Meta-Buddhist Inquiry
In one of the very first pieces I wrote for Engage!, "Outcastes as Activists: A Tantric Approach to Engaged Buddhism", I introduced the idea of activism from a tantric perspective. I am now going forward with a more fully developed model, by constructing a Mandala of Sacred Activism. The Mandala is a model of Systems … Continue reading Mandala of Sacred Activism
Dharma Nerds aims to be a hub for intellectual and creative exploration of dharma themes in Buddhism and related Engaged Contemplative traditions. I welcome submission of your articles, photos, film and other visual art, poetry, creative writing and sound explorations. I love articles on modern and post-modern dharma scholarship, but also heterodox and counter-cultural explorations … Continue reading Calling All Nerds
What materials do we have for a Buddhist aesthetic? I'd like to make a quick sketch of how I think about this. From the Pali Canon, Theravada tradition, we have a philosophy and praxis of Deconstruction and Interconnectedness. From the Mahayana, we have a philosophy and praxis of Emergence into Wholes, Non-Duality. The Tantric tradition … Continue reading Foundations for a Buddhist Aesthetic
BY YANGDON DHONDUP 11 February 2019 (originally published in Himal South Asian Journal April 2007) What is Tibetan about art that bears no obvious reference to ‘Tibetan-ness’? Plenty. Photo: Common Grounds Project / Flickr I first met the Tibetan artist Gadé (transliterated as dga’ bde) on a cold November day in 1994. After showing me around the … Continue reading Beauty and Contradiction in Tibetan Art
I have a vision that someday I will have a website that's something like a record company that features music and video art by Buddhists or with Buddhistic themes. Following up on the 'Buddhism as Complete Culture' post, we need to develop a contemporary Buddhist aesthetic from which can support all sorts of art forms. … Continue reading Club Buddha Head
Dr. Kate Crosby, a scholar of Theravada Buddhism and the Pali Canon, translates 'dukkha' as insecure which puts it closer to impermanent, as 'having no assurances, nothing to rely on.' This finally gets to what I have been saying all along is the core of the human predicament, which is fear. That living things are insecure is without … Continue reading Dukkha as Insecure
This is another thought experiment, based on what I've studied about Buddhism so far, particularly the Early Buddhism of the Pali Canon. So here goes... What did the Buddha promise to practitioners as a result of their practice and understanding of the Dhamma? Well, first lets reflect on what many Westerners believe he promised: that the … Continue reading Nibbana
Cult X by Fuminori Nakamura, Kalau Almony (Translator) [Note: I read a short excerpt from this novel. The prose was not stellar, but I attribute that to the translation. It's still worth a read.] The magnum opus by Akutagawa Prize-winner Fuminori Nakamura, Cult X is a story that dives into the psychology of fringe religion, obsession, … Continue reading Buddhist Fiction: Cult X
What I found stifling about Western Buddhist practice is the obsessive focus on meditation as the paramount practice. What is completely lacking in modern Buddhist communities is a culture that is creative and productive, that grows and transforms, that generates new cultural forms, new ways of life. The singular focus on meditation becomes, as Vince … Continue reading Buddhism as Complete Culture
