I’ve blogged a lot in the past about our friend and four-time past interviewee Bhikkhu Bodhi and his wonderful organization Buddhist Global Relief. BGR has a big event coming up, one devoted to addressing hunger and poverty, and you can help! See the flyer below or visit www.buddhistglobalrelief.org.
In lieu of a podcast this week — sorry; I got behind with the start of classes at University of the West — I’m posting an interview I did for Unity Online Radio’s “Let’s Talk About It” with the Rev. Dr. Tom Shepard during this blog’s recent hiatus. (It seems to fit better in this, the “Buddhist Studies” category, than in either the “Dharma Talk” or “Community Engagement” categories.) Here’s how the interview is described on the show’s website:
Buddhism in the Bible Belt: An Interview With an American Buddhist Minister
Original air date: Thursday, July 14, 2011Episode Description:
The Shambhala Sun says of this week’s guest: “Rev. Danny Fisher calls himself ‘just a Buddhist minister trying to benefit beings.’ Clearly, it’s something he does well.” Let’s Talk About It assistant producer Jesse Tanner will assist Dr. Tom in this episode as they interview one of Jesse’s former professors. Rev. Danny Fisher, M.Div., D.B.S. (Cand.), is an ordained Buddhist lay minister and coordinator of the Buddhist Chaplaincy Program at University of the West (UWest), where he also serves as a teaching professor. Prior to UWest, Danny was adjunct faculty for Antioch Education Abroad’s Buddhist Studies in India program. He earned his bachelor’s degree in religion from Denison University, master of divinity from Naropa University, and is currently finishing his doctorate in Buddhist Studies at UWest. Professor Fisher is certified as a mindfulness meditation instructor by Naropa University in association with Shambhala International, serves on the advisory council for the Upaya Buddhist Chaplaincy Program, and in 2009 became the first-ever Buddhist member of the National Association of College and University Chaplains.
I had a great time talking with Dr. Tom and my old buddy Jesse. Thanks, fellas.
I did a little teaching this past week for Tricycle: The Buddhist Review in celebration of their twentieth anniversary. (FYI, the brand new Fall 2011 issue celebrates this momentous occasion. In addition, Supporting and Sustaining Members can download a new e-book, which collects some of the magazine’s best writing over twenty years, for free here. If you’re not a member, join Trike now and you can still get the e-book for a limited time.) The magazine asked about twenty of us to offer a small teaching on gratitude, and I’m happy to have been able to contribute something that they found useful. You can read the teaching, which will serve as this week’s “Dharma Talk,” on Tricycle‘s blog here.
And, of course, I must say: Congratulations, Trike!! Here’s to many more years of life…
Lastly, I should mention that in the piece I talk about one of my first Buddhist teachers, the late Godwin Samararatne. You can find out more about him at www.godwin-home-page.net. Like so many, I miss his gentle presence in our world very much, and would like to dedicate the merit of this piece to him…
The late Godwin Samararatne. Image via the Godwin Home Page at www.godwin-home-page.net.
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"Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and staff watch the Senate vote to raise the debt limit on Tuesday, August 2, 2011." Image via U.S. Treasury Department.
I’ve been thinking a lot about the economy lately. Obviously. Like everybody else, I’m sure. I confess that the machinations of the business world are largely mysterious to me. What little I (seem to) understand, though, is the source of some anger and sadness.
I’ve had a few quotes rattling around in my head…
I need to do a lot more reading and ruminating before I’m able to say anything skillful or useful about the current financial crisis. I will say at this juncture that what makes me angry and sad is that, as I see it, we’ve once again found ourselves in a situation where the wealthiest among us are being excused from making any helpful sacrifice whatsoever (despite the fact their tax breaks are the single largest contributor to our country’s deficit) while the poorest among us grow yet poorer and the rest of us in between struggle on.
As I said, I’m trying to do the best I can to educate myself in an area (economics/business/finance) that I’m not particularly strong in. I’m also trying to pay attention to news developments regarding the U.S. economy. In the latter endeavor, I’ve found the below resources helpful and am using the space today to recommend them to you. For how can I (or we) effectively engage our community on these knotty issues without keeping up on them? Please pay attention, everyone.
And just in case you didn’t see it, Warren Buffet wrote a scorchingly awesome op-ed for the New York Times this week on the aforementioned issue of taxes for the super-rich. The op-ed has in turn inspired a petition from MoveOn.Org, which you can sign here. I hope you will.
SIGN THE PETITION!
“I stand with Warren Buffett. It’s time for Congress to stop coddling the super-rich and make them pay their fair share.”
[UPDATED at 1:42 p.m. PST on August 21st, 2011.]
Apologies for the delay, everyone! (As a penance, I’ve posted a glimpse into my twisted process above.) The third episode of our podcast series on Buddhist Religions: A Historical Introduction by Richard H. Robinson, Willard L. Johnson, and Thanissaro Bhikkhu, has dropped! In this installment we look at section 1.3 of the book (pg. 4-11), “The Quest for Awakening,” which tells the story of the Buddha’s life. Give a listen…
As always, I would be remiss if I didn’t tell you that you can also subscribe directly to the podcast here or through iTunes by using this link (or just by searching the podcasts in the iTunes Store for “Rev. Danny Fisher”).
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