Monthly Archives: August 2010
Classifying Atheists (part I)
Atheists come in all different flavors. A reader asked me if my wife was an atheist. Yes, my wife is an atheist, but our atheisms are significantly different. One spectrum of difference is the ease with which we reach out … Continue reading
Filed under Atheism, Philosophy, Religion, Uncategorized
Reincarnation, Heaven & the Bogeyman
Last night my kids wanted to talk about death. Both of them consider themselves atheists. But my son has been hinting over the last several months that he wants to keep an open mind about “God”. [I always remind them … Continue reading
Filed under Atheism, Buddhism, Christianity, Personal, Religion
Reincarnation: The Population Problem
This will become part of a series on “Reincarnation” — see more links below. The word “soul” works for Hindus and Christians but most Buddhists would object. But for Buddhists who believe in reincarnation, please indulge me and just generously … Continue reading
Filed under Consciousness, Philosophy, Religion
Do I qualify as a Buddhist?
Below is my diagram of basic Buddhists beliefs from my previous post, but now I have labeled my present Spectrum of Belief as relates to each item in the diagram. Question to Readers: Do I embrace enough doctrines, and the … Continue reading
Filed under Philosophy
Spectrum of Belief
My understanding of “beliefs” is colored several principles: We can simultaneously hold contrary beliefs. A belief is rarely fully as strong as we imagine. The beliefs we hold at any moment (since we can hold contrary beliefs) depends on settings. … Continue reading
Filed under Philosophy
夏の焼酎
夏になると焼酎が飲みたくなる. 思い出がいっぱいで笑う. それが俺の心の一部かもしれない でも今夜は俺の全部だ. – Sabio (Sometimes I tire of English.)
Filed under Philosophy
The Comparative Cure
This study, analyzed by Tom Rees at Epiphenom, illustrates the value of comparative studies vs. science. On my blog I emphasize the insights I have gathered by studying more than one faith, more than one form of medicine and more … Continue reading
Filed under Atheism, Christianity, Religion
Buddhism: a diagram
I created this diagram to assist my future posts on Buddhist themes. Below are links and texts to help explain the outline. It is my hope that this diagram aids the reader in visually organizing the dharma (the Buddha’s teachings) … Continue reading
Filed under Buddhism
The Muehlhauser Illusion
Cognitive illusions can be as strong as visual illusions — even if you know you have them, you can’t stop your mind from producing them. Here is a 38 seconds visual illusion (my first YouTube video attempt). To make this … Continue reading
Filed under Atheism, Cognitive Science, Philosophy, Religion
All Chickens Look Alike
Chickens We raise chickens for eggs and meat. We occasionally give some away to help people start their own chicken colony. Today friends came over to pick out 5 of our 30 birds to start their own little farm. They … Continue reading
Filed under Uncategorized
Salt Purification
I have lived in many homes over the last 25 years. In most of those places I have preformed a Salt Purification ceremony before moving in — Mori Shio (盛り塩 ). I borrowed the ceremony while living in Japan where … Continue reading
Filed under Philosophy, Religion
Endurance Prayer
I successfully completed my first triathlon on Sunday. Yeah! It was actually a short “Adventure Race”: Kayak 2 miles, Bike 20K and Run 5K. My only real goal for this race was to just complete the race without walking. I … Continue reading
Filed under Personal
On Being Forgiven
Being forgiven by others and forgiving one’s self can be incredibly crucial for health and happiness. Religions do well to offer their believers freedom from unnecessary guilt. In a previous post I wrote about the power of forgiving others. This … Continue reading
Filed under Religion
