Category Archives: Buddhist ethics

Fear and the Upcoming Election

Posted on October 28, 2024 by EricKVanHorn

I have recently read a post on a Buddhist web chat about fear and the upcoming election. Here are my thoughts. I understand the angst about the upcoming election, of course. We would like to live in a world of … Continue reading →

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Sex and the Buddhist Cosmology

Posted on October 7, 2024 by EricKVanHorn

A real hot button issue with me are so called Buddhist teachers who coerce their female students into having sex with them. Some of them are quite famous, like Richard Baker, Chogyam Trungpa, Joshu Sazaki, Dainin Katagiri, and Surya Das. … Continue reading →

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Perspective

Posted on September 12, 2024 by EricKVanHorn

Most of us—even as Buddhists—live with our minds in the weeds. There is nothing wrong with that, but at a certain point it is useful to get out of the weeds, to soar up to 10,000 feet, and to look … Continue reading →

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Happy New Year

Posted on January 2, 2024 by EricKVanHorn

As we start a new year, I have seen a lot of angst from various sources, emails, online forums, and so on. And I get it. The world is a mess. Of course. I just checked the news, and Rick … Continue reading →

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Killing in Self Defense

Posted on January 27, 2019 by EricKVanHorn

“For this cause I am prepared to die. But there is no cause for which I am prepared to kill.” – Mahatma Gandhi A friend of mine who teaches meditation had a student ask her this past week what the … Continue reading →

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Racism and the Dharma

Posted on December 21, 2018 by EricKVanHorn

There is an article in today’s Washington Post about a bizarre incident that took place at Lehigh University last year. A student from China was the roommate of a black man from the U.S. During their senior semester, there were a … Continue reading →

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Compassion

Posted on December 2, 2018 by EricKVanHorn

I heard an extraordinary story today that I would like to share with you. It is a story told by Ajahn Brahm. If you would like to hear the entire Dharma talk, you can find it here. Start at about minute … Continue reading →

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What the Buddha Taught

Posted on September 1, 2018 by EricKVanHorn

I remember reading years ago that one problem that Buddhists have is easily explaining what they believe. If you are a Christian or a Muslim or a Jew, this is not so hard. But trying to put the Buddha’s vast … Continue reading →

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Jack Kornfield and the Coverup

Posted on July 23, 2018 by EricKVanHorn

Apropos of my last blog entry about Lama Surya Das and his acts of sexual misconduct, I ran across this entry from a forum on Surya Das’ sexual abuse at Against the Stream (ATS) Buddhist Society. Most of this entry … Continue reading →

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It’s Simple

Posted on July 20, 2018 by EricKVanHorn

I have a dear friend who was once a student of Lama Surya Das. I went to a short retreat with Surya Das at the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies many years ago. I quite enjoyed it. I also really … Continue reading →

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