Rev. Danny Fisher

The great Rod Meade Sperry speaks to Frank Ostaseski for Shambhala Sun Audio today. Mr. Ostaseski, of the Metta Institute and the Zen Hospice Project, is, as Rod says, “the consummate authority” in the Western Buddhist world on “care for sick and dying loved ones.” Give their conversation a listen here. (This is the first of two conversations, and I’ll be sure to post about the second when it is posted. Also, don’t miss the opportunity for a Q&A with Mr. Ostaseski on July 6th at Shambhala Sun Space.)

Over at the Religion News Blog, the fabulous Daniel Burke comments on that New York Times article about Tibetan monks studying the hard sciences that I blogged about recently. Daniel offers some important criticisms about the piece, and, as ever, has vital things to say about the way Buddhism is covered in the mass media. In particular, I appreciated these thoughts:

…The Times‘ whole story is based on the isn’t-it-weird-that-monks-are-studying-science factor, which, I’m sorry, is really tired. It’s particularly tired because it’s based on false assumptions about how many Buddhist monks view the world: they don’t get trapped into the science v. religion; mind v. matter dualisms. That’s a Western construction, and a pernicious one at that.

What’s odd about the story, the fish-out-of-water aspect, is that Tibetan monks who don’t usually have access to Western universities are now finding open doors. That, to me, seems more relevant and honest than trying to foist some Western intellectual baggage onto an otherwise nice story. If you’re going to do that, at least find out about the philosophy of the people you’re writing about.

Take a look at the full version of Daniel’s post here.

“UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon (pictured) is to meet senior members of the party of Aung San Suu Kyi when he visits Myanmar this week but has no plans yet to see the opposition leader, a party spokesman said. Ban is set to arrive in the military-ruled nation on Friday for a two-day visit focused on pressing the junta to release all political prisoners including the jailed Nobel peace laureate.” Photo by Yuriko Nakao for the Agence France-Presse.
Here’s today’s news about Burma:

This from Avaaz.org:

A nuclear weapons proliferation crisis is rapidly building in North Korea, Iran and beyond.

But out of the spotlight, Global Zero, a new alliance of prominent diplomats, military and civic leaders, is beginning to persuade the nuclear powers that there is only one answer to solve this crisis: the elimination of all nuclear weapons.

Presidents Obama and Medvedev are meeting next week. Let’s call on them to put their historic pledge into action and lead global efforts to achieve a nuclear free world. Sign the declaration below and help build a massive citizen call to action. Global Zero leaders will deliver it directly to the Presidents of the US and Russia.

We believe that to protect our children, our grandchildren and our civilization from the threat of nuclear catastrophe, we must eliminate all nuclear weapons globally. We therefore commit to working for a legally binding, verifiable agreement, including all nations, to eliminate nuclear weapons by a date certain.

Sign the petition here.

I’m totally psyched to share with you that the Department of Religious Studies at UWest will soon host a lecture by my good buddy (and yours in Buddhoblogosphere) Justin Whitaker. The event is free and all are welcome to attend. You’ll find all the pertinent information below:

“A Buddhist Reading Kant, a Kantian Reading the Buddha”

a lecture by
Justin Whitaker
of
Goldsmiths College/The University of Montana

Monday, July 13th, at 3:30 p.m.
AD207 (“Smart Classroom”)
Justin Whitaker is a Ph.D. candidate in Religious Studies at Goldsmiths College, University of London. His dissertation title is “Buddhist and Kantian Ethics: A Comparative Analysis.” He holds an M.A. in Buddhist Studies from Bristol University in England and a B.A. in Philosophy from The University of Montana. In addition, before studying in London, he did graduate studies in Philosophy at The University of Montana. He was an Instructor in Buddhist Studies at The University of Montana in 2006-2007, and served as Administrative Officer at the institution’s Center for Ethics this past year. Justin has lectured on Buddhist ethics, meditation, and philosophy in Spain, England, and the U.S. A practicing Buddhist for eight years, he has led meditation groups since 2003. He currently resides in Missoula where he leads the UM Campus Sangha and meditates on Montana’s mountains and rivers. His award-winning blog is American Buddhist Perspective (http://americanbuddhist.blogspot.com).