Rev. Danny Fisher

OK, one last message–this one to my fellow North Carolina voters–before I go to Chicago. See below. I’ll be back to blogging on November 8th.

Just a heads-up that I’m going to be offline for the week. I’ve left lots of good stuff below, though–just scroll down.

I’m leaving Greensboro tomorrow for Chicago, where I will be attending the 2008 American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting and presenting a paper to the Buddhist Critical-Constructive Reflection Group. While I’m in town, I’ll be rooming with fellow Buddhoblogger Justin Whitaker of the fantastic American Buddhist Perspective. This is my second annual meeting, and Justin’s first. I’ve warned him to be prepared for the Buddhist Studies parties, which are something like this.

After Chicago, I’ll head to my hometown of Crawfordsville, IN, for a few days to visit some old friends and meet their new baby daughter. I’ve blogged about Crawfordsville before in this post. It’s a really lovely little town, though it must be said: it’s decidedly less glamorous than the Windy City. Need proof? Try this sign that stayed up for quite a while last summer:

I’ll talk to you all again in a week or so. And, hey: when I get back, we’ll have elected a new president and all this campaign nonsense will be behind us. For now, anyway.

Via Molly De Shong over at Shambhala Sun Space: Our friend and past interviewee Joan Halifax Roshi plans a retreat with activist Jim Gollin at the Upaya Zen Center this November 4th-6th entitled “Politics and Compassion Election Retreat: Buddhist Perspectives on Democracy and the Environment”. The retreat is described this way:

This retreat gives us the opportunity to sit upright and explore our response to the elections of 2008. Observing the election outcome, we examine our relationship to the democratic process. What can we learn from Buddhism about our modern democracy? How do we deal with our own feelings of partisanship, self, and other? We discuss the interrelatedness of society, biology, and culture, the rights of all sentient beings and the duties of citizenship in an era of globalization and climate change.

Register online here.

Our thoughts, prayers, and practice are with the victims of the terrible earthquake in Pakistan. To contribute to relief efforts, follow this link.

Visit http://www.wecansolveit.org.