Monkeyhouse Zendo

I should probably start this series of blog entries with the disclaimer that I am not a scholar, expert or in any way to be looked to as an authority on anything. This is first and foremost an exercise in regular writing and a means by which I can identify [...]

So starting tomorrow I’ll be working on the following achievements: Stay away for 7 days – Give up soda for a week I’ve already done this one but didn’t really do it intentionally so that probably doesn’t count. Starter diet – Give up fast food for a month Shouldn’t be [...]

Buddhism is big on lists and when I say big on lists I mean really big on lists. 3 Jewels 4 Noble Truths 8-fold path 5 Aggregates 4 Immesurables 10 Perfections 37 Qualities in 7 sets 4 frames of reference 4 right exertions 4 bases of power 5 faculties 5 [...]

I occasionally frequently have days when I wonder if self identifying as a Buddhist isn’t a combination of irony and an attempt to pull the wool over other people’s eyes. I’ve been reading a lot more books on Buddhism and Buddhist themed blogs recently and I’m constantly struck by the gulf [...]

One afternoon in the early 90s I was walking on the 3rd St Promenade in Santa Monica with my friend Heather when I heard what can only be described as the sound of unadulterated joy. A little girl, about three years old, was getting her face licked by a friendly [...]

This morning it was my turn to “lead” the discussion at the UU Buddhist Meditation group (four or five guys that meet weekly, gab, and sit). I spent some time over the last week trying to figure out what I was going to talk about, wrote down a bunch of [...]

My friend Jim has restarted the Buddhist meditation group at the local Unitarian Universalist church. I’d gone previously a few times when it was being run by James Ownbey (so many Jameses) but didn’t really stick with it. At the moment it’s being held at 10am in the office of the minister [...]

So I haven’t been keeping track of what I’ve been doing this year. I really need to be better about it but I’m going to try to at least post a daily status update for the next week as I get the last few bits up. So far I have [...]

I’ve always been annoyed by elves, particularly J.R.R. Tolkein’s elves. I never spent much time analyzing why they get under my skin the way they do but I had an epiphany this evening. I realized why I’d probably start punching elves in the face ten minutes if I ever found [...]

Screw you. Stop trying to make the American public even more ignorant of chemistry, biochemistry and science in general with ridiculous statements like “sugar is sugar”. Certainly you’ve covered your ass by comparing HFCS to table sugar (sucrose) but the statement “sugar is sugar” is flat out incorrect. Don’t believe [...]