(Blog.beliefnet.com, July 22, 2009)
The post Freedom from Religion: Buddhism wins Best Religion in the World Award last week set off quite a stir around these here 'nets. Over at Paramita they offer to send an 11 month old girl to pick up the award. Shambhala Sun had a few things to say, too. Today in Religion weighed in, as did Thailand's ThaiVisa site, which had the best comment thread. And finally Pipal Tree ran the story from Singapore. Either way if it were a religion, Buddhism would be the best religion in the world perhaps precisely because it lacks some of the key elements that make it a religion (I'm speaking here of approaching it as a philosophy of life, rather than the codified and cemented bureaucracy that it has become in some quarters).
Like practicing Jesus's true teaching about living without glopping on all the rules and constrictions that basically say "practice true goodness or else," Buddhism's core teachings are just totally freakin' awesome and are more a study of self than a giving up to a higher power. Speaking of giving up to a higher power, this past week I've developed a healthy new habit that I wanted to share.
My new habit? I've been reading as much of Jonathan Mead's writing over at Illuminated Mind as possible. Check out Jonathan's story at "my story" on his about page for one of the most intimate descriptions I've ever read online about how he came to a path of compassionate personal transformation. As if on cue, Jonathan's article from yesterday The Death of Becoming Something is a perfect link from a Buddhist blog.
Admission: I kind of have a crush on Jonathan's brain and his writing. Speaking of brain crushes, another brain crush that I've been wanting to share for a few months is on former monster movie maker, punk rocker, and ordained Zen monk Brad Warner. Brad's book Hardcore Zen was the first thing I'd ever read that made me think "hey wait a minute this Buddhist business IS relevant to young freaks like me."
Brad's second book Sit Down and Shut Up: Punk Rock Commentaries on Buddha, God, Truth, Sex, Death, and Dogen's Treasury of the Right Dharma Eye was just as awesome full of holy-cr*pifying ideas. I've had the pleasure of hearing Brad speak at the Interdependence Project twice now; one of those times actually makes it into a chunk of his new book Zen Wrapped in Karma Dipped in Chocolate. I read the book while on a trip with my father in the Grand Canyon, totally disconnected from electricity, phones, Internets, and television -- and all other people save those on the trip with us. More>>
