March 29, 2013

What the Jesuits taught me was

Jesus challenged the religious, social, and political structures of his time with his preaching that God's new reality of radical inclusion of everyone (especially the least of these) was in-breaking here and now.

He also preached a radical trust in God even during the darkest, most hopeless moments in our lives.

He was arrested and crucified as he was beginning to gain a large following and after his direct confrontation with the powers that be in the Temple when he chased the moneychangers out of the Temple.

Through his sham trial and painful execution, he demonstrated it was possible to remain true to what he preached even as he died in agony and humiliation on a cross.

His integrity even in the midst of despair and doubt ("My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?&quot resonated with his followers, perhaps even shaming them for abandoning him in their fearful self interest. This led to them experiencing Jesus in a new and profoundly transformative way that, for better and worse, shook the world.

January 23, 2013

My review of Jeff Bridges' book on Lebowski and Zen

Snip

In this breezy, conversational book, Jeff Bridges and his pal Bernie Glassman, a Zen teacher, use The Big Lebowski as a Zen frame of reference for just checking in to see what condition their conditions are in.

For the most part, they succeed in achieving their modest task of using our beloved cult classic to help make the esoteric nature of Zen, as Jeff puts it, “more accessible to our times and culture, relevant and down-to-earth.”

More...

http://dudespaper.com/no-frame-of-reference-21-the-dude-and-the-zen-master.html/