Denying Impermanence Buddha taught that everything is impermanent. We get sick, we lose jobs, we lose homes, we lose loved ones, we die. Even rivers change course; mountains wear away. Nothing lasts; nothing stays the same. This is not new information. In the book of Ecclesiastes, we are warned to remember our creator “before the silver cord is snapped, and the golden bowl is broken, and the pitcher is broken at the fountain, and the wheel broken at the cistern, and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the breath returns to God who gave it.” (Ecc 12:6-7) To cope with this reality, many religious people speak…
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Security, Privacy, and the True Self
Homeland Security and Safety The idea of exploring the tension between security and privacy came up one day in our Sharing Circle in reference to the modern-day intrusions of our lives: Homeland Security’s searches, lists of suspected terrorists, and registrations for this, that, and the other thing. Some of this has been around a long time. The FBI has always watched certain people, for instance. In the past, however, they had to dig a little bit to learn what we were doing. Now our information is freely available, including what we buy at grocery stores and what we like on Facebook. White, middle class, straight individuals who hold traditional values,…