Religions exist to provide a template for its adherents to find their “higher power”. Far too many people despair of finding it, and end up accepting the husks discarded from other people’s minimal understandings of God, Truth, Buddha, Jesus, or Read more…
We made it to the top of the Mt. Misen, on Miyajima island across from Hiroshima, where a legendary Japanese monk, Kobo Daishe, of long, long ago found enlightenment. We have found our own unique versions of the same. The Read more…
We spent a couple hours at the Zen Master’s museum today. In high school, Akiko studied Suzuki, as well as one of his disciples, Nishida. Akiko did not become conscious of Suzuki’s implications and teachings until later in life. I Read more…
A little “secret” about each gate to a shrine, is that the guardian creatures always are in pairs, one with mouth open (alpha, or ah) and mouth closed (omega, or ohm). In the sacred silence, there is the internal humm Read more…
“Roll out the barrel, we’ll have a barrel of fun, roll out the sake, we got the blues on the run . . .” We are back in Tokyo for this one. One final “shriner’s tour”, and there was enough Read more…
These photographs are from a Tokyo inner city meditative garden. I purposely placed the beauty of nature against the background of Japan’s finest building technology and engineering. Our technology will always be with us, yet, so too must our appreciation Read more…
The following writing is about my perspective on aspects of the spiritual disease within American consciousness. It not just about Christianity, though I will write at length about aspects of present day political hijacking of the faith. I come from Read more…
Edit This has not been edited, but is published so that I can access it from another platform Marty and Me Over the years, I have become deeply disturbed by the developments within our shared world, within my individual consciousness, Read more…
Atomic weapons don’t kill people, people kill people. Guns don’t kill people, people kill people. These are equivalent arguments, only differing by the degree of devastation that their use creates. As a world civilization, we try to regulate our atomic Read more…
(excerpt from my book) If it’s painful for you to hear my story, it’s OK. That’s part of the process because my story includes pain, so don’t stop listening because you are uncomfortable. If you would just move past your Read more…
Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? — 1 Corinthians 3:16 Now the natural man doesn’t receive the things of God’s Spirit, for they are foolishness to him, and he can’t Read more…
Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? — 1 Corinthians 3:16 Now the natural man doesn’t receive the things of God’s Spirit, for they are foolishness to him, and he can’t Read more…
Fools find no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing their opinion. — Proverbs 18:2 (CEB) One is never afraid of the unknown; one is afraid of the known coming to an end.” ― Krishnamurti Who would want to wake Read more…
(inspired by our trip to Belize in January, 2019) I AM I am the brightest of mornings, I am the cloudiest of days, I am the silent night altar upon which mankind prays and preys. I am the Olmec and Read more…
A human being may have had a perfect upbringing, yet that fact does not have ultimate significance in the evolution towards good mental health and well-being as an adult. Avoiding a childhood characterized by physical, emotional, and/or sexual abuse is Read more…
Make no mistake about it. The real, immediate threat to national security is global warming, and the oil industry, and nations supporting the continued overuse of oil, coal, and natural gas. The border wall is a “Trumped up deal”, designed Read more…
Resolutions are the music playing in the background while I go about the business of living my life fully, with global awareness, spirituality, integrity, and good physical health. Resolution Number 10 I commit to running a 10K race (6.2 miles) Read more…
Happy New Year to all! How about creating a “New Year’s resolution” that actually has some value to more people than just to ourselves? Don’t let the following Bible verse scare you away, It is non-threatening, and it is about Read more…
After recently witnessing, experiencing, or hearing about several incomplete, unloving, and/or alienating family gatherings and situations, and being uninvited to another, I have decided that,in the interests of maintaining the limited and questionable quality of family relationships that I presently Read more…
Oh, Shadow Boxer Of Evil, When Will You Ever Tire? TIs Champion Of A Lonely Dream World To Which You Would Aspire! Stop Resurrecting Dead Illusions With Those Mental Pugilist Blows, And Bury That Diseased Mind, For From Its Grave Read more…