Posted inPolitics

Fact-denying Republicans are like fact-denying religious people

Like lots of other Americans, I'm really happy about Joe Biden defeating Donald Trump in our presidential election. To learn how happy, check out three posts I've written on my other blogs -- here, here, and here. It's virtually 100% certain that Biden won a free and fair election and will be sworn in as president next January. He's on track to win 306 electoral votes, the same number Trump won in 2016, which Trump has never stopped bragging about. The popular vote is hugely in Biden's favor, with additional tallies in New York and California adding to that impressive…
14
Posted inPolitics

Am I happy about Trump’s defeat? Hell, yes!

Tonight I wrote another post on my Salem Political Snark blog about Donald Trump's ever-so-pleasing defeat to Joe Biden, the next President of the United States.  I called it, "Trump may never concede, but Biden has whipped his ass." Here's what I said, along with the tweets that I included in the post. Last Tuesday was tough for progressives like me. Sure, I knew that mail-in ballots, largely from Democrats, were going to take a while to count, and in-person voting on election day would be dominated by Republicans. But knowing is one thing. Emotions are a whole other thing. …
8
Posted inBooks

Wabi sabi: imperfection is the natural state of everything

Perfection is a concept of something that doesn't exist. Nonetheless, we humans cause ourselves grief as we try to attain this non-existent notion.  Too often, our goal is to have a perfect mate, a perfect body, perfect children, a perfect job, a perfect religion, a perfect home decor. Sure, we know that it really isn't possible to achieve the goal of perfection. But it is something to aim for. However, not to those who embrace the subtle Japanese idea, or feeling, of Wabi sabi. Last year I wrote a blog post on this subject after starting to read Beth Kempton's…
3
Posted inMeaning of life

Life makes more sense without any kind of god

Here's a guest blog post from someone I regularly communicate with via email. This recent message from the person resonated with me, because it echoes thoughts I frequently have about the absurdity of believing that life has a purpose imposed from outside of us.  Like, from a god. Enjoy... Hey Brian, how are you and yours doing? My family and I are doing well. Lots of folks around us have COVID, but so far, we’ve managed to avoid it. I’ve mentioned this before, but it’s interesting what hangs around in my head from religion. One thing that rears its ugly…
2
Posted inOpen Threads

Open Thread 35 (free speech for comments)

Here's a new Open Thread. Remember, off-topic comments should go in an Open Thread.  If you don't see a recent comment, or comments, posted, it's because you've failed to follow the above rule. Keep to the subject of a blog post if you leave a comment on it. And if you want to use this blog as a "chat room," do that in an open thread. As noted before, it's good to have comments in a regular blog post related to its subject, and it's also good to have a place where almost anything goes in regard to sharing ideas, feelings, experiences, and such. That place is…
166
Posted inBuddhism

Stephen Bachelor has a beautiful take on Buddhist emptiness

In my shelf of Buddhist books, there's one called something like The Emptiness of Emptiness. I bought it for the title. The description of emptiness in the book left me confused. Not so with the chapter on Emptiness in Stephen Bachelor's Buddhism Without Beliefs.  Below are some extensive quotes from the chapter. Hope you enjoy them as much as I do.  After reading, or rather re-reading, the final passage, I was reminded of an experience I had in college while stoned on mescaline. I related it in a 2007 post, Loosening the bounds of "I am..." Might as well copy it…
3
Posted inBooks Buddhism

Pre-scientific religious dogma shouldn’t be trusted

As I said in my previous post (My #1 problem with Steve Hagen's 'The Grand Delusion"), the teachings of a ninth-century Zen master, Huang Po, shouldn't be given more credence than modern neuroscience. After all, Huang Po, along with everybody else in those pre-scientific times, had no understanding of how the brain works. Naturally people knew how their mind seemed to work, but seeming is a long way from actuality.  This is why Huang Po could claim that conception is totally different from perception. Now it is known that both conception and perception are founded on complex goings-on in the…
3
Posted inBooks Buddhism Consciousness

My #1 problem with Steve Hagen’s “The Grand Delusion”

I'm a big fan of Steve Hagen's books about non-religious Buddhism. "Buddhism Plain and Simple" and "Buddhism is Not What You Think" really resonated with me.  But his new book, "The Grand Delusion: What We Know But Don't Believe" elicited a lot of question marks in the margins.  One problem I had with the book is that while Hagen's other books were marked by humility, this one has a heavy dose of grandiosity. Hagen sets out to solve every issue perplexing humanity, or more accurately, scientists.  Consciousness. Quantum theory. Free will. Existence of God. All these topics, and more, supposedly…
3
Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas

How the RSSB guru was involved with Ranbaxy

If you want to know the truth about Gurinder Singh Dhillon, the guru of Radha Soami Satsang Beas (an Indian religious organization), a great place to look is my compendium of comments left on this blog by "Tara" between 2010 and 2014.  In 2018 I compiled the 27,000 words worth of comments into a post, "Devastating criticism of Gurinder Singh Dhillon by a RSSB insider." The comments, though not entirely negative in regard to Dhillon, paint a different picture of the guru than devotees see when he sits on a stage and talks about spiritual subjects. In a recent comment…
39
Posted inBooks Buddhism Spiritual practice/meditation

Here’s what meditation is and isn’t, from a Buddhist perspective

People have a lot of different views about what meditation is and isn't. I've changed my mind on this subject considerably.  For thirty-five years I viewed meditation as a way to access a supernatural realm of reality, have mystical experiences, and realize God. But that's a narrow perspective, something I realize now. Currently I embrace a form of meditation that is vaguely Buddhist, even though I don't consider myself a devotee of Buddhism. I enjoy being as fully aware as possible of what is happening both inside and outside me, within my mind and without in the world.  Which, I…
6
Posted inAtheism Science

