Jushoku’s Meanderings – March 2024

The Alabama ruling dealt with embryos being stored in an In Vitro Fertility clinic in Alabama. This case is a direct result of the upturning of the Roe vs Wade decision by the Supreme Court last year. It deals with many of the same issues that are involved in abortion...

Jushoku’s Meanderings – February 2024

Smṛtyupasthāna -The Discourse on the Foundations of Mindfulness – is often referred to as the Four Foundations of Mindfulness. The term Smṛty means to remember the dharmas, which allows one to see the true nature of phenomena or reality. The foundation of...

Jushoku’s Meanderings – January 2024

Part 1: Year of the Dragon Each Of the twelve animals in the Chinese astrological cycle the dragon is the only mythological beast. This creature is featured both as a symbol of state power and one of the primordial animals that is responsible for the creation of the...

Jushoku’s Meanderings – December 2023

Where’s Shumon and Monshin? Last month Shumon and I spent the Thanksgiving holiday in Honolulu attending the 50th anniversary celebration of the Tendai-shu Hawai’i Betsuin (Tendai Mission of Hawai’i), the installation of Rev. Tanaka Shojun as the new abbot, and...

Jushoku’s Meanderings – November 2023

By way of a disclaimer, I am a Buddhist-Jewish American. I support the origins and continuity of Israel, but do not support the ways Israel has become an oppressor of the non-Jews within and outside its borders. October 7th – 25 days ago – Hamas. an Islamist militant...

Jushoku’s Meanderings – October 2023

Recently I officiated a wedding ceremony in Vermont, outside, on a hilltop with a mountain vista behind the wedding party. It was underneath a chuppah (a canopy under which a Jewish couple stand during their wedding ceremony). A lovely setting in early autumn. As with...