Tag: religion

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The Dance of 17 Lives: The Incredible True Story of Tibet’s 17th Karmapa

Mick Brown. In some ways a rather odd biography. Written by a British journalist who also wrote a biography of Richard Branson and the seemingly pop-culture Spiritual Tourist, this book reports myriad miracles (ancient and contemporary) in such a neutral, journalistic tone that the author seems credulous, yet also recounts interviews with antagonists on all sides of a central conflict. The author states several times that he is not a believer.

Brown sets out the very interesting story of Ogyen Trinley Dorje, the young 17th Karmapa, recognized by both the Chinese government and the Dalai Lama. The Karmapa was born and enthroned in Tibet, but escaped to India in 2000. Brown also gives an overview of the controversy that still exists within the Karma Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism over Ogyen Trinley Dorje’s recognition. A simple web search on “Karmapa” returns first a web site for the other contender recognized by Shamar Rinpoche, in addition to many of those which follow. The “Karmapa conflict” website makes it clear than Shamar Rinpoche considers Brown not to be an objective journalist.

Yes, religion is a human institution.

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The Fabulous Riverboat

Philip José Farmer. He still didn’t have much luck with his choices for future predictions, and with this one I’m beginning to feel that perhaps I don’t want to solve the mystery of Riverworld enough to finish them all. (The fact that the last two books are really two volumes to one story, and that they’re much fatter than the first two, not to mention that Barbara says she found the series became tedious, contributes to this ambivalence.)

I noticed with this volume how flat and one-dimensional Farmer’s approach to religion is. The only religions that exist are extremist Islam and the Riverworld creators’ propaganda religion, and the characters several times explain how all Earth religions were totally discredited by Riverworld. I don’t for a minute believe that Buddhists or Taoists would be put off by such an experience, to name just two. It’s a shame Farmer didn’t have a broader or more sympathetic acquaintance with religion.

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First Light

Carol O’Biso. This is a great book, if a little vague and new-agey in spots. It was just as good a read as the first time I read it, some years ago. I tracked it down at Powell’s since my local library system didn’t even list it. (It’s out of print.) I just wish I could find out more about O’Biso’s life since the events of the book.

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The Elegant Universe: Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions, and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory

Brian Greene. A brilliant, understandable attempt to describe current physical theories on the nature of reality. Not easy going, but all the same it’s meant for lay readers, not physicists. Literally thrilling–especially the initial description of relativity. I felt like Greene was giving me a peek into a conceptual framework that felt like I was getting a glimpse of God. I mean it; thrilling.

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Dharma Talk

In last weekend’s religion column in the Globe, there was an interesting brief profile of a woman, Jane Dobisz, who did a 100-day solitary Buddhist retreat some years ago and has written about it in The Wisdom of Solitude: A Zen Retreat in the Woods, recently published by HarperSanFrancisco. The column mentioned she’d be speaking on Thursday night at the Cambridge Zen Center at a free event.

So I went.

But it wasn’t a reading or a lecture. It was a dharma talk, my first ever. It was fascinating and wonderful. Turns out Jane Dobisz is a guiding teacher of the Cambridge Zen Center. So there was the whole thing: taking off the shoes in the entryway; waiting until the sitting session was done; being asked to bow as we entered the room; sitting on cushions and zafu; bowing and a six-minute meditation. (Because the Buddha meditated for six years under the bodhi tree.) There was a short dharma talk first by another teacher about writing and books in the Zen tradition. Then Jane Dobisz answered questions.

A very refreshing evening.

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The big picture

I caught an episode of Joan of Arcadia last Friday. (It’s the second time I happened to watch a show.) Pretty cool.

There was a scene where Joan (to whom God speaks through random people she encounters) tells God she needs more than hints if she’s going to do what God wants. She says she needs even just a glimpse of the big picture. God says OK, and sounds and voices (which sound mostly like war and discord sounds) come up on the soundtrack. Next thing you know, Joan is being roused by her worried mother, flat on her back on the floor.

Later there’s another encounter where she asks for “better hints” because, as she now admits, she can’t get a glimpse of the big picture without ending up flat on her back.

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Living a Year of Kaddish

Ari L. Goldman. By the author of The Search for God at Harvard, one of my favorite books. This is a moving and tender memoir of the experience of saying kaddish for his father, of the experience of being alone and in community, of the experience of love and grief. I am a total fan of this author.

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150,000 good things for Jesus

Real Live Preacher has a great post on his blog about attending a denominational meeting. He comes to doubt the virtue of having “millions of people paying thousands of people to manage the doing of good things for Jesus.” He thinks “maybe I’d like to do just ONE good thing for Jesus. You know, just one good thing and give all of myself to it.”