Tag Archives: wisdom

Truth and the necessity and futility of belief

This I Believe was a feature that ran four years on National Public Radio. It was based on the 1950′s radio program by the same name hosted by Edward R. Morrow. In the feature, selected individuals would read 500-word essays about a core value they believed in. I am both impressed with and envious of [...]
Posted in Belief, Buddhism, Truth, wisdom | Also tagged , , , | 4 Comments

Good Shepherd, Bad Shepherd*

People are like sheep. Isn’t that why we have the Christian metaphor of the Good Shepherd? Someone who will tell us right from wrong, who will keep us safe from harm, who will tuck us snugly in the warm blankets of heaven on that last and most frightening darkest night of the soul? Not all [...]
Posted in Buddhism, Delusion, Truth, politics | Also tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

A thicket of views

My father is a kind, generous, and helpful man. He has a good sense of humor and seems always to be happy. He’s also very conservative. I’d always known from the way he lived he that he was religiously conservative. “Devout Catholic” is an apt description. But I was well into my adult life before [...]
Posted in Buddhism, Dhamma | Also tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

What Happiness Isn’t and the Source of Wisdom

The Buddha, I’m told, gave some 84,000 talks during his 45 years of teaching. Also, I’m told, he had an uncanny ability to tailor his words to fit the minds and experiences of his listeners. One of the Buddha’s disciples, Ajahn Amaro, the co-abbot of Abhayagiri Buddhist Monastery, also seems to have this ability. This [...]
Posted in Buddhism, Delusion, wisdom | Also tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments