Spiritually Speaking

For more than half of the world’s population, the moon is more than a lamp for the night sky or a muse that could be cheese or a person depending on who you ask.

In the course of my routine life I spend quite a bit of time in small group conversation. Generally the goal of these groups is to nurture and encourage the flourishing of spiritual life and practice.

There is conversation these days which is carried on with great energy. The topic might loosely be called the pathology of society. On one side there are those who advocate for people who bear the stigma of obvious brokenness.

I often find myself wrestling with finding words that will make a difference. It is at the heart of a minister’s job, after all.

I have been a part of two recent events with youth, which has me thinking about the future. News headlines and most prognostications about the state of the world are depressing.

An Excerpt from the earliest known Zen spiritual guide - The 3 rd Zen patriarch, Seng Ts'an, wrote: “The Great Way is not difficult for those who have no preferences. When love and hate are both absent, everything becomes clear and undisguised.

The 3rd Zen patriarch, Seng Ts'an, wrote, “The Great Way is not difficult for those who have no preferences. When love and hate are both absent, everything becomes clear and undisguised.

The traditional Buddhist analysis of wisdom (Skt: prajña) allows that there there are three interacting sources: hearing, cognitive consideration and spiritual practice. The earliest disciples of the Buddha were called the “Hearers” (Skt:śrāvaka).

In a couple of days, I will be sitting with my family at the Passover Seder, a meal wrapped in a service of remembrance, with prayers, songs, symbolic foods and the retelling of how G-d took us out of Egypt from slavery to freedom.

Recently I started to pay more attention to how many conversations I have each day about food.