On Moral Luck
In my last post I wrote about the joy of wanting less. While I stand by the article, I also realize that it and similar ideas leave out something incredibly important in life: luck. And, when we talk about luck in today’s world, we should also think about privilege. So today I wanted to explore some of this territory. A Buddhist view of luck? As a scholar of Buddhism, I
Our Dear Sophie – (Part 4 of 4)
Yesterday. It started when Marie said to me that Sophie couldn’t make it to the bedroom without stopping to rest her legs. She could barely walk that far. When I went to check on her, she didn’t react when I petted her. She was in pain. And I felt, she was telling me it was time to go. I called the ER vet service here in Missoula. The guy I
Finding Joy Through Wanting Less
The columnist Arthur C. Brooks recently wrote in The Atlantic, “Satisfaction . . . is the greatest paradox of human life. We crave it, we believe we can get it, we glimpse it and maybe even experience it for a brief moment, and then it vanishes. But we never give up on our quest to get and hold on to it.” Buddhists, when they hear such wisdom, often say something
Intention: The Secret Ingredient to Great Meditation
Meditation in some form or another has been hyped for decades now. And it is safe to say that it is fully mainstream today. Apps you can download are valued at millions of dollars. Videos on YouTube are watched again and again. There is even a movement of mindfulness critics, from leaders of Western religions worried it will convert their members, to traditional Buddhists who are concerned that something precious
The Importance and Power of Selflessness
I first studied Buddhism at the University of Montana, Missoula, in 2000. It was a different time then. Higher education was focused on creating a whole person, a whole citizen. Today it seems that concerns about grades and jobs dominate. Not to mention the rise in costs. Along with the Buddhism class, I also took a course on Buddhist meditation for additional credits. I also took a meditation field trip—essentially
Letting go of some fixed ideas about Mindfulness
Navigating our complex world of loud news and louder opinions can be incredibly difficult. It helps to hold on to our own opinions and ideas loosely. This doesn’t mean that we just go with whatever other people are saying or doing. But it does mean that we are open to changing our minds on things. When I was a student of philosophy some 20 years ago, I was deeply enamored