become a Buddhist monk. He entered the Rinzai school of Zen Buddhism and donated one of his palaces, turning it into a…
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