Buddha’s death considered as we approach Vesak Shakyamuni died from eating tainted pork accidentally offered to him by a well-meaning lay devotee…. that story permeates Buddhist history and mythology, and has spawned many debates both about both his death and the morality of eating animal flesh. Okay, it wasn’t necessarily
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Scripturient: Blog & Commentary: Master Shih Te’s Words
I see a lot of silly folks who claim their own small spine’s Sumeru, the sacred mountain that supports the universe. Piss ants, gnawing away at a noble tree, with never a doubt about their strength. They chew up a couple of Sutras, and pass themselves off as Masters. Let
Continue readingScripturient: Blog & Commentary: A Buddhist Guide for Voters
While it was intended as a general ‘charter of free inquiry,’ the Buddhist Kalama Sutra (or sutta) contains wise words that all voters – especially local voters – should heed during the municipal election campaign. The Kalamas were a people in ancient India. Gotama visited them and stopped in a town called Kesaputta, where
Continue readingEclectic Lip: Unity in Diversity
Polycarp of Smyrna Former Canadian Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson, or LBP – not to be confused with U.S. President LBJ, dominant Japanese political party the LDP, or women’s wardrobe staple the LBD – once obscurely remarked that Canada needed to maintain a “unity in diversity”. (I’d’ve written “famously remarked”,
Continue readingScripturient: Blog & Commentary: Happiness & Fulfillment
There are ten methods for meditating on the world, begins one scroll in the 1,300-year-old collection of Tang-dynasty sutras from Xian, China, that can lead us to happiness and fulfillment. I realize that sounds like the opening of a New Age piffle book, but the sutras were actually discovered in
Continue readingScripturient: Blog & Commentary: Montaigne’s words on anger
“There is no passion that so shakes the clarity of our judgment as anger,” Montaigne wrote in Book II of his Essays (Chapter 31). “It is a passion that takes pleasure in itself and flatters itself.” That strikes me a very Buddhist statement, a comment lifted from the Dhammapada, although
Continue readingScripturient: Blog & Commentary: Fools
Even though for all his life, A fool attends upon a wise man, He no more knows wisdom Than a spoon knows the flavours of soup. The Dhammapada, Chapter 5, verse 64
Continue readingScripturient: Blog & Commentary: A Compassionate Buddha?
There’s a story in Valerie Roebuck’s translation of the Dhammapada (Penguin Classics, 2010, commentary on verse 6, p 115-116) that caught my eye recently, and it made me wonder what the moral or ethical precept was buried in it. And it makes me question what it says about the supposed
Continue readingScripturient: Blog & Commentary: Reading the Dhammapada
One of the most inspirational, moving books in my library is the Dhammapada, a collection of sayings of the Buddha, originally from the Pali canon. I’ve had a version of the Dhammapada in my library since the late 1960s, and read it through many times. It’s good to reread it
Continue readingEclectic Lip: Putting the “X” back in Xmas
Xtians began using “Xmas” 500 years ago, since in Greek, X is the “Ch” in Christ Around the holidays, some people (not to name names or anything) urge modern society to put the “Christ” back in Christmas. There’s much to criticize about the hollow vacuousness of consumer culture, after all.
Continue readingmark a rayner | scribblings, squibs & sundry monkey joys: Buddhist protestor
Of course, the very idea of a protestor kinda violates the 8-fold path a bit. Alltop is dharma. Cartoon by the suffering SMBC.
Continue readingScripturient: Blog & Commentary: The Moral Compass
I have a laminated card beside me, wallet-sized so it can be carried around easily. I made it at my shop a few years ago; just a simple, two-sided business card with some text. It’s part of my personal moral compass. We all benefit from some guidance, at times, something to
Continue readingmark a rayner | scribblings, squibs & sundry monkey joys: Bubble Mode
As a form of travel, giant soap bubble is suited to Buddhist monks, toddlers, and whimsical characters from children’s stories. It is not recommended for 60-year-old podiatrists with catastrophic waxy ear buildup and the inability to stand on a skein … Continue reading →
Continue readingEclectic Lip: The Innovator’s Dilemma, Toyota edition
This car — yes, this car — has impeded Toyota’s electric efforts My post on how The Innovator’s Dilemma explains why Toyota lags in electric vehicles — and how Kleiber’s Law explains there’s nothing for them to worry about (yet), is now up on GreenCarReports. While the Tesla stats were
Continue readingmark a rayner | scribblings, squibs & sundry monkey joys: The Master
I still think back to those days in Japan, when I studied zazen under the guidance of Rōshi Miaki. I had been looking for something in my life, and when I stumbled upon the group of monks, quietly sitting, I … Continue reading →
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: A Stoic Resurgence
In reading a few other blogs lately, Stoicism has come up a few times, and I’m seeing it in a few books I’ve been reading lately too. Maybe it’ll stick this time. In Robin Hanson’s blog discussing why middle aged people are most pessimistic, I suggested that maybe it’s a
Continue readingDeath By Trolley: This New Year’s, Resolve to Stop Chasing Happiness
Many wisdom traditions encourage a path or process orientation rather than a destination or product orientation to living well. Happiness makes for a poor goal. It’s not particularly well-defined. What is happiness? How much happiness is enough to be happy with – to not eventually be let down by? The
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