The Emptiness of Emptiness

August 5, 2020
For a three-year period in my life—1974-1976—I was deeply into the Prajnaparamita Sutras. My spiritual practice during this period focused on two things: developing a mind that dwelled upon nothing, and seeing all things as empty. But then, thanks to the teachings of Adi Da Samraj (then known as Bubba Free John), I had an epiphany: I realized that my attempts to develop a non-abiding mind and to negate phenomenal reality by imagining it as empty were simply forms of the avoidance of relationship (or whole-body communion with the Whole).

After my epiphany, I continued, for a few years, to randomly attend sittings at Zen groups, but I no longer had an interest in Zen philosophy and its apotheosis of emptiness. I basically forgot about the emptiness Dharma until 2003, when a friend introduced me to the teachings of Ayn Rand, which not only enlightened me on emptiness, but also inspired me to study academic texts on the subject by Buddhism professors. As I read these texts, which typically explain emptiness philosophy in the context of Nagarjuna’s Madhyamaka, I further refined my consideration of the subject, and I knew it was just a matter of time until I wrote on it.… Read the full article

Buddhist Politics 501

July 7, 2020
[Note: This is a chapter excerpted from my book "Zen Mind, Thinker's Mind: New Perspectives on Buddhadharma, Consciousness, and Awakening."]

According to the Pew Research Center’s party affiliation among Buddhists by political ideology survey in 2014 (http://www.pewforum.org/religious-landscape-study/compare/political-ideology/by/party-affiliation/among/religious-tradition/buddhist/), 12% of American Buddhists identify themselves as conservatives, 32% as moderates, 54% as liberals, and 2% “don’t know.” There is little reason to doubt the veracity of this survey because other such surveys provide similar results.

Left-wing Buddhists not only outnumber right-wingers by more than a 4/1 ratio, but many of them are now devoted to combining Buddhism with a “progressive” political agenda. At his blog Hardcore Zen (hardcorezen.info), Brad Warner comments on this phenomenon:

"What bugs me is when it appears that liberal, left-leaning Buddhists are trying to mix Buddhism with their political agenda in precisely the same way people like Pat Robertson mix Christianity with their conservative political agenda.… Read the full article

Introduction to “Zen Mind, Thinker’s Mind”

July 7, 2020
[Note: I have finished writing and editing my new book "Zen Mind, Thinker's Mind." I will begin the process of preparing the cover and lay-out, and when that is done, it will be self-published. This book took months longer than I had anticipated to write and edit, because I kept adding material, and it took me at least 15 read-throughs to work out the "glitches." But I'm very happy with the final manuscript. Here's the Introduction, so you know what to look forward to when it becomes available.]

In 2018, I decided that my next writing project would be a Buddhist “trilogy” consisting of texts on Dzogchen, Zen, and Pali Buddhism. I was motivated to undertake this project because I believe that Buddhism is in need of an “upgrade.” As I see it, there isn’t a single living Buddhism teacher or writer who has “cracked the code” and is able to properly elaborate on Buddhadharma, Consciousness, and Awakening. Given my view of the “fallen state” of Buddhism and my belief in my ability to “resurrect” it, I began my project.

I started my “trilogy” with the Dzogchen text, but at the point I was half-done writing it, a series of epiphanies convinced me to put it aside and instead focus on this Zen text.… Read the full article

Update on my Books

September 13, 2019
I have finished two books—one on power-of-now meditation and one on Zen—but I have decided to wait until 2020 to publish them. This is the case because I am currently preoccupied with various non-related problems and projects; hence, I don’t have the time or energy to devote to the publishing and marketing process. Moreover, I prefer to devote whatever free time I can find to refining and finishing my Dzogchen text. With this in mind, my goal is to consecutively publish all three texts next year, then start Facebook groups on power-of-now meditation and Buddhism.

After I publish these three books, my plan is to start work on a Kabbalah/Qabalah text. I had originally planned to next write a book on the Buddha’s teachings, thereby completing my Buddhist “trilogy” (Paleo, Zen, and Tibetan Buddhism), but I need a break from Buddhism, and working on a hermetic Kabbalah/Qabalah text, which should be fun and challenging, will provide it.

Finally, if time permits, I will also edit my 300 or so deleted-by-Amazon spiritual book reviews, and put them together into a Kindle text. Moreover, I also plan to write a half-dozen or so new book reviews, and include them in the Kindle text.… Read the full article

A Brief Update

April 9, 2019
If you click on the Book Reviews tab at the top of the page, you’ll see that I am now (gradually) posting my 300 + reviews that Amazon unceremoniously deleted. These (or at least 90+ % of them) should all be posted by summer of 2020. And eventually, I’ll edit them and also publish them as an inexpensive Kindle book.

I have finished writing two books—"The Power of Now Meditation Guide” and a Zen Book—and I will start the publishing process on them within the next few months. I am also 75% done with a Dzogchen book, and that should be published no later than early next year. To complete a Buddhist trilogy, I also plan to write a book on Original (Pali) Buddhism, but because I’m a little burnt out on Buddhism right now, before I write this book, I’m going to write a couple of others—a Qabalah book, and “A Letter to Sam Harris” (which I’ve already done some work on). After I finish the Harris book, I plan to start doing YouTube videos , which should prove challenging and fun, especially since I’ll be deconstructing clowns like Sam “the Sham.”… Read the full article

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