Religion Dispatches
The kosher Buddhism presented in “Buddhists’ Delight” is basically relaxation. Not so relaxed that we forget about our liberal political commitments, but relaxed enough that we don’t check our Blackberries when they buzz.
Read MoreA kinder, gentler approach?
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The film is disingenuous—or rather the marketing for it is—as it suggests that we make a choice between nature and grace. One reviewer suggests that it’s about the middle way, about the redemption of siblings.
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A new study concludes that the brains of born-again Christians are smaller than those of other affiliations or non-believers. Welcome back to the 19th century.
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There’s a 40-year interval between Stephen Levine’s previous book of poetry and his latest—that’s quite a span. Though his books of prose have found over a million readers, this newest book flies under the radar. Why? One is the still-marginal place of poetry in American culture. For book publishers, the “poetry marketplace” (a kind of oxymoron, since poetry operates largely outside the cash nexus), is largely fueled by writing programs in academia. True, Coleman Barks’ renditions of medieval Sufi poet Rumi captivated a national audience, for a spell. But America’s own living, devotional, mystic poets find a much smaller audience, and slip through the cracks of critical discourse.
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The desire to regain control in the face of terrifying events is so strong we’ll do or say almost anything to put ourselves back in charge.
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Scenes of destruction and human suffering in Japan have elicited worldwide support, both material and spiritual. But amid global calls for prayer and other religious responses, the most widely publicized example of a religious response to Japan’s worst disaster since the Second World War is…
Read MoreStudents have tried to explain away “fiscal extravagance, alcoholism, cruelty, sex addiction, violence, and even rape” among revered spiritual teachers, says Erik Storlie.
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Twenty Zen teachers in the West sent open letters to The Zen Studies Society in New York. With compassion and understanding, their general thrust is to ask that the Society’s former head, Eido Tai Shimano, not be allowed access to students—a strong penalty for a teacher.
Read MoreColbert finds his “interconnectedness.”
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