Monday, March 20, 2023

Life at the Trinity Rescue Mission

In 1984 I went through a drug and alcohol program run by Trinity Baptist Church in Jacksonville, Florida. It was free and lasted 90 days. Afterwards, I stayed at their rescue mission; in its old location at 901 Bay Street.

Trinity Rescue Mission 901 Bay Street Jacksonville Florida

Sunday, March 5, 2023

Albert Camus: Suicide in Czechoslovakia

According to the Greek myth, Sisyphus is condemned to roll a rock up to the top of a mountain, only to have the rock roll back down to the bottom every time he reaches the top. The gods were wise, Camus suggests, in perceiving that an eternity of futile labor is a hideous punishment.  

Spark notes: The Myth of Sisyphus


Monday, February 27, 2023

Falling Into the Eternal Moment

 The bad news is you are falling through the air; 
Nothing to hang on to, no parachute. 
The good news is there is no ground.

Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche

Monday, February 20, 2023

Scott Morrison: It’s Completely Up To You

Happiness, freedom, and peace don't lie elsewhere, at some other time.
It's up to you – this very instant – as you're looking at this screen.



Monday, February 13, 2023

The Zen of Walt Whitman

Considered one of America's most influential poets, Walt Whitman aimed to transcend traditional epics and eschew normal aesthetic form to mirror the potential freedoms to be found in America.

Read more: Biography


Monday, February 6, 2023

Scott Morrison: Life Without Purpose

Perhaps the most challenging thing for most of us to understand is simple, and if you examine it directly, the most obvious fact is that there is no such thing as a solid, separate, stable entity that I can call "myself."

Monday, January 30, 2023

Zen: The Way of Tao

Zen Buddhism is a way and view of life that does not belong to any formal categories of modern western thought. It is not a religion or philosophy; it is not a psychology or science. It is an example of what is known in India and China as a 'way of liberation.'  

The Way of Zen by Alan Watts (pdf here)

Monday, January 23, 2023

Zen Story: Too Much Tea

A university professor went to visit a famous Zen master.  While the master quietly served tea, the professor talked about Zen.

Wednesday, January 18, 2023

Ending Our Stories: Training the Monkey

"All humanity's problems stem from
man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone."
Blaise Pascal, Pensées