Comments on: Saturday Links for the Week — May 31, 2008

By: EJ

EJ — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 05:02:51 +0000

Hi,I’m curious about your thinking behind this statement: As soon as the US election is over, $7/gallon gasoline is a near certainty. Could you please elaborate?Thanks

By: Russ

Russ — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 16:11:12 +0000

With regard to the “Worst Way of Farming,” the sight of feedlots 20 years ago-where cattle were crowded around bins simultaneously grazing while streams of diarrhea oozed down their hind legs- has helped me cut back from being a voracious carnivore to eating farm animal meat once a week. I’ve heard the lives of chickens are even worse.

By: Paul

Paul — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 07:41:53 +0000

Another approach to meditation and self-realization: Let me recommend a book that I'm currently rereading, The Mandala of Being by Richard Moss. http://www.amazon.com/Mandala-Being-Discovering-Power-Awareness/dp/1577315723Moss is not a Buddhist, though many of the ideas and methods overlap. I think he's terrific at using non-Buddhist metaphors to explain how we think, what is awareness, how we suffer, etc. Not that I'm criticizing the Buddhist approach--there are many good authors coming from that tradition as well.Moss' explanations and prescriptions might be more accessible for some people for a few reasons. He avoids citing unfamiliar authorities (the Buddha, Zen patriarchs, Buddhist scripture, etc.), he avoids foreign terminology (Pali and Sanskrit terms), he keeps his lists short (the eightfold path is one example of many lists Buddhism loves using to thoroughly categorize what it studies), he remains concrete and familiar rather than mystical. He's not religious, he aims to be practical.