The term economic ‘development’ as applied to wilderness is terribly ironic. When a wild ecosystem is ‘developed,’ its resources are despoiled, its conditions for sustaining life are unbalanced, and the species that inhabit it are often endangered or killed off by pollution and destruction of their habitats. Ecosystems in their pristine ‘undeveloped’ state are *already*…
Month: February 2011
The Universe as the Body of God
The Hindu traditions have long held that the universe is God’s body (Saguna Brahman). Zen Buddhism has also advocated a similar view of the relative reality as the ultimate itself. However, recently, Christian theology, through the work of Sallie McFague and others, has happily arrived at the same realization. In “Liberating Life: A Report to…
A Pro-Evolutionary Voice from Christian Theology
The media tends to present Christianity as unanimously pitted against the scientific account of evolution. However, consider this passage from the Christian “Liberating Life: A Report to the World Council of Churches“: “The biological theory of evolution with its ingredients of chance and struggle for existence requires a deeper understanding of divine power. God is…
The Bondage and Exploitation of the ‘Land of the Free’
The United States is often called ‘land of the free,’ a freedom founded on the bondage and exploitation of American native peoples, a ‘land of the free’ that put innocent Japanese Americans into concentration camps on American soil during WWII and which commanded Korean soldiers to kill eighty thousand of the three hundred thousand Cheju…
On the Striking Compatibility of Hindu Tantric Yoga and Jewish Kabbalah
Perhaps surprisingly, the mystical systems developed by Hindu tantric yoga and Jewish Kabbalah are incredibly compatible. Both image the universe as a giant person (Adam Kadmon or Purusha), both see the body as a microcosm of the universe, both advocate a method of ascension to progressively higher levels of being and consciousness (chakras in tantra,…
Our Potential to Freely Choose our Actions is Limited
The position that we have the potential to freely choose our actions must be further qualified. This freedom is not unlimited; our potential freedom of action is a limited freedom. We have the power to freely choose our actions from the set of alternative actions that are open to us. That is, our physical circumstances…
We Have Free Will, But Rarely Use It
We all have the potential for free will, but we rarely use it. Instead, we often live our lives on autopilot and our so-called `freely chosen`actions are just the automatic reactions of our prior conditioning to new stimuli. However, by cultivating mindfulness and a deep awareness of the content of our minds (e.g. aversions, clingings,…
Humans are Not Rational Animals
Aristotle once said that human beings are ‘rational animals.’ However, like Jonathan Swift, I do not think this is precisely true, for we often act in ways that are totally irrational and a great deal of the thoughts that move across the inner landscape of our minds are utterly illogical. Therefore, we are not inherently…
There is No Ego to Destroy
“You can’t get rid of your hallucination of being an ego by an activity of the ego. Sorry, but it can’t be done . . . If you try to get rid of your ego with your ego you will just end up in a vicious circle. You’d be like somebody who worries because they…
On the Negative Connotations of the Word ‘Religion
In our contemporary context, ‘religion’ has become a dirty word. People are suspicious of ‘religion’ both because they have seen the damage that religious extremism can cause and because they have become disillusioned from belief systems they found overbearing, restricting, senseless, and unfulfilling. They have also heard the sometimes reasonable, sometimes harsh and mocking words…
Words from the Wind 