More on UniversalismA friendly dialogue has opened on another thread. I cut and paste here my last response regarding Universalism after the double destiny belief had been argued for. The only unequivocal statement found in the Bible concerning the character of God is...See More »
A poem of Dogen - 13th century zen masterTo what shall I Liken the world? Moonlight, reflected In dewdrops, Shaken from a crane's bill. Many commentators, led astray by "the languid east" nonsense, and thoughts of maya (understood as "illusion") see such words, understand the poem, as...See More »
A Poem.of DogenTo what shall I Liken the world? Moonlight, reflected In dewdrops, Shaken from a crane's bill. Many commentators, led astray by "the languid east" nonsense, and thoughts of maya (understood as "illusion") see such words, understand the poem, as...See More »
ChristianityIn one or two posts I have referred to what I term "Jesusainity". This is not meant to have been disparaging in any essential way, although I must admit to being dismayed by those who insist upon "one way only" and who then cite the usual couple of...See More »
Pipedreams Just changing my profile picture I turned to Google Images, put in "Pipedream Paintings" and had quite a choice. One or two here:- Well, you can see the one I chose.
Dogen's questionDogen, the 13th century zen master, had as his life koan, his own existential question, this:- As I study both the exoteric and the esoteric schools of Buddhism, they maintain that human beings are endowed with Dharma-nature by birth. If this is the...See More »
What a travesty!The poster carissimi posted a thread concerning some sort of Christian Nativity Light Show. I made the point that it might have been better - given our divided world - to have had a Light Show advocating an Inter-faith perspective. This has been...See More »
An example of thoughtlessnessWell, I say "thoughtlessness" but not sure if this word covers it. When my wife's sister's husband died just prior to Christmas a few years back (of cancer) she received two cards on the same day from the same person. One was a Sympathy Card, the...See More »
UniversalismI feel obliged to nail my colours to the mast......for old times sake. And for what its worth. To be honest I've given up on the Bible and with those who would see it as the "only" word of God and who build their various theologies upon it. If such...See More »
Far from the madding crowdDecided to retreat here to the Buddhist section. Very little activity here and "views" at a minimum. I can waffle to my hearts content as I sit in McDonald's with my coffee. Just done a good deed as I approached McDonald's, seeing this guy hunched...See More »
Farewell "Bunty" Before my stint at Oxfam this afternoon I attended the funeral of a resident at the retirement complex I live in. Known as "Bunty" she was approaching 100 so had a good run for her money. In her will she specified that she would like her carriage to...See More »
Answering before listening or hearing Let's consider Proverbs 18:13 from what some call "The Good Book", "God's Word", aka the Bible. He that answers a matter before he hears it, it is folly and shame to him. (Forget the patriarchal "he" and assume this also applies to the female of...See More »
Interfaith studiesAnother quote from Alan Watts, this in Comparative Religion:- “Comparative religion” or “comparative theology” has hitherto been a strictly academic pursuit, and the better authorities on the subject have been competent scholars and subtle...See More »
Simple truths, too simple for someJust reading a bit of Alan Watts, and this:- There is, of course, no satisfactory way of arguing the merits of any one of the great world religions against the others. In all such debates the judge and the advocate are the same person, for a man...See More »
Gaza again - sometimes the sheer reality hits youSeeing the news, the latest bomb blasts of rather strange targets (which "will be explained later" by the men in black suits sitting safely in offices far far from the horror of it all) and this little child, perhaps a year or so older than my own...See More »
The eternal IncarnationAs understood by many Christian mystics, the Incarnation is Eternal. As Meister Eckhart says:- The Father is eternally giving birth to the Son. This can change our perspective. Instead of looking back to a past event, seeking to "believe" in it,...See More »
Cormoran Strike anyone?Anyone else like the Cormoran Strike novels? Read them all up to The Ink Black Heart, and half way through that. I think that there is a new one out. The TV adaptations have been good.
Philosophy - is there a section?New here and looked for the Philosophy section. Have I missed it? I find it an interesting subject.