What is versus what might be — a rationale for atheism

There are several reasons why I'm a proud atheist. For example, atheism is firmly grounded in reality, since there is no demonstrable evidence that a god exists. Hence the "a" before theism.  Atheism also is humble. I'm not saying that all atheists are humble, just that not believing in a god is inherently humble, since there is no way to feel that you're part of a god's chosen people if you don't believe in a god. Here's another reason.  Atheism is focused on what is, not what might be. In contrast, religions have the opposite focus, on what might be…
7
Posted inBooks Buddhism

Adyashanti book confirms my commitment to secular spirituality

Recently someone who asked if I'd like to be a guest on her podcast (I would!) responded to an email I sent her which said, in part, "I’m sort of in the spiritual-but-not-religious camp. However, I’m not sure if 'spiritual' has any meaning for an atheist." She replied, saying, "The intersection I think we may intersect is this kind of secular spirituality pursuit. Would you say that's a phrase you kind of resonate with? That's the sense I get from your writings." Sure. Typically secular means not-religious, not-spiritual, not-sacred. But I like the idea of mixing two seemingly contradictory ideas…
5
Posted inBooks Taoism/Tai Chi

“A good traveller has no fixed plans,” says Lao Tzu

The Eastern religion that I was an active member of for 35 years, Radha Soami Satsang Beas (RSSB), liked to talk of being on "the path." (One of the RSSB books is called "The Path of the Masters.") Well, my attitude toward religious or spiritual paths has changed a lot. And it keeps changing.  More and more, I'm convinced that not only is there no evidence that any path leads to God or some supernatural reality, it isn't even wise for someone to consider that they're on a life path in this physical world.  At least, that's how I see…
2
Posted inBuddhism

“Right view” of Buddhism is of the whole dynamic world

Here's another passage from Steve Hagen's book, "Buddhism Plain and Simple," that I liked a lot. It helps explain what Hagen means by seeing, the key notion in his book.  The way I interpret what Hagen says below isn't that we can't have views, opinions, biases. I'm a progressive who wants Kamala Harris to beat Mike Pence's butt in tonight's vice-presidential debate.  Supporters of Pence have a different view. That's fine.  What isn't fine is believing that our view is 100% correct, faultless, impossible to be argued with. As I often say on this blog, nothing is completely certain. Even…
2
Posted inBuddhism

Seeing that there is no see’er inside our head is clear sight

I've been re-reading one of my favorite spiritual books, Steve Hagen's "Buddhism Plain and Simple." I love how Hagen strips out Buddhism's religious and supernatural aspects, leaving the genuine teachings of the Buddha. Hagen's key idea in the book is seeing. Here's a passage I read today that illustrates what he means by this. Breaking the grip of ignorance and craving comes with just seeing, not with doing something particular about it. Once you see, your course of action will naturally follow.  The problem in dealing with craving is that when we try to squelch it, we only step it…
5
Posted inBooks Reality

Reality — a horrible thing to waste (but Trump does)

Yesterday I wrote about Trump's COVID-19 diagnosis over on my Salem Political Snark blog in "Reality is the big winner in Trump's COVID-19 infection." Here's the most philosophical part of the post. Being as deeply philosophical as I am deeply political, I now want to broaden my take on the meaning of Trump coming down with COVID-19. It's a big win for reality! Not that reality needs any help. Reality always comes out on top in the end, because, well, reality is the only thing that is truly real.  A short blog post isn't the place to discuss what I…
11
Posted inBooks Personal/Stories

It feels good to be getting back into yoga

When I was about 20 or 21, I was a yoga dude. My college girlfriend and I had been studying yoga and meditation with (in retrospect) a crazed Greek teacher who managed to cobble together a blend of Eastern religion, yoga, and Christianity. We used to drive around with him in a VW van with Christananda Ashram on the side. Yeah, it was weird, but this was 1969 and 1970, when weirdness permeated the San Francisco Bay Area, where we attended San Jose State College.  Here's a photo of me from my yoga days. I got pretty damn good at…
4
Posted inReality Religions

What is the problem religions are trying to solve?

One of the reasons I'm now an atheist after having embraced an Eastern form of religion for 35 years is that it eventually dawned on me that religions are trying to solve problems that don't really exist.  This isn't the case with other cultural institutions.  For example, health care agencies try to solve the problem of people getting sick. Environmental groups try to solve the problem of pollution. Educational advocates try to solve the problem of helping children learn. It's possible to disagree with how these problems are being addressed, but not with the fact that these are real problems.…
15
Posted inBooks

Get off the satisfaction treadmill where you always want more

I've got several stacks of books in my office that I've read, found interesting, but haven't yet written a blog post about. So I'm going to make a start on them by picking the one on top, "A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy" by William B. Irvine.  Well, I decided to check and see whether I'd written about Irvine's book and it turns out that I had last June, in Past and present are outside our control. So here's my second post about the book. Irvine, a philosophy professor, wants to make Stoicism relevant…
3
Posted inMeaning of life

An ordinary life is all I need. Being religiously special, no thanks.

There are various reasons why I'm happier after ditching religion some fifteen years ago. Feeling ordinary is one reason. I get a lot of satisfaction from no longer believing that I'm on a special path that leads back to God. Of course, virtually every religion believes that same thing.  So religious people are like the children in Garrison Keillor's Lake Wobegon. Everybody is above average. Or at least that's what those who embrace religion think. Supposedly they've been singled out for special treatment by God, Jesus, a guru, good karma, whatever. So the pressure is on to live up to a…
201