What if Obama had done business with the bin Laden family?

It’s well documented that the Bush family has a long history of business dealings with the family of the person responsible for the deaths of almost 3000 Americans, yet we never heard more than a whisper from the mainstream media about it. All this feigned outrage over the Rev. Wright’s statements would be nothing compared [...]

New TV/Computer monitor technology

The Sony OLED TV monitor is wafer thin and provides superior picture quality compared to other existing technologies. It’s fairly expensive right now, but the price will come down as more companies introduce their own versions and manufacturing becomes more efficient.
LED seems to be the future of monitors. DLP LEDs were very expensive just [...]

The candidates on the issues: abortion

Last night’s debate was pathetic. There was very little talk on the actual issues. It was more about fending off gossip.
So we’re going to look at the actual issues here from the perspective of the elements of the Buddhist Noble Path — specifically Right View, Right Intention, Right Action, and Right Speech. We’ll rate the [...]

Which candidates follow Right View, Intention, Action, and Speech?

The Buddha taught that the way to end suffering in our lives and others is to follow the Noble Eightfold Path. We’ll look at the first four elements of the Eightfold Path as they apply to the presidential candidates (in alphabetical order) Hillary Clinton, John McCain, and Barack Obama. The elements we’ll be looking at [...]

Monday morning walking meditation

Mondays can be a shock to your system after a weekend of stress free activity. One way to ease into it is by engaging in a little walking meditation. Meditation helps clear the mind and relax the body. It puts our troubles and worries aside for a few minutes and can provide insight into how [...]

The new party of political correctness

The latest national feigned outrage is over Barack Obama’s statement that people are bitter and cling to guns or religion. Any statement that even remotely suggests something negative about religion or guns during election campaigns is met with vehement opposition, no matter what the actual intention. This is a continuation of the “war on Christmas” [...]

Dealing with fear

According to Thanissaro Bhikkhu — American Buddhist monk, teacher, and writer — there are five elements of fear: confusion, aversion, a sense of danger, a sense of weakness, and a desire to escape. Using the squirrel analogy from my previous blog post entitled Fear, the squirrel is definitely confused. Chances are, the squirrel doesn’t [...]

Obama says people are bitter

At the fund-raiser in San Francisco last Sunday, Mr. Obama outlined challenges facing his presidential candidacy in the coming primaries in Pennsylvania and Indiana, particularly persuading white working-class voters who, he said, fell through the cracks during the Bush and Clinton administrations.
“So it’s not surprising then that they get bitter, they cling to guns or [...]

Fear

A little fear is good. It makes you more alert and can give you the boost of energy you need to deal with a crisis situation. But at times fear becomes overwhelming and debilitating. In the extreme case, it can become a phobia. Some people are afraid of other people and have a social phobia [...]

Dealing with stress

I’ve had a stressful couple weeks which made it difficult to meditate in the evenings. While practicing, focusing on my stress doesn’t seem to alleviate it. Someone suggested doing walking meditation when anxious so I decided to give it a try.
Our upstairs hallway is about 20 feet long — not quite long enough, but that [...]