"A highly individualized spiritual belief system composed of selected elements drawn from various doctrines." — Judie Sigdel
A few months ago, I decided to take a hiatus from blogging. I did so, in part, to make final edits to my book, Faith without Labels: a Guide to Eclectic Spirituality. But this time out also allowed me to reassess what right livelihood means at this point in my life. In his first sermon …
In my last post, 2017 Post-Mortem Review, I reflected on what I accomplished -- and what I didn't -- from my 2017 vision board. Today, I'd like to encourage my readers to revisit their 2017 and 2018 intentions again based on the Dalai Lama's refreshingly simple and direct guidelines. During his 2018 New Year's day …
When the student is ready, the teacher will appear. -- Anonymous Several years ago, I attended a Chinese-speaking temple for several months with our dear neighbor Melissa. The abbess and congregants went out of their way to ensure that I always knew what was going on by providing a translator for me, and they couldn't …
One must always be careful of books," said Tessa, "and what is inside them, for words have the power to change us. ― Cassandra Clare, Clockwork Angel My mother taught me to read before I started kindergarten. She set up a classroom in our garage, complete with a blackboard and flash cards. By the time I reached …
I hope that my regular readers are enjoying this series about bardo, the “transitional” state between lives. As you know, I am reprinting it with permission from a scholarly work entitled Auspicious Birth by Master Shi Zhiguo, a contemporary Chinese monk. For authenticity, as well as for the convenience of any subscribers who read Chinese, I am including …
This is the second post in a series about bardo, an “in between” or “transitional” state between lives. It is from a scholarly work by a contemporary Chinese monk, Master Shi Zhiguo, entitled Auspicious Birth. As you can see, I am including the Chinese source as well as the English translation. For additional background and context, please read Auspicious …
Several years ago, I was searching for an English-speaking Buddhist temple in Chinatown. I stumbled across a website, complete with a picture, about a Caucasian man who was a resident monk at a local temple. As fate would have it, I ran into the monk, Venerable Benkong, a couple of weeks later at the bus …
