Monthly Archives: September 2008

No Manual for Life

When you think about it, from the moment we’re conceived and develop consciousness, we’re kind of thrust into a world we don’t understand, and have to piece together our understanding from our surroundings. We learn a great deal from our … Continue reading

Posted in Buddhism, Religion | Leave a comment

Seattle Chill

One of the nice things about living abroad for a while is seeing society and people in a whole new way, and learning a lot about your own. I talked with my sister in Seattle yesterday on the phone for … Continue reading

Posted in Ireland, Seattle | Leave a comment

So cool, so true

Another great comic from Xkcd: The edge of known space is 46 billion light-years away, which is equivalent to 460,000,000,000,000,000 kilometers, or 287,500,000,000,000,000 miles.* That and if we follow the current theory then it follows that the Universe is approximately … Continue reading

Posted in Buddhism, Jodo Shinshu, Nichiren, Religion, Science, Tendai, Zen | 3 Comments

Calling all Irish Buddhists

I’ve been debating about posting this thread for a few weeks now, but I think it’s a good time to bring this up. As Buddhism is pretty new in Ireland (the oldest temple is from 1977), I am thinking about … Continue reading

Posted in Buddhism, Religion | 3 Comments

Back Home

We’ve been gone for a couple of days attending an Irish wedding way up in the quiet town of Bonniconlon, far to the northwest of Dublin. The wedding, done in a true Irish Celtic style,* was wonderful, and the reception … Continue reading

Posted in Ireland, Travel | 6 Comments

The Joys of Old School Gaming

This comic from Xkcd fits me all too well: Since getting married and starting a family, I’ve become so cheap, I just play really old games from Windows 95 now. That’s my idea of a fun evening. I used to … Continue reading

Posted in Literature, Technology, Zelazny | Leave a comment

Baby Learns to Count

I am happy to report that my daughter, “Baby”, has learned how to count! One night, while playing in the bathtub she started mumbling and counting with her fingers. She didn’t know the words, but just knew the motions (probably … Continue reading

Posted in Family | 7 Comments

Is Buddhism too hard? Try the nembutsu first!

A lot of people misunderstand Pure Land Buddhism, with its sole emphasis on reciting the Buddha’s name, better known as the nembutsu (念仏). People balk at the idea that many Shin Buddhists don’t meditate, don’t insist on the moral precepts … Continue reading

Posted in Buddhism, Jodo Shinshu, Jodo Shu, Religion, Zen | 12 Comments

Perl and good modules to know

Perl, as a scripting language, is described as a “glue language”. It hasn’t had the benefit of a solid top-down design like similar languages (Python for example), but has been flexible and modular enough that people have added all kinds … Continue reading

Posted in Bsd, Linux, Technology | 3 Comments

Buddhism and Sutra Chanting

I recently finished Thich Nhat Hanh’s book on Pure Land Buddhism, titled Finding Our True Home, and although I didn’t like the book overall, I was pleased to see that the book came with a full translation of the Amitabha … Continue reading

Posted in Buddhism, Jodo Shinshu, Jodo Shu, Religion, Zen | 4 Comments